MFD on 2004 died: report on replacement at dealer

After cautionary tales on this forum, I was distressed when my '04's MFD or multifuntion display screen started to misbehave in all the ways described here. Sure the car can be driven and driven safely, but it is nowhere near as much fun and not as useful either. Never thought I'd miss the navigation feature as much as I did. Tuning radio and all audio was impossible and volume control wacky too. It was a big pita when I couldn't toggle the fan for a/c or heat (I question the wisdom of routing all these functions through MFD).

Mostly I was unhappy to hear that despite a service bulletin, Toyota dealerships and maybe Toyota itself was not responding well to these failed high-tech parts.

Grumpy, not expecting much, I took my Prius in for diagnosis to my dealer, Madison, WI: No chance of loose cable they say; the whole big expensive part has to be ordered. I do mention the service bulletin. They say replacement will be new and might be covered under warranty by Toyota. Now, when I brought my Red Salsa Prius in, it had just under 36,000 miles, but I had owned it 3 years and more than 5 months. Seems out of warranty, right? I was ready with my extended warranty in reserve.

Much to my surprise, when I returned for installation (after about a week wait) the estimated cost of service was zero, the actual cost was zero. I even got a look at my new part fresh from the box, cocooned by lots of dense foam, just like electronics are supposed to be packaged. B)

I am happy to have my Prius fully functional again AND relieved that there is enough of an owner's community (of the Prius and Toyotas in general) that shares information (like TSBs and experiences here on priuschat) and gives the powers-that-be incentive to keep customers satisfied.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ May 22 2007, 09:00 PM) [snapback]447755[/snapback]</div>

Dear hobbit, and all interested, NO they would not let me keep the old one. I did ask to keep it, partly because I thought this forum would expect me to ask(!) and partly because my computer guru husband was interested.
Seeing the fresh-from-the-package new one was the best I could do.