Motor failure on 2012 RAV4 EV. Need help.

[JJSD]

Hi,

I have a 2012 RAV4 EV with 74K miles. No extended warranty. No problems until now.

I stopped at a red light and turned right and heard a thump.

The motor makes a bad noise but no movement forward or back.

Dealer say 15K for a new motor.

Any and all advise or suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[miimura]

Where are you located? What is the specific diagnosis from the dealer? Get the DTC codes if you can.
Likely the cheapest way to get the car back on the road is to get a drive unit from a salvage.

 

[JJSD]

I'm in San Diego. Toyota Carlsbad is the dealer.

Does anyone think I can get the dealer to install a salvaged motor? Not sure where to go about finding a salvaged motor and determining if its good to go, or getting it installed.

After reading through the "motor problems" section of this forum it seems there there are a lot of failures for 2500 cars. Seemed like more failures for the early units (of which mine was one). Am I wrong about that?

My bad for not getting an extended warranty but I wonder if Toyota had any obligation to inform owners of excessive motor failures.

Anyone interested in buying my car before I give it to KPBS?

Anyone interested in joining me when I threaten a class action suit? ( I do realize this is only a great idea for and unemployed lawyer. just venting)

 

[miimura]

My impression is that the only consistent defect is that the motors get noisy. There are very few that have terminal faults like yours seems to.

Call Tony at Quick Charge Power. They are in San Marcos. Maybe he can help you get your car back on the road for a more reasonable cost.
1-760-798-0342

 

[hokiematt]

With the electronic parking pawl engaged, jack up only one front wheel at a time and see if you can rotate it. If you can rotate one of the wheels (and probably making a horrible noise in the process), you've either got a broken differential (less likely) or a broken CV joint (more likely, and cheaper/easier to fix).

 

[JJSD]

Dealer say this:

Car ‘s axles are leaking. Gears aren’t engaging. Need drive unit i.e. motor assembly i.e. motor.

Does that make sense?

 

[cashcow]

To be honest I think Tony might be your best bet in terms of cost being less than traditional dealer. Tony has been doing a lot of work on the RAV4 EVs so he will be knowledgeable enough to help fix the issue. Also, I believe he has access to the full RAV4 EV repair manual and that would help a lot in terms of fixing or replacing.

The Rav4 EV is a single gear vehicle so that means it is always engaged in single gear. The only thing that stops the motor from rotating in a healthy motor should be the parking pawl. Gears seems a little confusing since it is a single gear vehicle the single gear is bathed in motor oil. The RAv4 EV power train is from the model S but I believe that a lot of the other parts are fro the gasser.

It would be better if they had given you the actual codes so someone like tony with access to the repair manual could read out to you the actual description for the codes.

The CV joints are a constant failure point on the RAV4 EV. Mine started to CLUNK on breaking and accelerating and I had that changed this year on jan or so and now I can sometimes hear a little click happening again. Maybe you should try asking if the CV joints are bad and if they are that wouldn't require a motor unit replacement. but they know best and unless they are trying to get your money then you might truly need a new motor. Maybe try asking them if they are 100% sure that the c/v joints failed. Though if they did that would mean both joints left and right failed since there is one for each front wheel. If you accelerated and just hear a terrible noise then could it be that both failed at the sametime? not sure what the chances of that are. It could possibly mean you need a new unit.

Again try to get the actual codes from the dealership! and contact tony.

you are the second person that has had a failure or some sort and has to sell the rav4 ev because they have no ext warranty. The other person, I don't recall right, but maybe had a charger failure or something like that. I think he sold his rav4 ev to Tony. Again talk to tony.