Prius Solar Panel Failure

I see his isn't sealed at all, but is this what yours looks like?

Mike

 

cover it with a black vinyl wrap.

 

Technological wise, it is just a solar panel with a fan and the sensor to control the when it goes on and off. For $2k that is over-priced. It should never break in my opinion.
This gadget is like moon-roof, it costs thousands of dollars, in terms of usefulness, it just does not add up.

Thanks for sharing this info, we all learn from this and hopefully, we become a wiser buyer when we do our next purchase.

 

after reading OP's post, i'm assuming he presented to Toyota with approach that was deemed to justify premature failure or defect on the product.
I spoke with my dealer's foreman couple nights ago during New Toyota Owner night, and one subject was regarding warranty work. His words were even past warranty coverage, Toyota will cover customer's bill if customer has been good customer to Toyota (i.e. having their car service at toyota dealer). It did sound bit like trying to get the new owners to come to Toyota service center, but it does sound accurate

 

Where will you report for a solar panel failure? I want to file a report since my solar panel is showing same type of corrosion.

 

I'm having the same issue with my solar panel, I notice this when the car was two years old but the corrosion was very little, until recently I discover the full panel almost all the grid on the panel is showing signs of corrosion, it seems like failure is coming soon for me. Our family has been purchasing Toyota for years, currently we own (paid full) 3 Toyotas, but after reading on this issue, I think I'm going to make sure my next car is either Hyundai Hybird (I like their new style), Tesla (if they drop price a little) and Volt (last resort) but definitely no more Toyota jap cars.

 

Has the car ever been driven in the winter snow?

Mike

Somewhere on my phone ;-)

 

Yes, about 3 months out of year.

 

All good. My car is stored every winter Road salt is bad for cars.

Mike

Somewhere on my phone ;-)

 

=.= road salt.... more like regular snow and rain issue that is causing the corrosion.

 

I'm having the same problem, let me know if you are looking to take this any further..., already decided not to purchase any more Toyota cars going go for Hyundai next.

 

That is no fun. Has your car ever been driven in the winter or summer only?

Mike

 

all year round, was fun now all worries and no fun, I have kept it cover up recently to prevent more corrosion damage.

 

I imagine that panel looks ugly with the corrosion. I was refurbishing my solar outdoor lights the other night and noticed one cell had corrosion on what looked like the silver wires running back & forth inside the cell. I thought of the Prius guy who posted about his corrosion and here we are today. I see no way of repairing other than complete panel replacement.

Kind of on topic I suppose, I purchased a Kia Soul for a daily driver this winter. Now I am seeing the incredible quality of a Kia that doesn't cost much. The build quality is spectacular. Fit n finish is excellent. Zero squeaks or rattles at 8k miles so far. Max mpg's is 34 but it was well under $20k and has a warranty that spanks anything Toyota offers.

Mike

 

You can get one of these really cheap...


Amazon item: B008XW05NO

 

Yes, where can we report this? I just noticed my fan doesnt work anymore. 2011 Prius Four not IV because you don't own a 2010 and 2010 used uppercase Roman numerals.

 

just found an article that says it doesn't turn on until inside temperature is above 68. It was 62 and blue skies today. Figured it would've reached at least that today inside my Prius (since its black). But maybe not.

 

Yes, and when the temp. is real close to the turn-on value, it goes on and off repeatedly. About a 2 min. cycle.