new Prius smells like something's burning

My 2009 Prius developed "the smell" (something like burning plastic) at 3300 miles. It's worse than most...not just permeating clothing and hair, but actually giving me a headache. My dealer's service manager (also a Prius owner) agrees, says it's very bad, and gives him a headache.

I took it in three weeks ago. They gave it back later that day saying they couldn't find anything, so they sprayed some deodorizer. Smell was back within 20 minutes.
Took it back the following day, they kept it all day, couldn't find anything.
Took it back again the next day, drove it with the svc mgr (that's when he commented that he agreed). They kept it a full week...called tech support, who advised them to put an odonizer on it. The smell was back within an hour after I got the car back.

(Re the comments about dampness, etc....I live in Phoenix. It's not damp, it's not cold.)

We escalated the complaint to Toyota corporate. A field svc tech drove the car for 13 minutes last week, and decided it's "normal." (This, despite my svc manager going on record to the contrary.) Toyota tells me it must be a personal issue with me, that I must be overly sensitive, and that "perhaps I should reconsider whether the Prius is the right vehicle for me."

I've asked them to trade me for a new Prius - they refuse. It's got 3500 miles on it, so it's considered used.

I've mentioned the lemon law - their stance is that there's nothing wrong with the car, and they refuse to fix it. (They didn't even want to furnish a loaner, despite my having a platinum maintenance package...only after speaking to the general mgr did I get one.)

I've pointed out that I've found plenty of other users complaining about this. They don't care.

It's now been three weeks, and corporate continues to stonewall. They have no problem with telling a loyal customer (6 T's in 9 years) to essentially go pound sand.

My dealer may take the initiative, just to keep a happy customer. But Toyota corporate is trying hard to lose a customer.

 

Hi GiiW. This is just a total guess, but since one of the likely explanations that some people have given is that it might be some shipping protective coating being burnt off, then perhaps yours is just burning off very slowly. I mean perhaps you have a very easy driving style and are on easy terrain so that nothing is really getting hot enough to burn it off completely, so it's just getting warm enough to make it smell a bit but not hot enough to get rid of it. Maybe you just need to take it for a bit of mountain tour or something.

 

The dealer would be happy to find a problem because Toyota would pay them to fix it. It's probably just an extreme case of normal outgassing. Set the AC to blow outside air all the time and it should dissipate in a few weeks.

 

Easy driving style...probably not. I've mellowed some in middle age but I'm an ex-NY cabbie. Seriously, though....I've driven it to L.A. and to Vegas (from Phoenix), both 6-hr drives. Route to LV includes roller coaster style 2-lanes through the Mojave. Anything that needed to burn off has had ample opportunity.

As to the dealer, they would LOVE to find and fix the problem. Their svc mgr was telling me they're one of Toyota's beta sites, and they score serious brownie points for discovering new stuff. So it's not for lack of trying on their part...they've had the car for a solid week, twice (2 wks total), and been through it all.

I've run the AC on fresh, on recirc, on auto, on full, you name it. And frankly, after giving it more than a month of headaches and stink, I'm done....I haven't paid for an air quality analysis ($200), but based on my physical reactions I'm willing to bet these fumes are at least somewhat toxic. I'm not inclined to be Toyota's guinea pig for more.

My dealer called today and is working with someone higher in the corporate food chain to arrange a favorable trade for a '10. They know that's the only thing that'll keep me in a Toyota at this point, based on the way I've been treated by corporate.

I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but I've read about a dozen posts from people who've had a similar experience, and in almost all cases corporate has left the dealer holding the bag....maybe corporate has helped behind the scenes in some cases, don't know...but it sure reeks (no pun intended) of Toyota trying to pretend it's not a problem, and having the dealer placate the customer so they'll go away.

 

Let us know if the new one smells the same. Good luck!

 

I had the brakes smell after going down hill for a long distance.
My guess is that once the battery is full ,the regen system must switch off and reverts to regular braking.
Even though the car had thousands of miles,that was probably the first time the brake pads were broken in.

 

Update: Toyota isn't admitting there's a problem, but they've agreed to work with my dealer to make it right.

I'm getting a 2010 (just awaiting delivery) that's as close in features to what my '09 was as possible...I'm kicking in very minimal money on my end, with Toyota and my dealer covering most of the difference. (I test drove a '10, and it's a great car. I also test drove an Insight, and as much as I wanted to like it, there's just no comparison.)

Is there an odor problem with some Priuses? Probably, based on what I've seen here and on other forums. It's probably a low enough percentage of them that it makes more sense for Toyota to handle it this way, rather than get negative press. It's nowhere as big a PR nightmare as the floor mat fiasco, after all. And in the end what matters is a satisfied customer...my dealer realizes that, and went to bat for me.

 

All new brake pads stink the first time you break them in, on any brand of vehicle.

 

Dude....it's not the brake pads. I drove this car for 3300 miles before the odor started. If this was a new-car issue of any kind...brake pads, engine coating, whatever....it would have been there at the outset, or shortly after that. The regen system doesn't prevent the brake pads from engaging. And the battery doesn't need 3000 miles for it to fully charge. This would've come up well before now.

Neither I nor my dealer's service manager buy the argument that this is a new car issue. If it was, the stink would be slowly dissipating....instead it's gotten progressively stronger and more noxious.

I've owned many vehicles, and I know what brake pads breaking in smells like....that's not this smell. And if it was, I would think the service manager (who's been there 12 years and is on his third Prius himself) would know it. He drove the car with me, and said "I'll be honest with you, this isn't a normal Prius smell. It's giving me a headache."

As I said....it's a legitimate problem. My guess is it's probably only noticeable on maybe one in 1000 cars....maybe only a few of those is bad enough to be unbearable. Mine was bad enough for my dealer to go to bat for me, and for Toyota to quietly agree to do something about it.

 

Interesting problem. Have you ever smelt what overheating electronics smells like, it can be pretty noxious. Do you think it could be an overheating electronics or electrical smell?

 

Yes, that's exactly what I think. :rockon: (I worked for years in the music/audio industry, and I've smelled more than my share of burning semiconductors.) My first suggestion to them was that it might be a wiring harness that had shorted out....would make sense, since that would likely be just behind the dashboard.

But the svc mgr says they've gone through everything and it all checks out. I've wondered several times if "going through everything" might mean they checked with meters and/or diagnostics, rather than good old fashioned unplug-it-and-look, but I can't exactly take the mechanic by the hand.

In any case, I'm happy with the outcome. I hadn't planned on a 2010, but now that I've driven one, I have to say it's ultimately a nicer vehicle....so the fatalist in me just chalks it up to everything happening for a reason. (That said, I know my dealer will add it to his used car stock, and I do feel a bit bad for whoever buys it....hope they get an extended warranty.)