The $3000 Brake Job

These are the same instincts I have with anything as expensive as a HV battery, PSD, and now I find the master cylinder, etc. Seems to me, in these cases, it's better to do some google'ing, and simply get the car towed to Sears or some brake specialty shop with one of these ebay parts. A lot less expense and time/headache than with having to deal with all these reps, which even if they do show some consideration might not still match getting it done with used parts at an outside shop time/headache/expense-wise...

This is as much a learning process for me as the OP. Best wishes for the OP in getting this resolved with Toyota.

 

WORST. DEALERS. EVER.

I've actually gone to some stealers over the last few years in an attempt to guide my CFO over the "hatchback hurdle" and to be honest I've given up because the last two dealerships drove us completely away.
Jerks!
If I ever get to put one in my driveway, it's NOT going to be bought in the SE, and it's only going to be repaired (and never maintained!) at a "GEN-U WINE Toyota" service department when all lesser means have failed....and I'll have to do the Admiral Grace Hopper thing to buy the car in the first place!
(Among other things she coined the phrase: "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission!" )

Toyota is going to wake up one day having discovered that they've boldly gone where GM has already been.

 

I agree 100%. When a car is 3 years new you don't expect that kind of repair bill ! Toyota needs a wake up call

 

Okay, out of fear of this happening to me out of simple neglect, I searched the (US) service schedule (2011 Prius) and it doesn't even mention brake fluid, let alone change it. It does mention checking brakes pads, boots, ball joints ect. however NOTHING about CHANGING the fluid. Checking fluid levels, maybe, is the closest it comes to mentioning it........

 

Agreed, thus OP actually did all of the required brake system maintenance (nothing).

 

Soooo True! ......

 

Don't ever buy a VW. Their dealers are the worst of the worst.

 

^ Toyota has a much better product, well.... at least from a reliability standpoint. VeeDubs are orders of magnitude more fun to drive. An unofficial daughter of mine usta have the only TDI I knew of that had five digits on the ODO without a four figure repair. She still has the TDI...

Toyota has a MUCH better dealership network where footprint, facilities, etc... are concerned and it should be a walk-away win for them!! Great product...world-wide network.
I just don't know why I keep hearing story after story after story of things like botched oil changes...strong-arm tactics for unneeded maintenance, etc.....and that's AFTER YOU BUY their product!!
The last time I ventured into a Toyota dealership they had well over ten percent of the already over-priced product printed on the 'sticker' in "non optional options." And no....I'm not talking about the stupid mats.
190 bucks for nitrogenated tires...900 bucks for 'lust-o-finish'...500 bucks for 'admin fees'. I was expecting a $25 charge for pre-setting the FM radio presets, but they hadn't heard of that one yet.

No thanks.
The reason why Toyota sells every Prius that they make is because it's a pretty good product, and in spite of their stealership network.

Rant out.

 

I think the most frustrating and disappointing thing about the OP's experience here is the fact that he's being asked to "prove" he's taken care of his vehicle.

With only 50K on it? Any mechanic worth his salt should pretty much be able to just look and know if any extreme negligence to upkeep has been applied. And that part, is pretty much directly a no maintenance part. It's either going to fail or not fail.

It's bad enough that the OP unfortunately got a lemon of a part, it's worse that Toyota is asking him to jump through hoops just to get assistance.

As a company Toyota should WANT to replace that part for it's customer, and they should want the defective part for analysis as to why it failed.

 

OP you got absolutely raped. $3k? Wow... Just buy one used from a yard or online and have an indi install it.

Pity.

 

Easy, they're ex VW dealer employees working at the Toyota dealers now.

 

One thing I learned from my experience is you want to do all your oil changes at dealership under warranty. Helps immensely with warranty issues and isn't that expensive in the first place.

 

The first half of the oil changes are "supposed" to be free if Toyota still does their "Toyotacare" thing.
It's like the old joke about the ACA...
"If you think health-care is expensive NOW...just wait until it's free!"

I've owned a BUNCH of vehicles, and I've never had a warranty issue get complicated because I didn't have THEIR mechanics swing wrenches on the vehicle.
There's even a law on the books that says that you do NOT have to have maintenance items performed at the dealership.
Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dealerships that state, imply, hint, suggest, or mutter that their warranty is impacted by whether or not you get your maintenance done by a GEN-YOU-WINE Toyota FACT-OH-REE trained mechanic are part of the problem that prompted this thread.

You DO have to do maintenance, and you DO have to keep records. They have a right to expect fair payment in parts and labor for their wrenches. Dealership service departments even have the right to charge full retial and insist that new OEM parts be used in any repair job.
No problem with that at all!!!

If you drive....you either have to maintain (and sometimes repair) a vehicle or pay somebody to do that job for you. If you're smart? You'll do the noodle dance before you whip out the wallet.

 

Look, I know that. The law doesn't automatically make them do concessions when warranty is expired (like in this case as brakes are covered up to 36,000 miles), or the issue is a matter of interpretation (gray-zone).

 

^ Understood....but a consession that is derived because you let their mechanics swing wrenches on your car isn't really a "consession" now is it?
Nobody is saying that the OP was robbed or cheated in any way. I personally think that if she/he had records indicating that the brakes were properly maintained IAW the maintenance schedule for a G3, then whether or not he (or she) had coffee in the waiting lounge of the delaership during the vehicle's first 36k miles should be irrelevent...but then again....they should have done a lot of things. That's sort of the point of the topic.
You're 100-percent right in that sometimes, for some people, a relationship with a dealership's service department is a good thing to have. I'm just seeing a LOT of storys like this one that says (to me) that perhaps if you're one of those people then the "Change Brand" light ought to be illuminated the next time they color outside the lines...

 

I hope you get Toyota to give you a break. There's just no way I'd pay $3,000 for a brake repair, end of story. If the part's that expensive, you go to a junkyard.

 

"properly maintained IAW the maintenance schedule"

This is where compliance is on the side of the customer. However, the part was out of Warranty. Another good reason for Extended Warranties maybe?

 

They always trot out gezamples of repair orders like this when you're in the finance manager's office and she/he is strapping you to a chair and putting drops in your eyes while you watch "Blood in the Repair Shop!"---trying to get you buy an extended warranty.
They do this of course for the same reason that there are billboards all over Vegas and other gambling towns showing how Mr. I.P. Freely just won $26,000 at a slot machine....and by GOLLY you could be next!!!

Yeah.
I've seen where people who are statistical outliers make out on the warranty deal - just like everybody "just about breaks even" when they go to Vegas.....which of course explains how they can afford to build all of those fancy casinos and give hooch away.

Look....if you're a single parent with a crap job on the wrong end of a 7-year finance agreement for a G3...then you can't afford to also finance an extended warranty, but you sure as hell can't afford a $3,000.00 repair bill because some low-octane dealer has to pay for the Starbucks in their waiting room lounge!
So yeah...you might be stuck.

Just remember....there may be another way forward.

 

I'm not going to touch the "Extended Warranty" debate as there are to many Kool-Aid drinking non-mechanics on this site to win. My point is all machines break, even with mil-spec level maintenance. Ideally one could stash the money away for that eventuality, but the reality is most will not. All cars are a gamble, some just have better odds. Pick your game. Anyway, time for me to go to work on the big machines. Out.

 

Looks like someone should have purchased a Toyota Extra Care contract. It's my general experience that these things pretty much pay for themselves with modern Toyota products. In fact, Toyota's reputation for reliability has always been put on a pedestal despite the fact that the 80s and 90s Toyotas that people remember so fondly did in fact puke oil and have obnoxious failure across the board. It's a myth, really. Yeah, they build solid cars but they're not perfect or bulletproof.

The Prius is a cheaply-built econobox packed full of expensive technology. It should not be surprising that, when a component fails, it is very expensive to replace. The Prius body is as cheap to build as a Corolla or Yaris. It's all the goodies packed in it that make the car so much more expensive to buy (and repair). That brake master cylinder does a LOT more than the aforementioned BMW part, too.

Insofar as a dealer is concerned.. posters here would do well to understand how Toyota and their network of dealerships operate before casting too much blame.

1) Dealerships typically don't make much money at all when selling a new car unless they're an extremely large volume dealer and receive spiffs from Toyota corporate for sales volume.
2) Dealerships make most of their money on a new car sale by adding on items like tint, rims, security systems, extended warranties and the like. If you don't buy any of that, they're not making enough money on you to care at all. You're no good to the sales department as a customer.
3) Dealership technicians have very low motivation to go out of their way to prove warranty failures since Toyota corporate pays low hourly rates to fix cars under warranty. You might pay 2 hours for a job out of pocket but Toyota will typically only pay 60% of that when your car is under warranty.
4) Toyota corporate leans hard on dealers that have high warranty repair #s. If a dealership is doing big $$$ in warranty repairs, Toyota will often start to audit that dealer's repair order records and backcharge the dealer if they find minute, irrelevant mistakes in paperwork (such as missing mileage out or nit-picking notes on causes of failure). Basically, Toyota does everything in its power to ensure that a dealer will avoid warranty repairs at all costs.
5) In cases such as the OP, Toyota seldom is motivated to authorize "good will" repairs at all. What's in it for them? Unless you're someone who buys a new Toyota every 3-4 years and you do all your service at the dealership (which generates parts sales income for Toyota corporate), you're not representing a profit for the company.
6) New car profit margins are pretty slim. As such, Toyota (and many/most/all modern car manufacturers) subsidize this with the sale of parts. Body parts are big money (insurance companies pay out the wazoo for this stuff!) and so are specialized parts like A/F sensors, brake master cylinders and instrument clusters.. stuff you have to have in order to continue operating your vehicle. Basically.. you have to fix the car and they know it.