Toyota Cablegate: cable warranty extended to 8 years/160,000 km
Due to frustrations from many owners of Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and RAV4 Premium because of a high voltage cable poorly designed, Toyota finally offers some form of solution. RPM has learned from a reliable source that the manufacturer intends to extend the warranty on the hybrid system. For the moment, it only affects the RAV4 hybrid. It’s always radio silence for the Prime rechargeable hybrid version.
This information comes to us from the Service department of a Toyota dealership which would have received an email from Toyota Canada to this effect. Preferring to remain anonymous, our source confirms that, indeed, Toyota intends to extend the warranty for the entire hybrid system of RAV4 hybrids from model years 2019 to 2022 up to 8 years/160,000 kilometers.
This also includes the notorious potentially faulty high-voltage cable that has caused many headaches for some owners. They will be notified of the extension of the guarantee by means of a letter which will be sent to them by post during the month of January 2023.
Note, however, that the 2023 model year RAV4 hybrids will not have this warranty extension, as Toyota claims to have already replaced the high-tension cable at the factory. These models will therefore retain the basic warranty of 3 years/60,000 kilometres.
Still a long way to go
This news is indeed a breath of fresh air for owners of a Toyota RAV4 hybrid and we are delighted to see Toyota acting responsibly. However, there is still a long way to go before the situation is completely resolved.
First, the fact that Toyota does not offer the warranty extension on the RAV4 Prime is curious, because this model is also affected. It wouldn’t be surprising, however, to see the Prime also receive the same warranty bonus in the coming months.
Then, even if the manufacturer reports a better designed cable, some owners have mentioned to us that the new part is not necessarily improved by showing us images of premature corrosion. However, even if the warranty is longer, it is not a guarantee that the cable will not fail. Also, if the cable failed outside of the hybrid system’s warranty, the consumer would still have to pay for the repair.
And what about other potentially affected Toyota hybrid models, such as the Sienna, Highlander and Venza, not to mention some Lexus models that also use this technology? Still nothing on this.
The situation is therefore progressing at a snail’s pace, but at least it is progressing. RPM has attempted to contact Toyota Canada for more information on this matter, but we are still awaiting a response. We’ll update this article as soon as we get more details.
Update 2022-12-22 at 2:45 p.m. – Toyota Canada responded to our request for information via the following press release:
“Toyota is launching a warranty enhancement for RAV4 Hybrid vehicles from model years 2019 through 2022. This warranty enhancement provides coverage for the underfloor HV wiring harness and rear-wheel-drive motor cable of certain RAV4 vehicles. 2019 to 2022 hybrids. This coverage will be available for eight years from the in-service date or 160,000 km, whichever comes first.
Under the terms of this warranty enhancement, if excessive corrosion at the underfloor HV wiring harness connector and rear traction motor cable is confirmed by a Toyota dealer, the vehicle will be repaired and the wiring harness /cable affected will be replaced at no cost to the customer. »
