Bought a Certified Pre-Owned 2007 Prius a year ago, purchased the Certified Pre-Owned warranty. Today, got the dreaded Red Triangle, Check Engine, VSC and Brake light warnings... along with the top line of the main screen thingy disapearing (line with temperature reading) and that replace by a little red car with an exclamation point through it. As you can tell, short of technical terms. So immediately take it to the dealer, and they're saying they want $110 for diagnostic fee, even though the car is under warranty. I was thrown by this because I had taken the car to another dealer for problem with the MFD going out, and they did not charge any diagnostic fees, deductible, etc. This dealer also wants to charge for replacing the rubber hatchback handle which has melted in this heat. From other posts I've seen on this forum other owners have had that replaced N/C under extended warranty. Supposedly this is a "bumper to bumper" warranty extending the original warranty, which was in effect when I bought the car. Is this dealer being shady, or what? Got so say, I'm allowing one more major breakdown, then it's third strike, car is out of here. For a car with only 55K miles on it sure has been to the dealer a lot for major expensive repairs. My 10 year old Buick with over 100K miles has been much less trouble.
Your warranty is a contract. If the dealer isn't meeting the terms of the contract, point out the error of his ways. If he won't meet the contractual obligations, go to the warranty issuer for assistance.
Kind of what I thought... Same dealer adding 2K to sticker of new Prius's for "market adjustment." NOT the dealer I purchased from, we recently relocated. Old dealer would have been no problem. They even replaced cabin air filter no charge during one service because "we should have replaced it when we sold you the car." But, that's a small town Toyota dealer, and I noticed small town repair/dealers tend to be more straight up, if not word gets around quick. See how this plays out, curious as to the final problem.
Hmm. The extra stuff like the handle sounds dodgy. However, it's common for dealers to charge a diagnostic fee that you get refunded if a warranty repair is identified. But, $110 is high for a diagnostic fee. Read the warranty. Also, look for another dealer.
Checked the warranty, the handle probably won't be covered, although some mentioned on the other thread that the dealer replaced theirs under extended warranty. Plan I have is no deductible, I think 7 years 125K miles Toyota Platinum. Noticed it does not cover batteries....Hmmmm...
The traction (big) battery is covered separately under its own warranty. The Extended warranty exclusion thus applies only to the small 12 volt battery uses to boot the computers located in the right rear cargo area.
Have you checked the 12V battery? With a 2007, you're at 4 yrs roughly, and it's possible that it is going bad and caused the lights. You could try going to AutoZone if you have one nearby - they'll hook up their generic scantool to it for free and provide you with the code. Granted, their tool won't read every ECU/DTC out there, but it's worth a shot if the 12V battery isn't reading a low voltage.
Car's at the dealer already, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the 12V battery considering its age. Sort of behaved as if the 12V was not powering things correctly, but it did come on all of a sudden, during the trip. Guess we'll find out...
I'm just going to say, if it IS the 12 volt? Don't add this incident to your "Strike Count" against your Prius. The 12 volt needing replacing on a 5 model year old Prius is not to be unexpected. I wouldn't count it as a "Major Breakdown". Unfortunately it's not your vehicles fault that your new dealer is a scumbag. I hope you can find a dealership service department you are happy with...
If it is the battery, do not have the dealer put a OEM battery in. Get a Optima D-51 form ElearnAid.com It has an adapter kit fot the slightly larger terminals. I am glad I went that route!
I wouldn't pay for the diagnositic. I wouldn't even ask for a diagnosis. Just tell them to fix it. If they would rather replace everything in the car insead of finding what's wrong first, that's up to them. The diagnosis is in the interest of the person paying, which would be them.
I agree with this. At the time that the OP dropped off the car, the service writer does not know whether the car's problem is covered under warranty or not. If the problem is covered under warranty then the OP should not be assessed a diagnostic charge. If he is charged regardless, then I would agree that this is an unpleasant business practice. If the problem is not covered under warranty then it is fair for the OP to have to pay for the tech's diagnostic time. I would say that the most likely cause of the OP's problem is a failed inverter coolant pump. If the OP's car is within the LSC serial number range then the replacement should be at no charge. Otherwise the pump is covered under the 5 year/60K mile powertrain warranty, and may be covered by the OP's extended warranty. The OP has an interest in having his car repaired unless he is willing to walk, bike, or take the bus everywhere he needs to go. He may be the person paying, depending upon the root cause of the failure.
Car's still in the shop, they couldn't get to it yesterday, apparently busy and shorthanded. Good size population and next closest Toyota dealer is a bit of a distance. Diagnostic fee supposed to be applied to repairs, if I choose to make them. Guess that's to prevent me, in the case of the 12V battery, from saying. "Thanks for the info, now I'll fix it myself" type of thing. Mentally preparing myself for the 12 volt battery cost, and no, can't count it on the "3 strikes" rule. Normal maintenance in my book. As is hoses, tires, brakes, plugs and plug wires, that sort of thing. Normally I do most of the auto repair work myself on conventional cars, but the Prius is a little more high-tech than I'm used to, so more comfortable letting the dealer work on it.
Ok, heard back from the service department, was the P0A93 inverter cooling pump, which they replaced no charge. Now I've read up on the whole deal on this handy dandy forum, As far as the 12V battery goes, I'll take this as a warning and start the process of investigating replacement of that, and take some advice on good aftermarket battery.
The Optima battery and kit from eLearnAid is the way to do it. And even though they get the battery to you quickly, it is better to do this as a preventative measure. Also, if you wait for a dead battery, you won't be able to open the hatchback without being a contortionist, since without power it won't open except from the inside moving a little lever in the hatchback.. I would not hesitate to do maintenance work on the Prius. There are some great write-ups from many of the PriusChat members. Also, if it hasn't been done yet, it is time to change the transmission fluid. This is something a dealer will charge a lot for, but you can do yourself without much problem.
It's not under warranty UNTIL it's determined/diagnosed to be a warranty coverage item. Until that point in time, it's your vehicle so You need to authorize the diagnostic/estimate charge. Simple contract Law. Most people don't like it, but again, it's your vehicle, your responsible until another determination is made. :evil:
You are correct the dealer will do such thing. I just notice the same kind behavior when I brought my 2012 Prius Plug in for an air conditioning repair and they junk added $125 for a computer diagnostic. I leased the car in 2013 and thought that have the full manufacturing warranty, but the dealership forced me to sign the repair order and said that they will change me the diagnostic amount if I did damages. Well, I had no choice to sing knowing that I did not do anything wrong. At the time of pick up I was told that there are nothing wrong with my air-condition and they spent 2 hours of diagnostic time and therefore I am responsible for the fee. It appears to me that the dealer treats consumer as an idiots, because I would not bring my car for unnecessary repair and spend a whole day waiting for it. I went to the manager and after we have a very long conversation he waived the fee. By the way I think they fixed the car because on my way back I notice that my air-conditioner works fine. Can someone explain to me what is going on with warranty services??
