My first problem, solution, and request for advice -

This morning, taking my folks to breakfast i had the radio turned off, and I heard a rather unusual noise. Well, i should say a more unusual unusual noise, since I think this car sounds alot like Darth Vader, with all its little wheezes and whirrs in the background. But this was only when driving, more pronounced when accelerating, and sounded like something rattling around in the rear differential, which I know this car doesn't have.

Well, I checked around the car, and discovered that above the rear tire on the drivers side is a plastic cover that is hiding a bunch of wires and connectors, and apparently someone over-drove the 10mm bolt that holds the cover to a connector block, and it had fallen and was bumping against the tire. Fix was easy remove bolt, add larger washer, reattach bolt. So I feel like I've had my first (little) problem.

But it raised a question - I bought this from Dianne, and driving from Berkeley to San Diego to have things looked at is problematic. We've had our other Toyotas serviced at Downtown Toyota in Oakland, but a call to them indicated they do not and do not want to service the EV. The next place is Berkeley Toyota, but I would love to get recommendations from other SF (pref East) Bay EV owners for the best dealer to establish a relationship with for long term service.

Thanks in advance!


Cover hanging down -



New washer in place -

I think Palo Alto has an ev tech

Toyota 101 in Redwood City is authorized to sell and service RAV4 EVs. I know that they have taken care of at least forum member with the EV screen of death problem (new gateway ECU, I think).

Following Service RAV4 EV in EBay:
Fremont Toyota (they have huge service center)
Hayward Toyota
Walnut Creek Toyota

I have taken car to Fremont Toyota. Their EV tech expert is Donnie.
He drives a Rav4 EV himself (probably the dearlership gave him one), so he is very familiar with the day to day happenings on this car.

Those wires are the charging port cables and the wiring for the gateway ECU. Damaging those would likely stop your car fast.

TonyWilliams said:

Those wires are the charging port cables and the wiring for the gateway ECU. Damaging those would likely stop your car fast.

Click to expand...

Yikes! Should I make a little more effort to protect that area? Is that sheet of plastic and foam tape adequate, long term?

I've used both Fremont and Walnut Creek. Both were good experiences.

Piercey Toyota in Milpitas is right off 17 at the New Park Mall turnoff. It is a big dealership and they sell and are authorized to service the RAV4 EV. Mine is in there right now getting the EV Gateway ECU firmware upgrade that supposedly addresses some (all?) charging issues.