Out-of-State service in AZ, Round 1

So I took my RAV in for the 5k mile service and firmware upgrade. Said they talked to Toyota and they won't allow anyone to do the service, wanted me to go to San Diego. I do love San Diego, but don't want to drive there today for a minor service. Considering the upgrade hasn't been particularly helpful for people, I'm not fighting them yet, but I told the service advisor about my winning boxing match with Nissan, and told him to let his people know that I've still got the gloves in the closet. The Toyota rep said they have people sign a doc saying all service was to be done in CA, but we signed no such document, and I looked the paperwork over carefully. I know others did get this doc, though.

Thankfully I haven't needed a motor replaced or anything major, but we'll see.

My dealer in Austin, Texas wasn't told not to do the 5k service. Granted, they didn't have to do any firmware upgrade, but they checked out the car (state of health?), rotated the tires, and said "see you in another 5k miles". No fighting Toyota Corporate that I know of.

jspearman said:

... I told the service advisor about my winning boxing match with Nissan...

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Can't wait for Round 2.

I had my 5K service done at Discount Tire in Colorado. I replaced the tires there shortly after buying the car. They will rotate the tires for each of my 5K services for no charge. I can replace my own cabin filters and refill the washer fluid.

Find a different dealer.

I took my car in around 2k to turn off the backup beep and was treated like a rock star. Had no appointment....just drove into the service bay. The guy at the desk walked right over and started asking questions about the EV. In all, I must have talked to 3-4 guys in sales and maybe 10 guys in service. Had a couple requests to pop the hood and to turn on the car and walk through the menus. The service manager told me that there was a firmware upgrade but he would need it for a little longer and wanted me to schedule a time for it. I will hit 5k in September so I'll take it in then.

I would call around to a few local dealers. Get someone in service and tell them you have the EV and that you want to get the firmware upgraded. See what they say. Better yet, if you have the time I would drive to a few and see how they react.

My situation was much like JSpearman ... actually, even worse.

Before purchasing my Rav EV, I wrote repeatedly to Toyota USA - telling them I really wanted to buy this car, and asking them to allow for "out of state" purchase. After telling me NO initially, they later relented ... telling me I needed to do 2 things. Find a CA dealership willing to sell to an out of state buyer, and a local dealership (in Washington state where I live) willing to service my EV. I quickly found a willing dealership in Carson Toyota to sell to me, and I then went to my local dealership to inquire about service.

After meeting with the service manager, I was told they had 3 technicians that had the EV certification for my Rav. I reminded them that the Rav EV was a unique beast, with the Tesla powertrain and all that. I was assured they were trained and willing to commit to my Rav. I asked for, and received that assurance in writing. So I proceeded (back in January) to purchase my EV from Dianne Whitmire at Carson Toyota. Dianne was wonderful and my Rav arrived several days later. I was ecstatic.

A couple months ago I was ready to take her in for her first service visit - and after keeping up to date on many other posts on this website, I discovered that the Rav requires a unique plug (different from the PIP) for software updates. So I contacted them to verify I would be coming in within a couple weeks, and asked if they had the correct plug. They were unaware of any difference, so they promised to check into it and get right back to me. After 2 weeks passed with no reply, I went to the dealership to speak directly to the service manager.

Is was at that visit that the SM told me they would provide regular service to my vehicle, but any EV related work would require it being shipped back to California - at my expense. This in contrast to their assurances, both verbally and in writing. (Side note: I never signed a form agreeing to servicing only in CA either). Needless to say, I was extremely angry. I spent several days with my wife considering whether I wanted to hire a lawyer and begin a lawsuit. I still might. But in the short run, I didn't want to eventually be stuck with a dead car, and a $1,200 round trip transport to California while waiting for settlement. I sold the Rav after owning it for only a few short months, and took a steep loss in the process. My wife and I both dumped our Toyotas and purchased two Ford C-Max Energis. In the meantime, I'm still considering hiring a lawyer to follow up with this boondoggle. Really soured our family on Toyota - which was the only brand I purchased for the last 20 years (a new car every 2 years).

Best of luck to all of you "Out of Staters".

I was going to wait a little bit before posting some of my experiences out here in Hawaii, but now I feel compelled to chime in. Richard C. had sent me a PM and shared his experiences with me as a heads up and while I appreciated the info, I still wanted the car and still have no regrets (not yet anyways).

On the day I picked up my car from the shipping company, I needed to drive it around to pay the taxes, get it registered and get something called a safety inspection here in Hawaii. The safety inspection is basically an annual check and sticker that you get by going to a service station, paying a small fee $15 and they check out a bunch of things on the car (lights, wipers, brakes, car not smoking, tint, etc.). This car is unique and I quickly struck up conversations with several people at the service station. Some of the workers asked if they could take pictures of my car and everything. I felt like a rock star!

The following week (after getting 2 Check EV system warnings - the non-fatal version that you can clear and still drive the car) I decided that maybe I would get a similar reception at the local Toyota dealership. I drove down there with the hopes of striking up a conversation with the service manager. When I pulled in, I was asked if I had an appointment and I said I did not, I asked if it was ok to leave my car parked in the service lane since I just wanted to talk to the service manager. I was about to tell them that I had a special car from California when they said, oh yeah, we've seen a few of these before at our other location (still in Hawaii about 10 miles away). That surprised me because I thought I was the first one in Hawaii . However, that means that someone has already started to blaze this trail. They told me that one of the other people with the car (they claimed three others were on the island) had a problem and they saw the car being serviced by Tesla people at the other location. So it looks like I will be able to get my car fixed, even though there might be delays while things are coordinated. I'm willing to live with that.

Ok all, my first post and I want to open this can of worms some more. I've been watching this vehicle and been very intrigued by the chance to cut the petro tie and do all our local running around on electricity. I'm in a region of the country that really doesn’t even know how to spell tesla, let alone what the technology is. Our 2nd home is powered by an off grid 36 panel almost 9kw solar system which can easily charge the RAV EV for free (running on sunshine I believe the man wrote). It is 70 miles away and easily within the range of the car and as we begin to migrate to our 2nd home over the next 5 yrs, it holds promise of giving us semi free mobility in our local environment. I fully expect our nation’s economy to continue to deteriorate as we go forward; because ultimately you can't continue to endlessly over leverage our borrowing without consequences. The rate of decline and the timing are anybody's guess. This car would be a tangible asset regardless of national economics, but especially if the economy tanks or even worse. I like Toyota and have always had good experience with their vehicles. I have been on the cutting edge of natural gas technology, presently owning a rare dedicated Nat gas Buick Lucerne and a bifuel Toyota Tundra. I know that bringing a RAV EV to Northwest Arkansas carries a risk, especially with the computer system that runs the rascal.

I will relay the following from conversations with local dealers and Toyota Customer Service. Both local dealers (Service Managers) are all "we'll take care of you" attitude, just like Richard C experienced. We've got trained techs blah blah blah.
This is in spite of my cautions about this not a Prius. The 2nd SM did close my conversation with "Here's the toll free number to Toyota CR, call them just to be safe. Toyota CR started off with, yeah no problem, out of state dealer, they can take care of you, before you go let me ask one more person. Finally 3rd person total change of attitude. The local dealer they aren't trained, and we won’t even sell them the parts to fix anything that is dedicated to that SUV to repair it if you have a break down. No warranty, you are on your own.

Now I am a bit of a risk taker, I hate it when some one tells me I can’t do something because of their regulations and I’m a believer when is come to Toyota products and technology. I would think if I can get a local dealer to work with me and partner with another Toyota California dealer that I should be able to work around the road block that Corporate is throwing up. I’m especially interested in the experience of the out of state owners.

Also, how much general service can we be talking about here? Does this thing use any oil anywhere?

Birddog said:

............
Also, how much general service can we be talking about here? Does this thing use any oil anywhere?

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By general service I presume what you mean is the 5000 and 10000 mile service or something wrong with a door latch or the radio. As far as I know there have been few of these reported other than the 5000 mile service which mostly is a tire rotation and inspection.

The tough issue is when something related to the drive train or battery pack goes wrong. In that situation it becomes more complicated because of the partnership of Tesla and Toyota. Some time ago it was explained to me that much of the drive train information has been kept as proprietary secrets of Tesla. Normally you would expect Toyota to understand how this part of their car works so that they can service it, but this is not the case and that is where we find ourselves. Even the coolant used for the batteries and motor controller is proprietary to Tesla as someone else on this board reported.

I drive by Toyota Corporate headquarters at least twice a week and I know some Toyota executives so I am confident that I can get my car services appropriately. I have also had 4 visits totaling more that 30 days so I have the presumption benefit of the California Lemon Law. Everyone's situation is different and I wish I could offer you advice tailored to your situation. I hope the above background is helpful to you in your circumstances.

Birddog said:

...Finally 3rd person total change of attitude. The local dealer they aren't trained, and we won’t even sell them the parts to fix anything that is dedicated to that SUV to repair it if you have a break down. No warranty, you are on your own....

Also, how much general service can we be talking about here? Does this thing use any oil anywhere?

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I would ask them to put that "no warranty, you're on your own" in writing. Ask them if they have ever heard of the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act (P.L. 93-637) is a United States federal law, (15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq.). Enacted in 1975.

There is "oil" like product in the gearbox, but it is not consumed. Obviously, wheel bearings have grease, and plastics and tires are made of oil.