Hello to the Remaining Rav4 EV Owners Out There

[laguna_b]

I worked for Toyota (Headquarters in Torrance, CA) back in December 2014 when I decided to use my employee discount to buy a new RAV4 EV. At the time there were none available in the LA region where I live so I went up to Palo Alto to buy my white EV. People at my office thought I was crazy to buy one due to the known engine whine issue and high price. Yet here I am 9 years later very happy I did so. The car has 111k miles on it and it’s still going strong! Super versatile and nearly maintenance free. I always charge at home and with my level-2 charger it’s quick and easy. I’ve owned about 20 Toyotas (and Lexus’) over the years but the EV is the best of all! I’ve considered purchasing a Tesla, but can’t bear to sell my beloved RAV4 EV. Are there any other original owners out there like me?

Bought my first 2014 in 14 and it was totalled from a modest head-on collision and $4k wiring harness replacement cost. Second 2014 took someone's lease and had a battery contractor failure. Dealer sent battery in under warranty and my 146 mile battery came back at 123 miles! They just swapped another OLD battery so I turned it in at end of lease after battling Toyota. Last and current I bought in 2017 just before end of lease and got the extended warranty which was great cuz the heater modules went out for $6k and the motor whine issue got replaced before end of warranty. Also have a new Y but my RAV4 EV will ALWAYS be my favorite car to drive.

 

[janeva]

We are the original owners of a 2013 Silver, which now has 147,000 miles! Motor was replaced twice, once at 78,000 miles and the second time at 89,000. Both under warranty, thank goodness, because the first bill was $12,000 and the second was over $27,000 and took a month to complete.

The car has literally saved my sanity. I'm in Los Angeles and used to drive from the north San Fernando Valley to West LA for work on the 405 Freeway. I was able to use the carpool lane for five years (three original years and then it was extended for two at that time)! When I had to go back to the regular lanes, I almost lost my mind. We are now retired and don't drive much. Range is maybe 80 miles. We are also on the original brakes! I use the regenerative braking all the time.

We will be looking to buy next year. The car has been wonderful and it has served us well for ten years. The only thing we are missing is the long range. We know that other issues are imminent and wish to switch to a new car before costly repairs are necessary.

Like many of you, we will never buy a gas engine again. We were excited about the Chevrolet Equinox EV priced at $30,000, but that price has already been increased and the delivery delayed. Would love to own another Toyota, but I guess we'll have to wait until they decide to be serious about EVs.

I and someone else just bought a 2024 Ioniq. Loving it so far but only still have driven less that 100 miles.

 

[Bobgirl]

Bobgirl, I too am watching the EV market for the right time to downgrade to a new EV but with more mileage per charge. I am reading that prices will likely start falling in the next year or two as production costs, including batteries, drop. I want to wait long enough for solid state batteries to start rolling out, maybe 2027. It would be awesome, to have an EV that could fully charge in 10 minutes with no risk of fire or battery degradation. The 600+/- range would not hurt either. I’m sure those will start out pricey, so we’ll see.

Hello:
We took the plunge 10 days ago and bought a Hyundai Ioniq 5. After a ton of research, this was the best car for us. The first charge to 100% (Level 2 at home) got us 318 miles and the second time it charged up to 329 miles! We had hoped to keep it, but ultimately decided to trade in our beloved RAV4 EV. The Ioniq is a lot to learn, but it's already a very impressive car. Good luck in your future search.

 

[user 8152]

Sacramento here. Second owner of a 2014 with 52000 miles. Had my first service a few months ago. The coolant needed replacement and a strut or some-such was leaking. I also had the 12 volt replaced - shoulda asked for a new one upon purchase. I only wish that I could change the motor noise to a growl. I swear that was off when I did the test drive.

 

[KurtManz]

Still rolling in the Seattle area! In fact just ordered new set of tires!
MICHELIN X-TOUR A/S 2 225/65R17 102H

She's got just over 76K miles, still on the original motor :O (it refused to whine during all the years I had a warranty!)
Did all the other changes including cabin heater and had toyota of seattle replace all the cooling liquids about a year ago.

It's a great commuter... wife drives it every day and likes it.
We're talking about next car ... would have to be a 6-7 seater EV and there's not much in the market yet and that's ok since this car has been so good for us. I think we'll drive it until the motor gives out.

Is Tony Williams still fixing these?

 

[hbrav]

We own a 2013 Model S P85+ and 2012 White RAV. I just inherited a Toyota Highlander with low miles and will need to get rid of a car. Its a tough debate I have unlimited charging and free internet on the Tesla. Unfortunately in our experience the Toyota/Tesla has been incredibly reliable, the Model S much less so. Where do I start is it the constantly breaking door handles or the unknown error messages that our new 12v battery is low and vehicle about to shutdown? Either way Toyotas are way more reliable than Tesla's in our opinion so we will be putting the Tesla up for sale its worth between 15500 and 19500 according to Recurrent has a low 34K miles on it but we will probably sell it and drive the Highlander and the RAV. I will miss the cool tech and speedy acceleration and such but if only the car was put together better. Anyone interested in a 2013 Model S P85+ everything working solid low miles unlimited charging and internet let me know. I'd love to get 18500 obo for it.

 

[user 8152]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have an NX Hybrid and a 2014 Rav. I think that's a winning combination. Teslas have become too expensive to insure, not to mention repair. I am hoping for a better something from Toyota in the future or maybe a Ford ev.

 

[alflash]

.... I am hoping for a better something from Toyota in the future or maybe a Ford ev.

Take a look
https://www.toyota.com/bz4x/
and
https://www.lexus.com/models/RZ

 

[user 8152]

Definitely contenders.

 

[miimura]

Be sure to look at reviews covering DC charging performance. They're not great. However, if you only charge at home on AC, it probably doesn't matter.

 

[asavage]

The Toyota bz4x ("busy forks") is widely panned as a mediocre offering, but it is a Toyota and it is a BEV.

Transport Evolved (YT) did a review of the Lexus version, and I think I recall they liked it worse than the Toyota version.

 

[OR Nurse]

Hi There!

I have almost 130,000 miles on mine. I am not the original owner. I bought it in April 2021 with 94,854 miles.

Recently I had the onboard charger blow a fuse, and I followed one of the excellent write-ups on this board to replace it. 6 months later, it unfortunately blew again. Thanks to the JdeMO I can still charge, but not as conveniently.

I'm currently in Santa Barbara but I take the car to San Jose once a moth or so. Blizzard Perl (white, with patches of paint coming off.)

I love the car even though it's fragile.

I am having mine repainted after it sat outside for a year at the dealership waiting for a repair that the Marin Toyota dealership stated they wouldn't attempt again. The paint defect is the result of a smooth undercoat and is covered by Toyota if you get it scheduled before the expiration date. Mine is up this Sept. 2024.

 

[allnatural77]

I am looking to purchase a 2014 RAV4 EV with 65,000 miles in Seattle. Does anyone know where these could be serviced?

 

[asavage]

Under the original warranty, I successfully had Toyota of Seattle replace the LDU (noisy, 59k), replace the cabin heater + DC-DC Converter, and perform the rear seatbelt sharp edge recall.

I purchased the Toyota Platinum used car warranty from Toyota of Kirkland, but only because they had the best price; others have had sub-par work done there.

After-warranty, I do all service work myself. If you find a Puget Sound area EV indy that is competent, let me know. These are orphan/hobby cars now, and you never, ever want to buy one without inspecting the LDU's speed sensor. Never! If there's the Blue Drops of Death on it, add at least $5k plus shipping to/from either Portland or San Diego for a specialist to repair the LDU -- if it's repairable.

Don't buy a RAV4 EV until you know what you're getting into. Toyota will only quote astounding repair prices for remanufactured parts from Tesla, who batches up repairs for months, so wait times can be long. And Tesla won't have anything to do with the cars themselves, only via their long-dead agreement with Tesla. So make yourself aware of the issues. They are great cars . . . when they work. When they break, you either fix it yourself or find someone who will take your money to fix it, and if you rely on Toyota, you'll pay a whole lot (more than the cars are worth these days).

I help with minor repair advice from the hinterlands but I'm not a shop and don't want to be.

The Toyota parts are fine for the most part. The Tesla parts all break; almost every part with Tesla's name on it in my car has been replaced (the Gateway module is original . . . so far).

---
FB keeps putting that white 65k RAV4 EV in front of me, too. There are three others on FBM as well today:


There are much cheaper ones available, the going price for these things is more around $7-9k. Look around.

[later]
It looks like Alex @QC Charge has set up a franchise in NE Portland, Ore., as "QC Charge #2", so if you consider PDX to be close enough, Alex has about the most RAV4 EV experience in the US. From the address, his shop is just east of the Parkrose neighborhood, a few blocks from I-205, and that's around 200 mi. south of Seattle by my guess.



A second-hand two-wheel tow dolly runs under $1k these days (I've owned one for 20 years) and you can even rent U-Haul car-hauler trailers for reasonable sums, so if you or a friend has a tow-capable rig, making a trip to the PDX area isn't awful -- having done that trip hundreds of times over the years, I speak from experience. Avoid Friday and Sunday afternoons for travel, and it's even pleasant. It's out of range for driving the RAV4 EV, unless you have added a DCFC solution.

 

[ZoNiE]

I really miss my 2013. I bought it for $13K from Carvana in 2018, drove it for three years and sold it back to them in 2021... for $13K. They were over $20k for a while but prices have settled back to about $16K. There is a 56K mile one being sold for that now. We have a Mach-e now, and it is a great riding car, but the Software totally sucks. The Rav4EV had the best mix of displays and actual buttons. I should have kept it and put a new battery in it. Carvana's Silverrock warranty replaced the motor and the repair was $13K. cost me $55.

Can somebody please post a photo of the screen when you turn the car off and it presents you with the "Charge Immediately" button please? I want to post this on the Mach-e forum to show Ford how to do it. Many thanks!

 

[sfmartha]

Just got a call and the motor / drive unit just arrived at my Toyota dealer. Less than a week after it was ordered. So much for the 6 week to 6 month estimate. Hopefully this motor has all the latest fixes. For all you folks in the Sacramento area, Folsom Toyota seems to have in house expertise on Rav4-EVs. I saw two other Rav4-EVs there as well.

Mine has been sitting at the Palo Alto dealer for the past couple of months. They told me it could take up to a year to receive the parts from Tesla. Here’s hoping it will come sooner!! I have test driven most of the EV’s up for sale in the Bay Area, and they all have motor problems.

 

[JDP]

Mine has been sitting at the Palo Alto dealer for the past couple of months. They told me it could take up to a year to receive the parts from Tesla. Here’s hoping it will come sooner!! I have test driven most of the EV’s up for sale in the Bay Area, and they all have motor problems.

Call the Toyota customer experience center. They called me last night about my windshield on back order since May. To get a feel for how long things are taking, I asked about the motors. Grayson looked it up and told me there are 2 being delivered soon to customers who ordered them in October and that they aren’t stocked and ordered from Tesla.

 

[pbroenen]

Minnesota representing! 2014 RAV4 with 44K miles.

I just installed a "Coolant Delete Lite" to fix a bad factory seal:

I live in the country, so much of my driving involves longer distances. In the summer, the battery's max range exceeds 100 miles, so I am able to use the car for trips to the city. But in the winter, the range is too limited. I only use it for short trips then.

Regardless, I love the car! I'm hoping that future battery tech will provide an option to swap out these less energy-dense batteries so that I can bolt in longer range.

Paul