Potential Out of State Buyer, MN, ?'s

Hi, first post, been lurking for a while and I am nearly ready to pull the trigger on a used Rav4 EV, the community here has given me all the info I could need, thanks. A guy who lives close to me let me drive his and it was great, thanks to Dianne for getting us in contact.

Anyway, Dianne offered me a used Rav4 EV around a month ago that looks pretty good in retrospect.

I am wondering if anybody on the board know of any used options that are available, I have searched all of Craigslist, Autotrader, Ebay, and Cars.com and I have only found one viable option:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=55416&fuelCodes=ELE&endYear=2015&modelCode1=RAV4&showcaseOwnerId=70933&startYear=1981&makeCode1=TOYOTA&searchRadius=0&showcaseListingId=369927638&mmt=[TOYOTA[RAV4[]][]]&listingId=370004833&Log=0

Everything looks good, but I think it is priced high, any input or thoughts on this one would be great. The dealer is not willing to move on price.

Thanks a lot for the forum

Could not open your link...can you add more details.

I see two used ones on Cars.com
One at 35k and one at 42k. That's too high in my opinion. You could buy new for 50k minus your 7.5k tax break = 42.5k.

I would keep looking...

Thanks
Mike

The one with the bad link is a 2012 with 5xx miles on it, hundred not thousand, and is in pristine shape, blue. Asking $35,000. Thoughts?

I can't buy new because I am not a CA resident, Toyota has cracked down I guess and the dealers won't deal with out-of-state buyers/leasers on new purchases.

The one Dianne had was great because it had something like 3,000 miles, so basically new but sellable to a "foreigner."

Thanks for the reply Mike G.

I would hang out and keep looking every day. I bought mine from toyota of San Francisco December 20 2013 there were about six of them in various places at the time. I paid 30000
For the Ev very happy with it. Thats what I think you might expect to pay although there was one on craigslist in Arizona for 27000 about 6 weeks ago. This machine has an incredible range
150 every day and can recharge very quickly 5-6 hours even quicker when tony Williams gets the chademo adapter running. Hang out you will get one
David

The older RAV4 has heater trouble. With you being out of state, you have to be extremely careful as parts are expensive and impossible to get.

Secondly, you can technically register a RAV4 at one of your "relatives" address. CA doesnt care if you have out of state license, they just want your plate fee and taxes

I am just looking at the current Ravs, 2012-2014. I know CA doesn't care, but MN cares if they don't get theirs and that is where I live.

There is a dealer with a certified Rav4 tech about 20 miles from me and a Tesla service center about 4 miles from me, not sure if the Tesla center could ever be of help or not.

My 2012 is for sale. White. 38,000 miles.

Make reasonable offer.

brp said:

I am just looking at the current Ravs, 2012-2014. I know CA doesn't care, but MN cares if they don't get theirs and that is where I live.

There is a dealer with a certified Rav4 tech about 20 miles from me and a Tesla service center about 4 miles from me, not sure if the Tesla center could ever be of help or not.

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In theory you can decide to move to California for two weeks for a new position, then you had a change of heart and move back to MN. You lose a couple hundred bucks if you really want the car.

I still think you are taking a huge gamble, but good luck

Why do you think it is such a big gamble when there is a certified tech at a local dealer? They have already agreed to service the other local Rav4 owner, he may have to pay out of pocket though, he did get his 1st service free.

I feel more comfortable with it than an ICE because there are so many less things that can go wrong.

brp said:

Why do you think it is such a big gamble when there is a certified tech at a local dealer? They have already agreed to service the other local Rav4 owner, he may have to pay out of pocket though, he did get his 1st service free.

I feel more comfortable with it than an ICE because there are so many less things that can go wrong.

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Get it in writing, as here-say may bite you.

brp said:

Why do you think it is such a big gamble when there is a certified tech at a local dealer? They have already agreed to service the other local Rav4 owner, he may have to pay out of pocket though, he did get his 1st service free.

I feel more comfortable with it than an ICE because there are so many less things that can go wrong.

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What ev certified tech are you going to find at Minnesota? Most of the problems on this car are diagnosed through the computer, good luck getting that outside of ca. Parts are also extremely expensive. My heater and inverter was over $4k

cossie1600 said:

What ev certified tech are you going to find at Minnesota?

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Probably the same one that walked (with laptop and gear in hand) into my local Toyota dealer here in New Jersey and did Tesla firmware/Toyota software updates on my car :roll: .

The only parts I'm concerned about are the Tesla parts ... and I'm only concerned because of availability. If you need a new strut in 10 years you don't need Toyota, you can go to any auto parts store. If you need a new dc to dc converter you will have to go to Tesla. In 2022 will they continue to stock parts for this niche car that was produced a decade ago? I don't know.

Based on this forum the Tesla parts that may need to be replaced eventually are the heater, dc to dc converter, drive motor, and battery. There have been out of State (CA) owners who have had one of these parts replaced under warranty. The heater seems to be the most frequent one to fail. It's still covered by warranty and is actually made by Denso so there may be another way to get these...but boy are they expensive.

mikegerard said:

The only parts I'm concerned about are the Tesla parts ... and I'm only concerned because of availability. If you need a new strut in 10 years you don't need Toyota, you can go to any auto parts store. If you need a new dc to dc converter you will have to go to Tesla. In 2022 will they continue to stock parts for this niche car that was produced a decade ago? I don't know.

Based on this forum the Tesla parts that may need to be replaced eventually are the heater, dc to dc converter, drive motor, and battery. There have been out of State (CA) owners who have had one of these parts replaced under warranty. The heater seems to be the most frequent one to fail. It's still covered by warranty and is actually made by Denso so there may be another way to get these...but boy are they expensive.

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The drive unit and charger are the same as the Model S. The DC/DC converter is almost the same. The heater is not a Tesla part, and looks to be the same as the early Leafs. The battery is the only part that is iffy. I have seen pics of the inside, but they didn't show whether Tesla uses the same module design as the Model S. If they do, then pack repair/replacement will be very simple.

Airton said:

cossie1600 said:

What ev certified tech are you going to find at Minnesota?

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Probably the same one that walked (with laptop and gear in hand) into my local Toyota dealer here in New Jersey and did Tesla firmware/Toyota software updates on my car :roll: .

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And how long is it going to take to get a repair done?

Generally folks that have purchased this unique car and own it outside of California have other means of transportation and that is not a factor.
No service anxiety here.