Out of State RAV4 EV Prob Gonna Trade In

[Spiffster]

My wife absolutely loves her RAV4 EV, but im a bit freaked out by the prospect of something going bad on this thing. As I understand any Tesla component crapping out will require us to ship the car to CA to have any work done. We are at 32k miles and under warranty for another month. The car has been rock solid so far. Zero issues and no loud motor or anything apparently going bad.

Thing is, the trade in value on this car is really pretty decent... NADA is saying 23k for clean trade in on a 2013. But I imagine thats only applicable in CA.
AND, we are in Colorado, where the 6k state rebate on EVs still applies AFAIK. So, essentially a new EV would get 13500 knocked off the price, which indeed was the case with our RAV4.

So question is, what would you do? Seems I have two options.
1. Get the extended warranty and keep the RAV4EV, considering any major work will require shipping the car out to CA?
2. Trade it in to a CA dealership? (Hopefully for another EV)

If I could trust this car to go the distance, it would be ideal if we could keep it and drive it into the ground... but that probably wont happen before major work would need to be done. I figure shipping it to CA and back would probably cost $1500 by itself.

I suppose a third option would be to buy the extended warranty and just wait it out to see if something major goes bad, then at that point just ship it to CA to get repairs, and trade in after it get fixed and while its still in CA.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I think your entire premise is fear based. To my knowledge, there has been exactly ONE out-of-state RAV4 EV that was required to be shipped back to California, and that was for an EXTREMELY rare battery failure. Toyota / Teala took good care of them.

Yes, Toyota has been a royal pain in the ass. They are openly anti-EV. They openly disparage Tesla. They were pissed off that they had to make an EV at all. They even shit on dealers who sold and serviced out-of-state.

But, I don't know of a SINGLE RAV4 EV that is left broken somewhere. Toyota has a roving technician. To some people that work at Toyota, who have spent a career / lifetime building Toyota into a high quality experience, they aren't going to let an aberration of a car smear their hard work. There are good people at Toyota.

We have two RAV4 EVs: one in eastern Washington, and one in San Diego. Both have had a LOT of warranty work done. That doesn't mean it always went smoothly, but Kevin Spillane (Toyota Corporate representative in Torrance, California) has been the number one source of support.

Kevin J. Spillane
kevin_spillane (((@))) toyota.com
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.
Case Manager-Special project/SSC
PH:310-974-7545
FX:310-381-6858

If you truly don't like the car, unload it. But if you keep it, buy the extended Toyota Platinum warranty (DO NOT DRIVE WITHOUT WARRNTY PROTECTION!!!) and drive it. As long as you want. If you can't get past the mostly unsupported fear, sell it.

 

[JDP]

Several forum members have reported successfully servicing/repairing their EVs out of state with the help of Kevin Spillane. http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=366

There is clear evidence that the car is NOT reliable based on the number of reports by members on this forum for a variety of issues. http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1589

That being said if you really want to keep the car and are willing to go through the process of getting the warranty and coordinating out of state repairs it seems possible. However your personal preference for working within that process is the essential question. It does not appear to be without its drawbacks. How much do you want to keep the car and drive it into the ground?

 

[miimura]

I agree with Tony. From all evidence I've seen, when the car actually needs warranty work, even out of state, Toyota has stepped up and gotten the cars fixed. Shipping back to CA is the worst case scenario, which is quite unlikely to be needed, and it's pretty much guaranteed to be less than $1,500 round trip. I personally can't think of another car that I would rather have today within double the price. Buy the maximum term Toyota Platinum warranty, either 8 years or 125,000 miles, whichever you're likely to hit first, and enjoy the car.

 

[Spiffster]

Thanks for the replies... lots of good points. I think I am leaning towards getting an extended warranty and keeping the RAV4 until the warranty is nearly up. Thanks again.

 

[Kohler Controller]

Thanks for the replies... lots of good points. I think I am leaning towards getting an extended warranty and keeping the RAV4 until the warranty is nearly up. Thanks again.

Hi Spiffster, I went through the same emotions in 2014. I decided to get the extended warranty and drive it it right up to 125k (currently at 66k).

My motor noise is annoying, but have little faith that I can get the local dealership to do what is necessary to give Toyota Corporate the information they require to make a decision on a swap out. I expect this to be a long process, first contacting Kevin Spillane (not easy to get a quick reply), then coordinating the roaming tech to come in from Houston to make the recording. Then if it does qualify as being "too noisy" (whatever mysterious threshold that is), we start the 4-5 month wait of getting parts, then we wait again for coordination on how the work could be done in or around Austin. Now that I have the JdeMO, I could drive it to Houston if that makes it easier for Toyota. That being said, has anyone had a drive train replaced due to noise after a JdeMO has been installed, out of state? How much grief will I encounter? I might as well start the process now as I'm sure any sound measurement will not be loud enough to qualify the first time (just sayin').

All that being said, I love this vehicle. Had the heater fail last winter which took 3 months to get fixed (under the extended warranty thankfully), which has been the only time it has needed any unscheduled work. I was able to get the two coolants, battery and electronics, replaced while it was in for this fix (preventative maintenance).

So my plan is to embark on the 1 year quest to get the noisy drive train replaced, so that by the time I get to 125k (mid 2018), I can sell the car, either locally or take it to CA to be near a certified service dealership for the next owner. Should you choose to keep the car with the extended warranty, know that you are not alone.

 

[TonyWilliams]

There was very recently a JdeMO equipped RAV4 EV that had the motor replaced at Carlsbad Toyota in California.

No problems, since the motor drops out the bottom.

If you need that heater replaced, we have supplemental instructions on how to remove JdeMO for heater replacement.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

I've had my '13 RAV4 EV in WA for 21 months now. Woudn't consider getting rid of it any time soon. Had the firmware upgrade done here (w/ an alpha unit JdeMO no less) without a problem.

I bought the 8yr/ 125k mile $0 deductible extended warranty which has another nice coverage which is if you're away from home and the car breaks down, they'll pay for hotel and other expense too.

Shop around for the extended warranty. ANY Toyota dealer can sell it although most will only quote you full retail price. One local Seattle area dealer (Kirkland) had a GREAT end-of-year deal on them. Ask!

 

[mickeymammoth]

Since I bought my used 2014 Rav4 EV last October in Boulder, CO, I obviously have made up my mind to go the long haul. I got an extended warranty. As luck would have it, I had a bad heater right away that caused the car to sit in the shop for a month while they chased down some random problem. But it was under warranty, and Kevin Spillane was very nice. The Denver field tech game to Boulder to work on it multiple times. Tesla was called, etc. It was annoying, but now it's fine and I hope it will be fine for a long time.

The only reason I would get a new EV in your case is if you like any of the ones actually sold in CO (Leaf, BMW, Mercedes of Littleton actually sells the B-class electric, Tesla). Otherwise, I would get the extended warranty and hope for the best. Note that Green Eyed Motors in Boulder actually specializes in EVs and they have sold 2 or 3 Rav4 EVs, so they would probably buy yours if you're done with it.

 

[BenPrice]

I've had my '13 RAV4 EV in WA for 21 months now. Woudn't consider getting rid of it any time soon. Had the firmware upgrade done here (w/ an alpha unit JdeMO no less) without a problem.

I bought the 8yr/ 125k mile $0 deductible extended warranty which has another nice coverage which is if you're away from home and the car breaks down, they'll pay for hotel and other expense too.

Shop around for the extended warranty. ANY Toyota dealer can sell it although most will only quote you full retail price. One local Seattle area dealer (Kirkland) had a GREAT end-of-year deal on them. Ask!

My question, though, is can the extended warranty be bought later? I bought mine in Boulder, CO this month. The Toyota page says, "Used Vehicle plans are available
through your Toyota dealer only at the time of used vehicle purchase or lease." Here's the page I'm reading: https://www.sc.toyotafinancial.com/web/tfs/pub/contents/vsa/TFS_VSA_Platinum_VSA_eBrochure.pdf But, people on here seem to be saying they can go shop around and find one at a dealer. I sure hope so. The posts on this forum have turned my excitement about my 2013 RAV4 EV with 17,500 miles on it to real anxiety. Even if I know something may go wrong and it may sit in the shop for a year, at least I would have some comfort with the extended warranty.

 

[ddoxey]

I've had my '13 RAV4 EV in WA for 21 months now. Woudn't consider getting rid of it any time soon. Had the firmware upgrade done here (w/ an alpha unit JdeMO no less) without a problem.

I bought the 8yr/ 125k mile $0 deductible extended warranty which has another nice coverage which is if you're away from home and the car breaks down, they'll pay for hotel and other expense too.

Shop around for the extended warranty. ANY Toyota dealer can sell it although most will only quote you full retail price. One local Seattle area dealer (Kirkland) had a GREAT end-of-year deal on them. Ask!

My question, though, is can the extended warranty be bought later? I bought mine in Boulder, CO this month. The Toyota page says, "Used Vehicle plans are available
through your Toyota dealer only at the time of used vehicle purchase or lease." Here's the page I'm reading: https://www.sc.toyotafinancial.com/web/tfs/pub/contents/vsa/TFS_VSA_Platinum_VSA_eBrochure.pdf But, people on here seem to be saying they can go shop around and find one at a dealer. I sure hope so. The posts on this forum have turned my excitement about my 2013 RAV4 EV with 17,500 miles on it to real anxiety. Even if I know something may go wrong and it may sit in the shop for a year, at least I would have some comfort with the extended warranty.

I quoted the toyotafinancial.com rules to the Service Manager as he was selling me my 125k/8y warranty. He just shook his head saying "nah." Earlier I spoke to a Toyota corporate customer service rep who just suggested I speak to my local Toyota dealer Service Manager. It appears that Toyota is comfortable letting the individual dealerships make the judgement call on selling the platinum warranties.

As for me, I'm completely in love with my Rav4 EV. I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING that is currently on the market. With my platinum service warranty, a friendly Toyota service department, and the prospect of a JDeMo upgrade, I am looking forward to enjoying this car for many years.