The only advantage this piece of shit has over a 10 year newer Leaf is looks.

Buying this car at that price would be the stupidest purchase a person could make. ND

Probably, but that’s where I see most of its value.  It’s definitely not worth $12k without the battery, and I don’t know what sort of upgrades would be needed to the controllers and chargers to make an upgraded battery work.

Internet says up to 20k. Yes, you read that right. I cannot get a specific figure for a 2002 Rav4 EV. However the life of said battery for this vehicle is 10-20 years. So this one is skint.

Having had the pleasure of working with both companies over the years...

Biggest red flag here besides a 20 year old niche EV is the lack of recent photos. It’s not like you have to drop the negatives off at FotoMat and wait a week for them to come back before you can send them off with your 3 bucks and 20 word ad copy to AutoTrader.

Unless it’s a fuel shark, which will add at least 10% better MPG.

A rare late 90's EV that was only sold in one state... what could go wrong.

I’m going out on a limb and say that any battery replacement will have to be custom at this point and that’s going to cost you. Honestly though, that’s really the only worry. Everything else could be sourced or replace with current parts I’m…

This reeks of offloading a mistake on the unsuspecting. Just like it happened to the seller some time in the near past.

Ask Jalopnik: I have $12K and want to maximize my range anxiety. What car should I buy?

HARD PASS.

I...don’t really know? It’s an old and awkwardly adapted electric drivetrain, meaning that it has likely lost some not-insignificant proportion of its capabilities that were less than stellar in the first place. It’s not visually interesting (if anything the EV graphics and boring color make a bland original design…

As a vehicle, it’s not worth $12k, but as a self-propelled 27kWh Ni-MH battery... it’s still not worth $12k.

It is worth the resale value of its parts, minus the cost of your labor needed to get them out. ND.

My grandfather bought a Cadillac Catera. He traded in his old 80's baby blue Caddy for it. He was so proud of it, and I don’t care if historically it wasn’t a great car. Every time I see one or hear one mentioned I think of him, and the spring and summer weekends I would spend at his place helping him mow his lawn. Or…

is sweat tea made with real sweat ?

That is gonna take a few coats of wax to even out

With a VW bus, it is always best to assume that “ran when parked” is meaningless, even if that refers to ten minutes ago outside a Piggly Wiggly while you got a sweat tea. Will it start again afterwards? Who knows.

Did you see the rear door frame? I don’t think that’ll buff out...

Looks to be basically a parts-car that the seller is trying to pawn off in the inflated market. I know these are worth big bucks in decent shape, but this van sounds like it was destined for the scrap yard when it was parked and just never made it there.