1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Anyone have experience with arbitration?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Tone88, Aug 2, 2013.

  1. Tone88

    Tone88 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2011
    27
    21
    0
    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I have an arbitration date set for my 2007 Prius. I have a power loss situation with the hybrid system that Toyota has tried to repair on many occasions, but problem still persists.
    It is covered under CA lemon law, and arbitration is to determine settlement value be it repurchase or replacement.

    Issue is that they deduct usage based on a life of 120K mi.; so since these issues started at 4yrs & 90K miles, the paid amount ($~7K) is less than the current car value of approx ~$8-9K. Anyone have experience/learning to share, aside from getting a lawyer, which I'm considering.

    Thanks!
     
    #1 Tone88, Aug 2, 2013
    JMD likes this.
  2. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2008
    772
    96
    0
    Location:
    Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    If they give you $7000 and let you keep the car then you can either keep driving it as is or just part it out and make many thousands more selling the parts. Be happy.

    Back in the 80's Ford build very simple and reliable cars but didn't know a thing about undercoating them, so in the early 90's my father took our '85 Mercury Cougar to Zeibart or some place like it and they fixed all the rust, repainted it and gave us a lifetime warranty. Well every year or two we'd go back and they'd fix more rust, finally after about about 5 years they sent us a check for $1700 with a letter that read something like this:

    Enclosed is a check for the value of your car, we are buying it and giving it to you as a gift, thus we are now absolved of having to make any further rust repairs on this vehicle.

    We didn't complain.
     
    #2 cnschult, Aug 2, 2013
    JMD likes this.
  3. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    3,779
    1,282
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    That and the trade in is a Nice down payment on a new Prius
     
    #3 JMD, Aug 2, 2013
  4. Tone88

    Tone88 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2011
    27
    21
    0
    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    If I could keep the car and get $7K that would be fabulous, however, I don't believe that's not how that law is structured. Basically they'd buy my car back for $7K, or give me $7K towards a new car (taking the old) which doesn't really make me whole. End of the day the lemon law formula assumes the life of a car 120K in it's valuation, so at 120K+ the car basically has no value, which we know is not applicable to Prius....
    It would be fine if it was issues earlier in the cars life and more normal annual mileage, but curious if anyone on this forum has experience/advice under these circumstances...

    thx
     
    #4 Tone88, Aug 2, 2013
    JMD likes this.
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,164
    50,060
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    what is the kbb value?
     
    #5 bisco, Aug 2, 2013
  6. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    3,779
    1,282
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    I have no experience in the area.
     
    #6 JMD, Aug 2, 2013
  7. emsee

    emsee New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2013
    22
    13
    0
    Location:
    DFW, Texas
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Take a look on car value sites like KBB and NADA, then bring those with you to negotiations. That is your proof and this tactic has been used with success in courtrooms. I've done some light research into pricing recently and came across a lawsuit from NJ where a guy was claiming his truck was worth way less than he owed. They used KBB and/or NADA to determine the value, he was wrong.

    On KBB, using a SF zip, your car, without any options is worth $8925 is good condition. NADA will most likely have it a bit lower. Keep in mind these are private party values. If you say retail, that number jumps a grand or more.

    If you're still unsure or you're not getting what you want, talk with a lawyer, they have free consultations. Perhaps you could even get free legal advice through a law office in the city? I wish you luck.
     
    #7 emsee, Aug 3, 2013
    JMD likes this.
  8. uart

    uart Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2009
    4,215
    1,202
    0
    Location:
    Australia
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    #8 uart, Aug 3, 2013
  9. Tone88

    Tone88 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2011
    27
    21
    0
    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Great advice
    I've planned to use NADA and KBB to try and establish a fair value.
    Am looking at lawyer advice as well...
     
    #9 Tone88, Aug 4, 2013
  10. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    3,779
    1,282
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Google lemon law lawyers call and get your free advice
     
    #10 JMD, Aug 4, 2013
  11. Tone88

    Tone88 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2011
    27
    21
    0
    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Exactly right. Toyota did quite a bit but unfortunately it's now back as a consistent problem.
    toyotas response this time around has been pretty slow. I dont think they know where to go from here
    after 8 dealer visits and no sign of a fix/plan I need to get reliable transport.
     
    #11 Tone88, Aug 4, 2013
  12. uart

    uart Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2009
    4,215
    1,202
    0
    Location:
    Australia
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Is it still just a problem going over mountains Tone88, or has it progressed to a general loss of power?
     
    #12 uart, Aug 4, 2013
  13. Tone88

    Tone88 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2011
    27
    21
    0
    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Yes it is primarily over the mountain passes
    Where it occurs consistently
    However it does happen on occasion around town. But this is difficult to duplicate and isn't as big an issue since it usually recharges quickly since it's not a longer climb.

    Also if you let the car just sitting idle after 20 minutes it will go down to just one bar on the battery. I don't think this is normal but not sure. Either way I think it is some kind of electronic or sensor issue that is not telling the system to recharge the battery when it needs to
     
    #13 Tone88, Aug 4, 2013
  14. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2005
    20,183
    8,356
    54
    Location:
    Montana & Nashville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2018 Chevy Volt
    Model:
    Premium
    That - as we say in the biz ... is a 'rebuttable presumption'. For example - we sold our 2004 Gen II in 2010 for $8,600. It had 110,000 miles on it. 6 months later the new owner (a co-worker of mine) crashed it. T he insurance company bought him out for over $10K. You pull up a bunch of stats like that and BAM - presumption overcome. It's a lot of leg work ... but it is do-able. It's just like dealing with insurance c companies, that plan on giving you bottom dollar.

    .
     
    #14 hill, Aug 5, 2013
    Data Daedalus likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)