Buying a RAV4 EV in Seattle

Toyota Rav4 EV Forum

Help Support Toyota Rav4 EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Tech26

Active member
Joined
Dec 25, 2016
Messages
40
Hey guys, I'm planning to purchase a used RAV4 EV in February of 2017 and I live in Seattle. I stopped by Paramount Motors last week and they have a few of them on site. I think I talked to Peter and he let me open them up and check them out. It's definitely the right size for me, my wife, two kids (1yr and 3yrs old), and 100+ lb dog. Although, it will just be me driving it 20 miles round trip to work most of the time.

I had my electric panel at home upgraded earlier this year to a 200 amp main with lots of expansion slots open, so installing a 50 amp breaker to supply the car with 40 amps should be pretty straightforward. What kind of 240v charge cable do you recommend? Peter at Paramount Motors offers the Juicebox 40 amper for $500.

I've heard that getting a RAV4 EV serviced in Seattle can be a little tricky, and I'm concerned that something could go wrong with either the HV battery or the drive unit. What do you recommend I look out for or do when buying a used RAV4 EV? I want to make sure I pick a good one. Oh, and I know the basics to look out for, like body damage, tires with low tread, or the 110v charge cable not being in the trunk.

Thanks!
 
There are a number of RAV4 EV owners in and around Seattle. And I think it is safe to say that 100% of us love our cars...in spite of the additional hassle of being out of SoCal where the 'authorized' EV dealers are.

MOST IMPORTANT:
1. Tesla component parts and specialty parts of our car are EXPENSIVE. Replacing one item out of warranty could cost you thousands. SO, be sure to get an extended Toyota warranty. If the car you wish to buy has less than 3 years /36k miles, you can get an extended warranty WITHOUT any extra inspection and for an extended term. (I bought 8yr/125k miles/ $0 deductible Platinum warranty for $1575).

If the car is older than 3 years (since date of 1st sale) OR has more than 36k miles, you must have the car inspected by Toyota before they'll issue a (more limited) extended warranty. I think Kirkland Toyota charged RAVESLA owner, John, $115 or something like that for the inspection.) STILL worth getting the extended!

2. Join the RAV4 EV group on Facebook, too. Lot's of great information AND people who are very willing to help.

3. PM me if you want to bounce anything off of me. I bought my 2013 RAV4 EV in 2014, used out of SoCal and its my daily driver.

4. With JdeMO added on (from Quickchargepower dot com), its allowed me to drive to Portland 4 times, to BC 5+times, and all over the place. HIGHLY recommended if you plan to drive longer distances and not just for 20 mile work commute.)

** to get maintenance and service (which there is very little of), you'll need to contact Toyota's special envoy / ombudsman for the RAV4 EV, a guy named Kevin Spillane. You call or email him, and he'll set you up with the local dealer of your choice. It's a definite hassle, BUT, I do have to give credit where credit is due and they WILL fly a tech up to do the work right here (at no additional cost if you have an extended or original warranty).
 
Oh, and I really like the Clipper Creek chargers which have good service and warranties. If you're in PSE territory for electric service, be sure to double check to see if they're still offering a $500 rebate for putting in an EVSE.

Seattle City Light offers ZERO support like that. Kudos to PSE on this one!
(BTW, before there were any state incentives for solar, PSE offered rebates for installing it on your home or business in their service area.) At that time, too, SCL did nothing for home solar.
 
Here is a list of possible issues to look at:

http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=20079#p20079

We manufacture and sell charging equipment in Eastern Washington. If you want a cheap or low quality unit, we don't have those. The RAV4 EV can charge at up to 40 amps. Here's what we do have:

http://www.QuickChargePower.com

1) JESLA - portable 12, 16, 24 and 40 amp based on Tesla UMC, with interchangeable plugs. Recharge the RAV4 EV in under 5 hours with a 50 amp NEMA 14-50R wall outlet. Lightweight, portable, super flexible, with carrying bag and two plugs. 100-240 volts AC.

2) J-Wall - Wall mount, programmable from 12 to 80 amps, based on Tesla HPWC. Recharge the RAV4 EV in under 5 hours. Hardwired. Can use any circuit from 15 to 100 amps. 208-240 volt AC.

3) JdeMO - charge your car in 30-45 minutes (typical) when on the road at thousands of public DC fast charging stations. 125 amps / 386 volts DC max.
 
Thanks Larry, really good information here. I'd like to get one with less than 36k miles and a date of first use after February of 2014, but I think most of my selection here in Seattle will be right around that mileage and have a DOFU in 2013. I think Peter at Paramount Motors gets his RAV4 EVs at dealer auctions when the customer has returned it from a 3 year lease. So it sounds like I'll have to pay $115 for the inspection and get an extended warranty that doesn't cover as much.

I hope I can get an extended warranty that at least covers the drive unit. I know that thing is going to start clunking or whining before too long. I'll probably wait a while until it gets really bad, or when I'm closer to the end of my extended warranty. The cabin heater and the DC-DC might go out before 100k miles, but I'm not as concerned about those. The HV battery I'm less concerned about, but would be nice if that were covered in extended warranty too.

Pretty sure I'm not going to bother with JdeMO upgrade, but I might change my mind later. We're keeping our old AWD Mercedes Wagon for longer trips. At least until we can afford to replace it with an AWD CPO Model S or CPO Model X.

I'll keep Kevin Spillane in mind. I'd prefer to service with the Toyota of Seattle dealership since it's closer to my home and work than Toyota of Kirkland.

Sounds like I should look into the Clipper Creek EVSE. I'm a Seattle City Light customer :cry:

Thanks again,

-Dave
 
Tech26 said:
I hope I can get an extended warranty that at least covers the drive unit. I know that thing is going to start clunking or whining before too long. I'll probably wait a while until it gets really bad, or when I'm closer to the end of my extended warranty. The cabin heater and the DC-DC might go out before 100k miles, but I'm not as concerned about those. The HV battery I'm less concerned about, but would be nice if that were covered in extended warranty too.
The traction battery will not be covered by any extended warranty. However, the factory warranty on it is 8 years and 100,000 miles.
 
Thanks Tony, and thanks miimura. Good to know the HV battery is covered for probably as long as I'll have the RAV.

Also interesting to see modified Tesla charge cables being used. Too bad Toyota didn't have the same idea and include them with the car when sold new.
 
Tech26 said:
Thanks Tony, and thanks miimura. Good to know the HV battery is covered for probably as long as I'll have the RAV.

Also interesting to see modified Tesla charge cables being used. Too bad Toyota didn't have the same idea and include them with the car when sold new.

Tesla had a marketing agreement with Leviton, so they weren't going to compete with that. Plus, they didn't get any additional CARB-ZEV credit for fast charging. So, it came with a 1.4kW charge cable that takes over 50 hours to fully charge the car. That seemed perfectly normal to Toyota.
 
Be sure to see my thread on filing the NHTSA complaint against Toyota of Lake City in Seattle.

http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1964

In a nutshell, that dealer absolutely refused to do, or even help me get, the safety recall done. They CLAIMED it was because of Toyota, but that is a 100% bold-faced lie. Avoid them like the plague.

Kevin from corporate is arranging for the recall work (wiper motor) at another local dealership for me.
 
Hey Larry, thanks for the heads up on Lake City Toyota. What a bunch of idiots. The work that needed to be done wasn't even related to the HV system. Where are the people that treat you the way they would want to be treated if they drove a RAV4 EV?

I was thinking of the Honda/Toyota dealer in SoDo for warranty work. Have you heard any stories about them? They just got a new building earlier this year and I know the Toyota side of the building just got a new service manager in the last couple months. Not sure who it is though, or if he/she is EV friendly.
 
Just for reference, the Renton WA Toyota dealer will not do any safety recall work on the RAV4 EV. I know because I took mine in on Sat and while the website lets you schedule a RAV4 EV, and the service writer agreed that the non-EV work should be no problem, the Service Manager said no and refused to do any work.
btw I was surprised to find that while the Toyota site only said I needed 2 safety recalls, the seat belts and the windshield wiper motors, the dealership computer said a third was due, something about the EV motor.
 
If you go to the Toyota Owners site you can see the service history of your vehicle, even for dealer repairs performed prior to your ownership. You should see something like this:

Toyota_Owners_Repair_History.jpg


These are the two recent recalls I've had done on my car. I haven't had the wiper linkage recall done yet.

F0I - Reprogram Drive Inverter ECU
G0F - Install Rear Cushion Panel
 
SeattleRav4 said:
Just for reference, the Renton WA Toyota dealer will not do any safety recall work on the RAV4 EV. I know because I took mine in on Sat and while the website lets you schedule a RAV4 EV, and the service writer agreed that the non-EV work should be no problem, the Service Manager said no and refused to do any work.
btw I was surprised to find that while the Toyota site only said I needed 2 safety recalls, the seat belts and the windshield wiper motors, the dealership computer said a third was due, something about the EV motor.

Crap, the Renton Toyota dealer would have been my next choice based on how close it is to home. What do these service managers fear will happen if they repair a RAV4 EV?

I'm still expecting the purchase to happen in mid to late February. Just might have to drive out to Toyota of Kirkland for my servicing needs.
 
Watched a bunch of RAV4 EV review videos tonight and found one that mentions the powertrain warranty is 5 years and 60k miles. That part can be found near the end of the video at about 2:40.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj9QXZCfWcI

Still going to get the extended warranty, but nice to know the drive unit is covered a bit longer than the basic bumper to bumper warranty.
 
Tech26,
Call Kevin Spillane and ask HIM to contact Renton Toyota. Even Kirkland tells me (each and every time) that they can't work on the car. As soon as Kevin contacts them, they then call to set up the appointment. The discouraging part is that they force us, the customers, to make that call. I suggested to the service manager at Kirkland that rather than have his service reps telling us NO, he should have them say something like "We'd be happy to contact Toyota (Kevin) to set that up for you. Is there anything else we can help you with today?"

Lake City Toyota flatly refused even after Kevin talked to them, and that might be the case in Renton, but if that is the closest and most convenient, then DO try going through Kevin for setting up the recall work.
 
I've got an idea. I'll call Kevin Spillane to set things up with the SoDo dealer and then bring a few dozen of Krispy Kreme's finest doughnuts to grease any reluctant wheels... A little Krispy Kreme action can go a long way in situations like these.

-Dave
 
So the saga continues. My car is in Kirkland for the Windshield Wiper recall and the Seatbelt recall. Renton refused.
Meanwhile between the Toyota Owners website and both service centers the EV Traction motor recall has been required and not required depending on when I ask. Right now Kirkland says it is required but they cannot do it. To their credit they are referring me to Kevin Spillane.
I will update when I get more.

Who else in Seattle has had the EV Traction motor recall done or needs it?
 
Back
Top