My Rav 4 EV was bought back by Toyota

[Karen]

Hi All, it's been finalized and I have the check in hand. I really liked my Rav 4 EV but couldn't handle the amount of time it was at the Toyota dealer waiting for diagnosis and repair. The last time it was in the shop it was there for 58 days. Toyota offered a rental but I had a back up car and I dislike rentals. My Rav 4 EV wouldn't hold a charge and it took a long time for it to be properly diagnosed and then for the parts to arrive and be installed. I did not go through arbitration - I chose to go directly with a California Lemon Law attorney who negotiated my case with Toyota and reached a settlement that I am fine with (Lemon Law attorneys by California law are paid for by the auto manufacturers and they won't take your case unless it looks promising). It's a good car that just wasn't being reliable and I already miss the satisfied and superior feeling of driving past gas stations. I'm back in a minivan. If only I had the money for a Tesla......
Anyway, my Rav 4 EV should be re-sold at some point by Toyota or a third party.
I'd like to give a very positive referral to DCH Toyota of Simi Valley. The department, service advisors, techs, and anyone who came in contact with me throughout the process was helpful, courteous and friendly. I never felt uncomfortable even though they were aware of my lawsuit against Toyota. If I buy another Toyota it will be from them. I thought Toyota was fair with me and my case and I am in no way discouraged from buying another Toyota. If anything, I am more inclined to buy Toyota.
The Lemon Law process takes months to get through and I had all of my paperwork organized. It requires patience and time.
Karen

 

[jimbo69ny]

Thats really unfortunate, I am sorry you had to deal with that.

How many miles did your car have on it? What year was it? Did they have any guess as to what the issue was?

 

[TonyWilliams]

Out of the entire 2600 total, the number of buy backs is truly staggering. I personally know of many.

Congrats on your win, but I would honestly just go get another Rav4 EV. I couldn't drive an oil car.

 

[jimbo69ny]

You did just go out and buy another one Tony. Your up to 3 now right?

 

[Karen]

My Rav 4 EV was a 2012 year model purchased in April 2013. It had an issue with the battery at 3,000 miles (car was completely dead) and later the transom motor was replaced (late last year). The issue that finally caused me to say "enough" was when I would plug it in and it would stop charging after a couple of minutes and I would receive numerous email notifications saying "your vehicle's charging has been interrupted". Looking at the paperwork, it appears that the Charger had an internal failure - Electric Vehicle Battery Assembly was replaced along with wire, clip and a new charger cable. Codes and part number don't mean anything to me but I have them.
I gave it back to Toyota with slightly over 10,000 miles.
For me, the Rav 4EV was a commuter car meant to save on gas expense and take advantage of our rooftop solar. It was defeating to be making a car payment on the Rav and also paying for gas in my other car (which was nicknamed "The Hog" for its thirsty gas guzzling ability). My expenses went way up owning the Rav. Bummer. I still believe in the EV technology and hope to have a Tesla one day.

 

[TonyWilliams]

You did just go out and buy another one Tony. Your up to 3 now right?

My car was never bought back. Yes, I own three now.

 

[Kohler Controller]

Sorry to hear that Karen. Do you remember the last 4 digits of the VIN?

 

[miimura]

From reading the Tesla Motors Club forums, it seems that Tesla is usually able to get their own cars back on the road in a matter of 2-3 days for the same kinds of problems that Karen had. It's really a shame that they can't work with Toyota to get these cars fixed in a reasonable amount of time.

Karen, if you were only without the car for a week at a time, would you have kept it? If you were given a RAV4 EV loaner for the extended service times, would that have made a difference to you?

 

[jimbo69ny]

You did just go out and buy another one Tony. Your up to 3 now right?

My car was never bought back. Yes, I own three now.

I know it wasn't bought back. I was just saying that I thought you had three now.
I really really hope I don't get a lemon when mine finally arrives.

 

[4EVEREV]

All the units going forward are tangelos.

 

[Karen]

A loaner Rav 4EV would have helped with my costs and expenses and as I said, I believe in the technology of the vehicle. It just didn't seem like the servicing of the vehicle was well thought out by Toyota and Tesla. I agree with Miimura's post that had my vehicle been Tesla only that it would have been diagnosed and repaired within a few days. I really had to think over whether I was willing to continue having it go for extended repairs to service if it came up. For all I know, once the charger system was replaced it may have been problem free from here on out and I've turned in a perfectly good vehicle but since I couldn't be sure and since I knew based upon on my vehicle's history that I would qualify for lemon law, I decided to go for it. Two weeks before I turned it over to Toyota I was on vacation and my adult son drove it the entire week and loved it.
The last four digits of the VIN #1471

 

[4EVEREV]

A loaner Rav 4EV would have helped with my costs and expenses and as I said, I believe in the technology of the vehicle. It just didn't seem like the servicing of the vehicle was well thought out by Toyota and Tesla. I agree with Miimura's post that had my vehicle been Tesla only that it would have been diagnosed and repaired within a few days. I really had to think over whether I was willing to continue having it go for extended repairs to service if it came up. For all I know, once the charger system was replaced it may have been problem free from here on out and I've turned in a perfectly good vehicle but since I couldn't be sure and since I knew based upon on my vehicle's history that I would qualify for lemon law, I decided to go for it. Two weeks before I turned it over to Toyota I was on vacation and my adult son drove it the entire week and loved it.
The last four digits of the VIN #1471

Saying if it would be serviced in days it were a Tesla is a bit false. If Tesla did not have Toyota to hide behind they would have to redesign all the crap they made here like the earlier junk they made and have considerable costs. Toyota has a long reputation for quality and reliability and the cobbled together Tesla parts they have are a sore thumb I doubt Tesla wants to deal with at all. If it said Tesla/Toyota on the back and Tesla got a bad rap on this PR wise they would do more but they do the bare minimum here and leave it to Toyota to clean up their mess. The driveline issues are remnants of early poor Tesla engineering and they only give a crap as much as they need to.

 

[miimura]

Saying if it would be serviced in days it were a Tesla is a bit false. If Tesla did not have Toyota to hide behind they would have to redesign all the crap they made here like the earlier junk they made and have considerable costs. Toyota has a long reputation for quality and reliability and the cobbled together Tesla parts they have are a sore thumb I doubt Tesla wants to deal with at all. If it said Tesla/Toyota on the back and Tesla got a bad rap on this PR wise they would do more but they do the bare minimum here and leave it to Toyota to clean up their mess. The driveline issues are remnants of early poor Tesla engineering and I doubt they only give a crap as much as they need to.

If Toyota wanted to provide better service, they would spend the money to keep spare parts on hand. Even if it was just one or two units of each part to absorb the delay in getting warranty replacements from Tesla back into Toyota inventory, it would be helpful. They just don't do it because they don't care to. I'm not saying Tesla is doing all they could, clearly they could to better too. The bottom line is that the back of the car says Toyota and the buck stops there. They are the ones that have to buy the cars back and if the bean counters thought they would come out ahead doing things differently, it would happen.

The project started with Toyota needing a compliance car on short notice. They got what they ordered. If they had followed their normal procedure and reliability testing, they would have ended up with a more reliable car, just like they normally do. However, they never would have met the schedule.

 

[jimbo69ny]

I'm really hoping the newer ones are a bit better. Does anyone know if they made any running changes like Tesla does? I have money down on a new one. I think it was #3342.

 

[Incredulocious]

I'm really hoping the newer ones are a bit better. Does anyone know if they made any running changes like Tesla does? I have money down on a new one. I think it was #3342.

If you're worrying, read this thread ("How many owners have had zero problems") to help:
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1225

 

[jimbo69ny]

I'm really hoping the newer ones are a bit better. Does anyone know if they made any running changes like Tesla does? I have money down on a new one. I think it was #3342.

If you're worrying, read this thread ("How many owners have had zero problems") to help:
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1225

Yeah I know that thread, I made it.

 

[Incredulocious]

I'm really hoping the newer ones are a bit better. Does anyone know if they made any running changes like Tesla does? I have money down on a new one. I think it was #3342.

If you're worrying, read this thread ("How many owners have had zero problems") to help:
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1225

Yeah I know that thread, I made it.

Heh! Well, there you go! Lease it and enjoy a fun electric ride already!

 

[HD172]

I surrendered my Rav4 yesterday. I had gone through arbitration. I loved the Rav when it worked. My Tesla is scheduled for delivery at the end of the month.

 

[cwerdna]

I surrendered my Rav4 yesterday. I had gone through arbitration. I loved the Rav when it worked. My Tesla is scheduled for delivery at the end of the month.

Let's hope you have better luck w/the Tesla and that they've worked out most/all of their known common issues.