I could use the collective genius of the auto board on an issue I am having with Don McGill Toyota. I'll keep it brief as I can but happy to provide any/all detail that will help.

I bought a new 2024 Toyota Rav4 and on the day we drove off the lot realized it had some GPS issues in the native navigation as well as CarPlay which uses the car's GPS for wireless CarPlay. The navigation is unusable - places you miles away, wrong direction of travel, etc.

Since then I have had it into service for the following separate interactions

1) Showed them the issue but they resisted it was a problem so I recorded ~10GB of clipped together video demonstrating the issues in all conditions as well as provided a primary source that Apple Carplay uses the vehicles GPS. Also affects the car's nav anyway.

2) They acknowledged the issue and replaced the GPS antenna.

3) Dropped off again and they resisted it was an issue but relented when pushed and made a plan to have it back in the future when they had parts.

4) Replaced Head Unit

5) Had some sort of specialist upload a newer unreleased version of software.

The problem remains and I suggested that maybe we should trade out and they offered me low end trade in value on the car they can't fix and full blown inflated(paint protection etc) sales price on a comprable Rav4. All of this and their best offer is for me to pay $10k to get in a new car. I did expect to pay a "get on with life" penalty but as far as I can tell they'll have lost nothing on three deals at my expense.

What would you guys do? Am I missing a strategy other than begging(where I'm at now)? I spoke with the GM twice and he is nice enough but he referred me to his people and I've never once gotten the impression they want to go out of their way to make it right.

In essence, if the navigation unit's defect is a serious issue that prevents you from using the car normally or poses a safety risk, and the manufacturer hasn't been able to fix it after several repair attempts, it's worth exploring your Lemon Law options in Texas.

If it's the car's GPS causing the problem, try unplugging the GPS antenna from the head unit and see if that forces it to use your phone's GPS.

Maybe ask the service manager to get someone at GST involved?

Silvy said:

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Seems like a easy lemon law case

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Talked with a lawyer on your suggestion and it seems it is an easy lemon law case. I guess I expected there to be a higher bar like the car can't run. I'm still holding out hope to avoid this since it takes time but running out of possibilities.

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Go to a different Toyota dealership with a warranty claim and see if they can fix it. If not, escalate to Toyota corporate.

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I genuinely hadn't thought of this but a fresh set of eyes might do the trick and I'll give this a shot. Unfortunately Toyota Corporate has been involved the whole time but won't talk to me directly so I've never really known their take.

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If it's the car's GPS causing the problem, try unplugging the GPS antenna from the head unit and see if that forces it to use your phone's GPS.

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I liked this idea but research indicates it will just put me in the ocean, hah. If I still have the car(don't lemon law it), will definitely try it when they officially give up or I'm out of warranty.

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Maybe ask the service manager to get someone at GST involved?

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As far as I can tell the GM and service manager have escalated as far as they can. GST/Toyota corporate are not budging an inch so we know the car has a flaw but their take is "it might be fixed in the future" so they don't want to do anything above and beyond. I'd be more comfortable with this if anyone could substantiate they are actually working on it vs. kicking the can.

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This appears to be a very common issue unfortunately. This thread has some possible solutions/workarounds: https://www.reddit.com/r/rav4club/comments/1b60oop/carplay_gps_is_downright_dangerous_in_2024_rav4/?rdt=38781

If you always want to use CarPlay for navigation, try resetting the car's software and then not signing in.

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If you can believe it - this suggestion made me realize my head unit can't be hard reset and I'm going in today for them to look at that aspect. It seems the car is attached to an account that isn't me and that prevents the hard reset. I'll die a little inside if this is all it is but thanks for the suggestion.



Appreciate all the comments, it did help me! Lesson learned, 100 mile test drive for me before buying any new vehicles in the future.

I had no idea CarPlay could use the car's GPS, but not always. In fact, I learned that this is a requirement for wireless CarPlay since often the phone could be put away in a pocket or purse. Apparently there's no setting to force one or the other.

Talk to your lawyer about it first, but I would call Toyota customer service directly, open a case # directly with them, then tell them you want somebody other than Don McGill to see it. My experiences with Don McGill's service department ranged from poor to infuriating. I would not be the least bit surprised to hear that they have not talked to anybody outside of the dealership management about it. If you keep the vehicle, I would also insist that if they have the system logged into a different account, that they hard reset it and let you set it up with your own account. It is probably their way of tracking your vehicle without having a separate tracker that people are learning how to disable.