A little more than a week after getting our new Rav4 I was an idiot and damaged it. I won't say how. But, the damage included the
radiator.
Toyota recommended several shops. My Ins co had a few "direct" shops. I went to 5 or 6 of them
to see for myself who would be fixing my nice new car, to put it back to new. The one I choose
was "direct", and the Toyota dealer said they were good, stood behind their work, etc.
In my visits, I asked if they had worked on electric cars before, and, since the Rav 4 was new, if they
would have any problem fixing it? Would they check with the dealer for repair issues. They assured
me they had worked on several EVs: Prius Plug-in, Volt, Leaf, even a Model S.
They did excellent work. Except one thing. They had to evacuate the battery coolant to repair he
radiator. They used the machine they use on Priuses to do this, assuming it was the same. Thing is,
its not. The shop owner advised me to keep an eye on the coolant level in case an air bubble got into
the system. I did monitor it, and it did indeed drop after a couple weeks.
I took it to the Toyota dealer to get "topped off" (I didn't have any coolant and didn't even now what
I would buy to top it off myself). After checking with their EV certified techs, they said they weren't
allowed to just "top it off." They had to plug it into a computer, run some diags, send the data to
both Toyota and Tesla, and get directions on how to proceed. Turns out they had to re-drain the
system, using a special machine, (not the one for the Prius), that actually vacuum's the fluid out,
then fills into the vacuum. Cost ~$450. The dealer's service rep said two techs and their manager
were all participating in the repair, because nobody had done this process, yet. It was a first.
I called the body shop to let them know about the issue. They called the dealer and said they would
take care of the bill. It was very professional. That said, the body shop won't make that mistake again.
They're now going to go to Toyota for EV training and buy the get the right machine.
Now I'm worried a little about possible battery issues. No warnings came on at all. So, I'm _guessing_
there were no thermal issues. That said, I wish the EV display included batter temp info, like a bit-map
of the cells and a color code: blue for cold, green for normal, yellow for getting warm, red for HOT.
It would also be nice to have a energy monitor that shows actual voltage usage at any given moment,
even while "idling" at a signal with the radio and day-time running lights on. I'm told the Volt has this.
Anyway, love our Rav 4 EV. Sorry I damaged it. Glad its back working well.
radiator.
Toyota recommended several shops. My Ins co had a few "direct" shops. I went to 5 or 6 of them
to see for myself who would be fixing my nice new car, to put it back to new. The one I choose
was "direct", and the Toyota dealer said they were good, stood behind their work, etc.
In my visits, I asked if they had worked on electric cars before, and, since the Rav 4 was new, if they
would have any problem fixing it? Would they check with the dealer for repair issues. They assured
me they had worked on several EVs: Prius Plug-in, Volt, Leaf, even a Model S.
They did excellent work. Except one thing. They had to evacuate the battery coolant to repair he
radiator. They used the machine they use on Priuses to do this, assuming it was the same. Thing is,
its not. The shop owner advised me to keep an eye on the coolant level in case an air bubble got into
the system. I did monitor it, and it did indeed drop after a couple weeks.
I took it to the Toyota dealer to get "topped off" (I didn't have any coolant and didn't even now what
I would buy to top it off myself). After checking with their EV certified techs, they said they weren't
allowed to just "top it off." They had to plug it into a computer, run some diags, send the data to
both Toyota and Tesla, and get directions on how to proceed. Turns out they had to re-drain the
system, using a special machine, (not the one for the Prius), that actually vacuum's the fluid out,
then fills into the vacuum. Cost ~$450. The dealer's service rep said two techs and their manager
were all participating in the repair, because nobody had done this process, yet. It was a first.
I called the body shop to let them know about the issue. They called the dealer and said they would
take care of the bill. It was very professional. That said, the body shop won't make that mistake again.
They're now going to go to Toyota for EV training and buy the get the right machine.
Now I'm worried a little about possible battery issues. No warnings came on at all. So, I'm _guessing_
there were no thermal issues. That said, I wish the EV display included batter temp info, like a bit-map
of the cells and a color code: blue for cold, green for normal, yellow for getting warm, red for HOT.
It would also be nice to have a energy monitor that shows actual voltage usage at any given moment,
even while "idling" at a signal with the radio and day-time running lights on. I'm told the Volt has this.
Anyway, love our Rav 4 EV. Sorry I damaged it. Glad its back working well.
