Programming of Customizable Features Refused By Dealer

My dealer was happy to make a quick $50 to do it. I think it is outrageous for Toyota to put in a useless (not heard on the outside) back up beeper and the dealer to charge to turn it off. Also ridiculous that we have to do oil changes every 5000 miles using 0w20 which is only available in synthetic. I like the car better than my 2005 but not happy with this BS.

 

My dealer was willing to turn off the backup beeps, but resisted changing the seat belt alarm. I met with the service manager and made a couple of points that won me my changes:

1. turning off the seatbelt beeps still has a single beep when the seatbelt isn't fastened, so there is still a warning. He agreed that would be fine.

2. I pointed him to this forum where he can find numerous cases where dealers are happy to make the changes.

He sent a tech out who took care of my requests.

 

Our Prius 5 is expected to arrive next week so I do not understand this completely but thought that it best to get all configurations done before we pocked up the car.

If I understand what you are saying is that the default is an interior continuous beep (no exterior sound) when in reverse and a dealer option of setting this to only a single beep when first placed in reverse.

Is this correct?

Stan

 

Yes it is correct. There are others you may want changed as well.

If you have a VIN number you can log on to Toyota Owners Online | Official Toyota Owners Website and download the owners manual in pdf format one section at a time. The customizable features are listed in section 6-2.

 

As a dealer, it is definitely a right to not change any setting. Also, as a dealer, we want to make customers happy. It is a fine line. Many years ago, when airbags were killing people because they sat too close to the steering wheel, someone could get a letter from the government to allow a dealer to turn off the airbags.

Not a single dealer (that I know of), would touch the airbags with a letter from the government. I'm not sure we would turn them off if the Pope himself walked in with a new tablet that was found in the Vatican stating that it was the eleventh commandment. There are way too many unscrupulous lawyers who would jump all over a lawsuit like that.

Our dealership has a policy in place (mostly because of what I learned through PC). We will change any setting you want once, free of charge. With the only exception being the seatbelt chime. It is a law in my state that you must wear your seatbelt. If you are following the law, you will never hear the beep. Between the possible lawsuit we open ourselves up to by changing a factory setting on the seatbelt warning, and the fact that it is a law that makes it so you will never hear the beep, you have elected to not change that one setting.

 

No lawyer could successfully argue that a dealership is responsible for damage resulting from the change in a setting that is not only described in the manual, but has been explicitly requested by the owner.

While there are weird lawsuit tales, almost all of these are re-told incorrectly, omitting key legal details. In the infamous McDonald's case, the omitted details are numerous: the coffee caused 3rd degree burns; McDonald's had received numerous complaints over many years about the temperature of their coffee and had settled many cases; the plaintiff offered to settle for $20k, but the company counter-offered $800 (her medical bills were $11k); she only filed suit after her offer was rejected; and, perhaps most importantly, the car was not moving at the time of the incident.

I suspect that most dealers who are advancing the 'liability' meme are really just being lazy, and/or there is some kind of internal billing issue as described by rachaelseven.

 

Jeff I respect a lot of what you have to say and I have enjoyed reading your posts. But I think comparing the disabling of an airbag with turning off an annoying beeper or buzzer is really apples and oranges. I always wear seat belts and started doing so long before there were laws telling me I had to. But that doesn't mean I want to be beeped at when I relocate my car in the driveway or when my dog is in the passenger's seat. This car has a lot of buzzers and beepers anyway and I don't want any more to add to the confusion. If it's really the dealers option to perform customization why are they listed in the owner's manual? and why are they called customizable features?

I know all states have laws that require seat belts but how many have a law that says you must have a seatbelt beeper? I am pretty sure my state has no such law.

Please keep in mind that even with the beeper turned off there is still a seatbelt warning light that's hard to miss. How many times do you think I need to be reminded not to forget something that I'm not going to forget anyway. Or are we so afraid of our lawyers that we can't serve our customers anymore?

 

Ideally yes, but reality is something else! As I recall about 20 or more years ago, some moron sued (and won as I recall) a hospital because the plantiff slipped in the restroom and broke her hip. At the time she slipped she was standing on the toilet seat doing her thing when the seat broke. She claimed the seat was dirty!

Yes, the media usually fails to provide all the facts; rather, they prefer to prey on our emotions. Oh, and it's a good thing Toyota hasn't found a way to keep us from drinking coffee while we drive like they've disabled certain features of the nav system while the vehicle is in motion. (Software fix please!)

I agree.

One thing that I'd add: While there are certainly too many unscrupulous attorneys trying to make a buck, the same can be said for many plaintiffs.

I'm with Henry....

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." -- Henry VI :rip: :madgrin:

 

Seems to me, a waiver signed by the customer would take care of that. "Customer has demanded the following programming changes be made to the car, and customer agrees to and understands that dealership is absolved of all liability in doing so, and that such service is offered As Is with no guarantee, either express or implied, yadda yadda yadda"

Most of the domestic makes allow you to make such changes without a scantool. The Driver Information Center (GM, and whatever Ford and Chrysler call it) allows the driver to personalize the car, such as headlight off delay, various warnings, door locks, etc

 

There are a lot of hungry lawyers in business willing to instigate lawsuits where they are the underdog.

Whether you win or lose, lawsuits are still expensive, especially when there is any personal injury involved. In jury trials, there is a strong propensity for jury's to decide in favor of the "poor individual" rather than the "Big Company".

Being considered a "high net worth individual" and operating several businesses over the years, I have been the victim of a number of frivolous lawsuits. Even in the instances where I have won, it still cost me a lot of time and money defending myself. I've seen first-hand a number of cases where the plaintiff has claimed ignorance when he/she should have known better and trying to blame the second party (defendant) for not informing him/her of the possible consequences of the action. I've also seen where the plaintiff has had a complete "lapse of memory" in instructing the defendant to take a particular action. I can understand where a dealer would refuse to defeat a configurable option which could be considered a "safety enhancement" because of the possibility of a lawsuit with either direct liability or implied liability.

At a minimum, if I were a Toyota Dealer, I'd have the Owner sign (and date) a statement requesting changing the functionality of the safety feature being modified. The liability of this action being the sole responsibility of the Owner.

Keith

 

I just talked to the service dept. at my dealer (Performance Toyota, Cincinnati, OH). The woman told me to make a copy of the pages out of the owner's manual and just mark up what I wanted to change, bring it by during the day, and they would make the changes..........no charge. Sweet!!!

 

That is the main reason. It isn't the fact that we have waivers signed. That should absolve us of any issues. Someone will still try to sue, and it is still costly to go through that process. It will also damage our reputation in the long run when word gets out that we are being sued. Regardless of how frivolous it is. We would rather have one slighty annoyed customer and sleep better knowing that we aren't making the vehicle "less safe", then risking the potential for lawsuits.

 

Does anyone know why Toyota took away the owners ability to disable the backup beeper. That is useless and annoying. I like my car but that and the $75 oil changes really have me peaved.

 

I've had cars that would give me seatbelt fits if there was a gallon of milk on the seat, I'd end up tossing it on the floor.

 

I know Tim. And Toyota will not disclose what weight it is set at to anyone. Again, liabilities. But it seems that every car is different. Some go off with what seems to be a water bottle. Others would require a full half barrel. No idea..

 

I agree, but am frustrated that Toyota did not, and worse put a section in the manual telling owners that dealers will configure these options for you.

 

The Hawaii Toyota dealer is not affiliated with Toyota USA and will not change the settings without a fee. Calling Toyota USA came back with "it's out of their hands since Toyota in Hawaii import their cars directly from Japan"...

 

My dealership has gone from saying they can't change the options because of safety issues, to wanting to charge me a couple hundred dollars (?!?), to me pointing out that the manual points customers to the dealer, to being told that the instructions are on the web, to finally setting up an appointment for Monday to do it for free...

 

:cheer2: squeaky wheel!