Steering wheel defect after a very hot day

Without reading your warranty it would be hard to tell, but, at least now I finally have an answer to why these things are happening to the gen 4 steering wheels. Sorry your misfortune was needed to inform me, though.

 

In general, no.

See the "not covered" section of the "Extended Warranty".
Note the 4th-line from the bottom.





However, that does not mean that Toyota may not cover some/all of the replacement cost under "a good will gesture".

Good Luck!

 

Same happened to me over a year ago. And, despite having all the extended warranty plans, they all said not covered.

 

No, you are allowed to get the vehicle repaired, by a professional competent mechanic and shop, with OEM, or equivalent parts.

HOWEVER, it gets more involved.
If you do have a non-dealer do the repair, then if ANYTHING at all related or associated with that part/system does have a possible warranty failure (in this case, most likely the air bag, or steering angle sensor), THEN the Dealership and/or Toyota have the Legal Right to not cover that repair.
In that case, you would have the right to dispute their non-coverage, by the terms defined in the contract.
Note, if the terms in the contract say "Go Pound Sand", then that is the only legal recourse. Some contracts say, disputes settled only by arbitration, they pick the all of the rules, and they pick the arbitrator. Imho, "Go Pound Sand" is more concise. So, unless there's some legal issue with the contract (did you not sign it, did they hold a gun to your head), the consumer has no legal recourse.
Note#2: Some States may have their own laws that supersede some contract terms.

Imho, in the case of a steering wheel replacement, there isn't much at risk, in terms of possibly voided "extended warranty" areas.

However, if someone puts a trailer hitch on the car for even one second (it's not hard to tell), then many areas and components could be denied warranty coverage (engine, tranny, brakes, suspension, frame, body, battery, inverter, possible mechanical/thermal stress related failures, and so on, and so on). But, if the radio goes, and you have a trailer hitch on the car, the trailer hitch isn't relevant to the radio failure. Imho, one of the few things.

In case you never noticed, the car knows, logs, and sends a lot of information related to it's use. If you ever did a Quarter Mile test run, that's logged, and also sent to Toyota.
If the care went up a steep mountain with a very heavy load on the engine/tranny, the car logs that info and also sends it to Toyota.
If the car does drives over 100MPH, well, you get the idea.
My guess is if the inside of the car got over 150F, then that would also be logged and sent.
So, if/when the Dealer/Toyota voids a warranty claim, they very likely have a very strong case.
Btw, manufactures have had data recorders in various vehicles since the 90's.
Iirc, now, some data recording is actually required by law (x-secs before/after an accident/air-bag deployment).


Yea, that was a long answer.
But, I wanted you, and others, to have a better idea why a warranty claim can, and can not, be voided by the Dealer and/or manufacturer.

Fwiw, Steve Lehto (lawyer, gear head, author), has done a few youtube videos on the subject.
However, he titles his videos for quicker clickbait clicks, instead of a good concise descriptive title (he's a lawyer and an author - that would be simple and trivial for him to do). So, searching for subjects on his videos, can be a PITA/very-hard.


Disclaimer:
I'm not a lawyer.
The above is not legal advice.


Good Luck!

 

It can’t hurt to ask (and push a little) as the design basis for the car should include hot summer days and nights.

 

Peeling Softec from the steering wheel is a very well-known "defect" on PP and Gen4, although Toyota maintains the position that it is not a manufacturing defect, but rather normal wear and tear, much like a small dent or scratch on the body panel.

Read more on this topic, if you like.
manufacture defect? steering wheel peeling

Here is my comment on this subject.

Here are a few examples. Very few people successfully argued to the dealer and Toyota to have the whole steering wheel replaced. In most cases, it was not covered by the warranty. It seems to happen more often on Advanced trims with the heated steering wheel. My 2017 Premium did not show any sign after 3 years, but I already traded in that vehicle. My thought is even if you are successful in replacing the steering wheel either by warranty or by out-of-your pocket cost, you will be facing the same problem again. Your best remedy maybe just to install a wheel cover as shown in the last thread in the list below.

Steering wheel vinyl coming off | PriusChat
Softex Steering Wheel Peeling | PriusChat
steering wheel peeling not warranty covered | PriusChat
Cheap Steering Wheel on Prime Advance? | PriusChat
Steering Wheel peeling | PriusChat
Steering wheel vinyl coming off | PriusChat

Steering wheel leather mod | PriusChat

 

Jimmie from DTLA Toyota. Perfect name for the area! Glad the dealer came through

 

I have a heated steering wheel

 

Do you or anyone that drives the car use hand moisturizer/sanitizer? It's been known to cause damage to fake leather.

Tesla has the same problem but will replace the wheel free of charge once, with the following warning:

"Diagnosed and Replaced Steering Wheel. This is caused by hand sanitizer or creams. Avoid using hand lotions or sanitizers shortly before driving to avoid deterioration of steering wheel material".

 

Mine started looking really bad. I covered the original with the following. Good quality, and looks great but requires some effort to sew on.
Amazon.com: MEWANT for Prius Steering Wheel Steering Wrap for Toyota Prius 4 / Prius Prime/Mirai Hand-Stitched : Automotive

I sold the Prius and bought a RAV4 Prime. Wish I had taken some photos of the installation.