Out of State service

It's probably been said before, but if you buy one of these on the used market, then you have no disclaimer and potentially no knowledge that Toyota has no plans to service these cars outside of California. Here's one for $33.5k. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ctd/4020756560.html

For folks who took the 1st generation RAV4 EV outside California, how did service work out for them?

I'd agree with that path in theory, but frankly, this $15,400 subvention cash the way these are still as cheap new.
I'd surmise that once you buy "a used car" and drive away in it, you're just driving away in a used car. It's your problem if the manufacturer won't do whatever you think they ought to once it's yours. I hope that makes sense. I mean that in a very logical fashion.

Parzival said:

It's probably been said before, but if you buy one of these on the used market, then you have no disclaimer and potentially no knowledge that Toyota has no plans to service these cars outside of California. Here's one for $33.5k. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ctd/4020756560.html

For folks who took the 1st generation RAV4 EV outside California, how did service work out for them?

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Dianne,

Do you require your out of state buyers to sign a warranty disclaimer?

mkjayakumar said:

I would imagine that I would have to work around his schedule in the future should I need any other service performed with the scan tool.

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I don't mind working around anyone schedules, as long as there is a gentleman agreement that someone will take care of the issues. Do you think I can talk to your dealer and find out more about this ?

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Unfortunately, there are no such things as gentleman agreements when it comes to businesses. You can call my dealer, but they can/will only do what Toyota Corporate tells/reimburses them to do. Anything extra is just if it doesn't inconvenience anyone or cost them money.

You should talk to your local Toyota dealership as well as the local Tesla Service Center. The Tesla Service Center probably won't be allowed to do anything to your car other than hook up their diagnostics to the car to read info. They are not allowed to service it.

Yes.

Parzival said:

Dianne,

Do you require your out of state buyers to sign a warranty disclaimer?

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Dianne said:

I'd agree with that path in theory, but frankly, this $15,400 subvention cash the way these are still as cheap new.
I'd surmise that once you buy "a used car" and drive away in it, you're just driving away in a used car. It's your problem if the manufacturer won't do whatever you think they ought to once it's yours. I hope that makes sense. I mean that in a very logical fashion.

Parzival said:

It's probably been said before, but if you buy one of these on the used market, then you have no disclaimer and potentially no knowledge that Toyota has no plans to service these cars outside of California. Here's one for $33.5k. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ctd/4020756560.html

For folks who took the 1st generation RAV4 EV outside California, how did service work out for them?

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indeed, I agree as a used car purchase situation. But part of the valuation in the used car has the backing of manufacturer warranty baked in. Given the Toyota corporate hostile attitude toward this model, I wonder what that would do to our used valuation as a Gray market item outside of California. No warranty what so ever 4 months post purchase...
unless I ship it back to CA for every time I have a rattle or blown fuse.

Do they sell vsa for this car???

cossie1600 said:

Do they sell vsa for this car???

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You mean service agreement? I would think so. I would love to figure out how that could solve this issue though.

Just an extra insurance if something were to crap to bed

There is a hopeful rumor going around up here in Seattle. After the New Year, mid January, Toyota will have a trained Rav4EV tech to support us up in the Northwest. This juicy bit of gossip comes from a fellow local Rav4Ev owner who has a heater failure, and claims this is what Toyota Support has told him. I'm skeptical, but hopeful. Happy Holidays…..

I am happy to report that I took my Rav to Kirland Toyota in Kirkland WA yesterday for its 6 month Toyota Care service.
No problem, no issues. They have even added a charging station.

While they did not specifically say they were EV certified they did not whine about not getting paid by corporate so I have to assume they are.

Ready to take mine in for the first 5k service next week here in NJ, basically i've already topped off the G48 coolant and just looking for the tire rotation I guess and the stamp in the book :roll:

Just for the fun of it I will ask about software/firmware updates to see what kind of reaction I get...

Careful or you will end up with "half" a firmware update like me... And as soon as they call corporate or region for support they'll be told not to touch your car and that's the end of your "free" tire rotations.

SeattleRav4 said:

I am happy to report that I took my Rav to Kirland Toyota in Kirkland WA yesterday for its 6 month Toyota Care service.
No problem, no issues. They have even added a charging station.

While they did not specifically say they were EV certified they did not whine about not getting paid by corporate so I have to assume they are.

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This is what I was told too when I had my 5 k done at Rodland. Until a week later when Toyota Corp denied the warranty claim. Good luck. If it's true, I will taking my service to Kirkland also. I will call them tomorrow. Keep us posted.

My heater doesn't work, so I took it to my local dealer. They called back in about 90 minutes, said they couldn't work on it. I called Toyota customer care, they seem reasonable, and willing to help. That was 1 week ago. The dealer called Saturday, and wants the loaner car back. We shall see what my case manager says tomorrow.

I am hoping that since they went to the trouble of putting in a Level 2 charger, they are EV certified.
We shall see.

Charlestonleafer said:

My heater doesn't work, so I took it to my local dealer. They called back in about 90 minutes, said they couldn't work on it. I called Toyota customer care, they seem reasonable, and willing to help. That was 1 week ago. The dealer called Saturday, and wants the loaner car back. We shall see what my case manager says tomorrow.

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The warranty booklet says that if you cannot find Toyota dealer that can work on your car, you can take it to someone else for the work. They will reimburse for Toyota parts and reasonable labor costs. It is silly that Toyota will give you run around, but perhaps they prefer third parties to do the work out-of-state. Bizarre.

Madcow:

I sent you a PM. Please reply when you have a chance.

Michael Bornstein

doug401 said:

There is a hopeful rumor going around up here in Seattle. After the New Year, mid January, Toyota will have a trained Rav4EV tech to support us up in the Northwest. This juicy bit of gossip comes from a fellow local Rav4Ev owner who has a heater failure, and claims this is what Toyota Support has told him. I'm skeptical, but hopeful. Happy Holidays…..

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Just got off the phone with Kevin Spillane, Toyota Customer rep for the Rav4EV. We had a long discussion on out-of-state servicing, and what Toyota will do for us, and what they won't do for us.

It breaks down to 3 scenarios.
1) "Toyota Customer Care"... 5K 10K checkups etc. Not covered outside of CA authorized dealers. I've already been down this road with my 5k at my local dealer... 5K performed, then denied by Toyota. No matter what your dealer tells you, it won't be covered under "Toyota Customer Care"

2) Ev drivetrain problems, mostly Tesla stuff. Not covered outside of CA authorized dealers.

3) Good news, Toyota is willing to help out-of-state'er for some non EV drivetrain failures like my co-workers failed heater on a "case by case basis". They have an authorized field engineer coming to a local dealer to perform the work. It has nothing to do with the dealer themselves, it's just a place to work on the car.

It's nice to hear there is some flexibility with Toyota's warranty support for out-of-state owners. That heater repair is over $3000 in parts alone, so it gives me a little peace of mind. I'm still prepared to ship to CA for big stuff... 10,000 miles so far and zero issues.

doug401 said:

It breaks down to 3 scenarios.
1) "Toyota Customer Care"... 5K 10K checkups etc. Not covered outside of CA authorized dealers. I've already been down this road with my 5k at my local dealer... 5K performed, then denied by Toyota. No matter what your dealer tells you, it won't be covered under "Toyota Customer Care"

2) Ev drivetrain problems, mostly Tesla stuff. Not covered outside of CA authorized dealers.

3) Good news, Toyota is willing to help out-of-state'er for some non EV drivetrain failures like my co-workers failed heater on a "case by case basis". They have an authorized field engineer coming to a local dealer to perform the work. It has nothing to do with the dealer themselves, it's just a place to work on the car.

It's nice to hear there is some flexibility with Toyota's warranty support for out-of-state owners. That heater repair is over $3000 in parts alone, so it gives me a little peace of mind. I'm still prepared to ship to CA for big stuff... 10,000 miles so far and zero issues.

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I think there is a fourth scenario. RAV4 ICE standard things that are covered by warranty. My key fobs are not recognized after start-up on one of my RAV4 EVs when I place the fob in the cup holder. I get an error message on the dash. I have replaced the batteries and still have the issue. My other RAV4 EV does not have the issue when placing the key in the cupholder. Is that something we would bother the authorized field engineer with?