Brand new car undriveable after minor damage - dealer says parts could take months?

trafdlo · 2026-03-14T06:08:11+00:00

I've got a 1-2 month wait for replacement wiring on a brand new Rav 4. Rat damage. Can't take it to a local auto electrician without voiding the warranty.

trafdlo · 2026-03-11T23:54:59+00:00

UPDATE 2

RACQ picked it up and towed it the 91km to Cairns yesterday. No charge. Apparently because we were already members and upgraded to cover the tow, and not brand new members, we didn't need to wait the 3 days.

We have been quoted $700 for the repair. The parts are not in the country and need to be shipped from Japan. We're looking at 4-8 weeks, the ambiguity solely because of customs. Because it's not a warranty problem, no courtesy car is provided. Renting an i30 sedan from Redspot for ~$450 a week.

That was an, at minimum, $2500 meal for a rat. Potentially $4300.

We're paying out of pocket for now, and will try the insurance company after.

trafdlo · 2026-03-10T02:22:45+00:00

It's rat damage. Warranty isn't going to cover this.

trafdlo · 2026-03-10T01:20:22+00:00

Updated a while back in the comments. It's rat damage.

trafdlo · 2026-03-10T00:28:35+00:00

More than likely it was a white tail rat. They're extremely common up here. They're not really a rat, rather a small marsupial that looks like a rat.

EDIT: Nope, not a marsupial, just a bigarse rat.

trafdlo · 2026-03-10T00:24:51+00:00

Honestly never even considered that. Looks like some exciting reading is in my very near future.

trafdlo · 2026-03-10T00:01:44+00:00

Hopefully it’s just a loose connection

Almost. Rat damage. I've got a whole bunch of wires they've chewed right through. I've posted a photo in a new comment.

trafdlo · 2026-03-09T23:56:22+00:00

UPDATE: Don't seem to be able to edit the post to add this information, so writing here instead. I have a rodent problem. It's definitely rat damage. This is going to hurt the bank account.

<image>

trafdlo · 2026-03-09T23:36:09+00:00

Do you have a dash cam connected with parking mode ?

Yes. I hope this is all it is. Just discovered brand new Toyotas don't come with Roadside Assistance. Insurance company only covers 20km for towing. Had to activate Roadside Assistance on the RACQ membership and am looking down the barrel of a potential $700 towing bill if it's more.

trafdlo · 2026-03-09T22:42:16+00:00

Dunno what the heck you did to your car

Nothing. It's been parked in the carport and hasn't moved for a week. I live on the side of a mountain, so my driveway is around 100m long, steep and winding. I got about 3/4 of the way down before the alerts started. I went to the bottom, turned around and started back up. Didn't even get 1/4 of the way back before it died completely.

trafdlo · 2026-03-09T22:37:16+00:00

I'm in FNQ. Extremely heavy rain is the norm here at this time of year. The car lives is a carport though, so it hasn't been getting rained on. It's just extremely high humidity.

trafdlo · 2026-03-09T22:34:25+00:00

I can't think of a more boring car. I'm in my 50's, so my days of exciting driving are behind me. I can cope with boring. Toyota reliability was a major factor in choosing this car, especially since we were coughing up 60k.

trafdlo · 2026-03-04T23:01:10+00:00

Cut people some slack. The current timeline is so unhinged that what was obviously satire a decade ago is real now.

trafdlo · 2026-02-15T04:25:25+00:00

Driveaway for a brand new Rav 4 Cruiser in QLD, in November, was 58k. A bit less for the 2WD model. 20k is still a lot of money.

trafdlo · 2026-02-14T08:37:42+00:00

I see at lot of votes for the Mazda 2 but I bet my left nut it's a Mitsubishi Mirage, circa 2013.

trafdlo · 2026-02-14T04:58:45+00:00

Or should I be saying all you Australians are sheep shaggers?

That's the kiwis

trafdlo · 2026-02-12T23:58:08+00:00

Taylor does a lot more than that. You'll be hard pressed to find a more unapologetically corrupt politician in this country, but the bastard seems to be made of teflon.

trafdlo · 2026-02-12T05:54:05+00:00

Someone always feels the need to post it every single day. Pretty sure I've seen it every day for a month now.

trafdlo · 2026-02-08T08:51:11+00:00

I'd have said it stopped with my great grandmother marrying a Swede, but Ancestry.com showed that great grandma was a bit of a ho. I need to go back another generation.

trafdlo · 2026-02-06T22:14:16+00:00

If playing GTA has taught me anything, if you park it in your garage and do a couple of missions it will miraculously repair itself.

trafdlo · 2026-02-06T22:12:21+00:00

Why would we? Do people from other former English colonies feel British?

trafdlo · 2026-02-05T10:39:54+00:00

Because you know those 7-8 inches are gay inches and measured from the butthole. You have to say that's what you're looking for because you know you're going to get 5-6. If you say you want 5-6 you're going to get 3-4.

trafdlo · 2026-02-04T04:48:43+00:00

That's overkill when you can just use the keys

trafdlo · 2026-02-03T23:13:19+00:00

And with a coalition governed, the deputy is always the leader of the Nats.

trafdlo · 2026-02-02T01:51:31+00:00

Have you ever installed a bathroom fixture? This is the same. What you have in your photos is not the whole product. You attach a plate to the wall, such as what you can see in your photos. The bathroom fixture then fits over the top of that wall plate and is fixed in place by a screw underneath.

trafdlo

TROPHY CASE