2021 Rav4 won’t turn on

Question

Hello! I bought a 2021 rav4 XLE premium AWD from a auction like Copart. The car received damaged from the front left tire and front left bumper, as well as a flat tire on the left back side, there’s many malfunction lights turned in the gage cluster, as well the car has so many front sensors, although, we fixed the area of the front left tire, jump started it, drove it down from the flatbed. The next day we replaced the back tire and the car won’t turn on anymore. We replaced the battery to a new one, the car electronics will start as well as says “ignition on” although it’s not, as well making a weird electronic noise trying to turn it on with the remote key, what should we do?

MountainManJoe · Accepted Answer

that's how it goes with auction cars. Take it to a trustworthy mechanic and pray that it doesn't cost too much to fix.

Porkchophill · Answer

Pray it doesn;t have flood damage. Tons of these cars being put into auctions and on the market recently.

Dan · Answer

I'm assuming your car is a no-crank no-start: First you want to check that the ECM is online, turn on the ignition and check if your check engine light has illuminated and that you can access live engine data using a scan-tool. If your ECM is offline - you need an electrical / magician that knows how to work on these electronics and what to look for. The last thing you want to do when it comes to these expensive electronics is fire the parts cannon. This is also applicable to crank no-start: Check the simple things like oil, coolant, ground wires, just inspect it mechanically - use a fuel pressure gauge (if possible) to see that it has fuel (I'd assume 40 bar is what'd be nominal)    https://toyota-club.net/files/faq/18-03-20_faq_df_r4_eng.htm AllData and other online resources might be useful to understand "what connects where" and "what does what"   If your ECM is online - it most definitely has the insights you need to make your car work again, check that there isn't anything that might be preventing startup in live data - does it recognize the key? does it recognize the key position? is it trying to close the starter relay? does it read sensors correctly? It could be something simple like the post-crash safety features engaging only now.   What you can do, but I don't recommend is tapping and GENTEELLY push/pull on harnesses and computers, maybe the crash damaged some electrical connection that'd cause your car to stop working properly. If the computer seems to be in-control and reading everything correctly, you want to check that it has fuel and spark. and depending on that you might want to check if it's pulsing injectors, if it's pulsing the coils - basically you need a capable bi-directional scan tool and a scope.   I'd suggest you go to a car electrician / mechanic that actually knows what he's doing (that's rare) - but at least if it's a crank no-start those quite common. Find someone who can actually diagnose it, and won't just be throwing on thousands of dollars in parts and wasting hundreds in programing fees.   modern cars - absolute piles of garbage.   Watch Scotty's video, you might also want to watch PineHollow he has a ton of videos on crank-no-start cars. But if you genuinely don't know what might be causing your issues or aren't experienced in working on modern cars, go to a pro.