Before Toyota techs can wrench on the new Supra, a $50K sports car, they must be certified to work on them. With a powertrain and electronics from BMW, Toyota techs must learn the ins and outs of a new vehicle architecture. In other words, they must be Toyota techs who happen to know a lot about the BMW Z4.
Apparently, the Toyota techs at one particular Oregon dealership near BMW of Salem aren’t certified to work on the new Supra yet.
According to this BMW tech with a Supra problem on his hands,
“Toyota just advised me it only needs a battery. Someone left a light on. If they (new Supras) run dead, a full charge and/or replacement is required. “
You’d think changing a battery on a simple Toyota would be easy-peasy, swap in a new one and you’re off. I thought so too until I read the official Toyota Supra manual.
When swapping in a new battery into the Supra, because it’s designed by BMW you must,
Use an OEM battery. If not, you’d better be sure it’s compatible with the Supra because the wrong battery can, “damage vehicle systems and impair vehicle functions.”
Register the battery with the Toyota dealership. If not, comfort features won’t be available.
And, as mentioned, if you’re not Supra certified, you can’t even swap in a simple battery. I assume since the Supra has a BMW engine, BMW specific software like ISTA (Integrated Service Technical Application) interfaces with the new Surpra, something a non-Supra certified dealership won’t have.
To contrast, here’s what it takes to put in a new battery in the 2020 Toyota Corolla. Long story short, Toyota pretty much says, “make sure it fits in the battery tray.”
Yea, good luck with all that.
