I have to have a car, so I guess I can't give up ☹️

Still having all kinds of crazy messages popping up on the dash... Hybrid system malfunction... Low breaking power... Collision avoidance system malfunction... Please see dealership.

But up until now, everything was actually functioning perfectly. Yesterday however, I tried to use cruise control, and a new message got added to the popups... Cruise control malfunction... Please see dealership.

So yea, I've been to the dealership twice. They can't figure it out either > and to go any farther, they are telling me just disconnecting any aftermarket equipment isn't good enough. They told me I'd litterally have to rip out my stereo and bring it to them with a big hole in the dash. Are you freaking kidding me ?

Oh, and they also said, "And we don't know what you had plugged into the OBD" (computer interface) Umm... Me either ?

SO, from there I go back to the stereo shop. They go through everything, reset the alarm, and they tell me, all the pop up messages are gone...
And btw, we don't know what this was plugged into the OBD....
Wait, that wasn't for the alarm ??? No. Okay, so nobody knows what that piece is, or where it came from ? That's interesting ?

But anyway, they give me the car back, with the mystery piece sitting in the front seat. I litterally drive it to the end of the street, and Bam... Hybrid system malfunction, etc, etc, etc ! Urggg ☹️

So I do U-turn. They tell me to bring it back in the morning at which point they will completely (at least temporarily) remove the alarm from the system, and try again. They tell me that neither the stereo or the amp go through any kind of computer... Strictly 12 volt stuff (which we have disconnected for testing) so it couldn't possibly be causing this.....

However, Toyota doesn't care. They are litterally telling me "disconnected is not enough"... I need to have the head unit ripped out..... And the amp, in spite of the fact it is not connected to anything that runs through the onboard computer ☹️ or most importantly has been completely disconnected to eliminate any possibility of it causing a problem.

To me ^ this just sounds unreasonable. My Toyota certified friend / personal mechanic told me he has an 800 number where they actually do try to keep customers happy. I might try calling them at some point too.
I know this is quite a long rant, and yet I'm sure I have left out a few things.
Looking for suggestions of what you might do in this situation ? I do ride share and I'm losing money every day my car is down ☹️
I can post a photo of that mystery OBD adapter if anyone cares, or wants to take a guess what that is ?

 

Well not super near me... 25 and 35 miles away. Talked to the one 35 miles away just now though, and he was super friendly, and said if my local Toyota service center couldn't figure it out, they'd be glad to take a look at it. He also confirmed that that mystery piece plugged into the OBD port was kind of an aftermarket anti theft device....
In general though, he sounded very knowledgeable, and friendly, so I might end up taking it there after one more visit to my local Toyota service shop.

 

Oh, so I talked to the 1-800 Toyota customer relations number, and the lady completely Agreed that it was unreasonable that I would need to remove any of my aftermarket stuff, but that disconnecting it would be completely acceptable. And to that end, she was going to send a letter to the dealership to tell them that was not necessary. So that's cool.

For the moment, I have zero messages popping up, and even the check engine light is out. Granted, I could drive to the end of the street and have it all popping up again ☹️

 

It is a 2022 XLE with 27K miles on it. It actually did this briefly, at 20K miles, a couple months ago, then everything seemingly fixed itself. Now, its gotten to where it screws up, and fixes itself about 2 or 3 X's in a 10 hour shift. It was screwing up when I shut it down last night, buts its a 50/50 whether it will do it when I fire it up this morning.

 

Yea, ya know, I hope they think about that, and don't harass customers with that kind of stuff in the future. But I actually talked with the service manager at the place I bought the car yesterday, and he was super cool on the phone. Its 45 minutes one way, and so to leave the car there I'd need two 90 minute drives ....but I swear I might do it anyway. He said he'd have never said I had to completely remove any aftermarket stuff in the first place. And that disconnecting it would accomplish the same goal.