"Half" a firmware update?

[miimura]

This is the part that rubs me the wrong way. This is clearly coming from Toyota corporate and they're being openly hostile to customers. There is no good reason, even financial, for Toyota to tell out of state dealers they are "not allowed to touch anything" on these cars.

There is a good reason and I'd wager it is mostly financial. The Rav4 EV is a CA compliance car. Having it go beyond CA means they need to worry about training of dealer techs, regional reps as well as stocking parts outside CA.

What happens when a tech has never even seen a Rav4 EV before, or let alone been trained on one? He won't likely know how the common issues and how to fix them. And, he might have to spend WAY more time on a vehicle due to lack of experience. Guess who pays for that or eats the cost if it goes beyond standard billable amounts? What happens if they damage a part, esp. an expensive one?

What if they need to fly a rep, engineer, etc. w/experience out vs. keeping ones within the state of CA and possibly dedicated to service certain regions of CA? How much time and money will it cost (in terms of travel expenses, time spent, inability to work on other vehicles, etc.) to service a one-off vehicle that's not even sold in that state?

Look how puny the sales are overall. Then, spread out the sales all piecemeal throughout a dozen or two states and then you'll see the problem.

Of course the engineer was non-committal. He doesn't want to go against policy or promise something that he/Toyota can't deliver on.

It is too bad the way things are. Toyota isn't serious about BEVs right now and other states don't have a similar system to CA ZEV credits that incentivize or practically force large volume automakers to make BEVs (or buy ZEV credits from others).

My premise for the partial quote you made of my post is this: If a dealership service department or even an individual tech at a dealership is willing to get trained and buy special tools and accept the standard reimbursement rate from Toyota, then it should not cost Toyota anything extra if the service is done in CA or OR, WA, CO, or PA. There is an easy out for any dealer who doesn't want to work on your car - they just say they aren't EV Certified. Due to federal warranty law, Toyota Motor Sales does not have an easy out when the car is broken while under warranty.

 

[JBHorner]

I can't speak to anyone else's experience, but I think that taking the Rav4 EV to an out of state dealer that isn't familiar with the model is no different than taking it to an in-state dealer that is supposed to be familiar with the vehicle. When I took mine in for service (5K miles), I was given a list of services--oil change, etc. Sure, okay.

Then, when I picked it up, I asked if they checked to see if it had the latest software. The service adviser told me that one wasn't necessary, as it would have "shown in their system." Bzzzzt...wrong. When I pushed him on this, he found that they should have checked "another" system (I presume Tesla's.), and that yes mine needed to get an update. Oh, and then I was told to bring it the next day, and expect to leave it a day.

Sooo...I pick it up the next day. The service adviser told me they didn't do the update (so, they did nothing, essentially), because the equipment to do so was broken.

My point here is that even the some dealerships that are supposedly trained are useless when it comes to knowledge about this vehicle.

Joel

 

[Michael Bornstein]

.

My point here is that even the some dealerships that are supposedly trained are useless when it comes to knowledge about this vehicle.

Joel

This is precisely why I have started a thread on "Rate your Toyota Dealer". Some RAV4 EV dealers have sold so few of the cars that they haven't the faintest idea of what to do when one rolls in. I was actually asked by the service writer at my dealer what the 5000 mile service entailed.

Please go to the other thread and at least list the dealers that we should patronize. If you have had bad experiences, as JBHorner had, it may also help to list those dealers. Perhaps we can get Toyota to do some extra training in Costomer Care. :roll: