2007 Prius Destroyed by Toyota Dealer

I don't have any experience with what happened to your car Ben. However, I am impressed the Toyota Dealership, or any service department dealership for that matter, took responsibility for the engine damage. In this world where no one takes responsibility for any mistake, I would be relieved.
I would express your feelings to the dealership and tell them you want a 2009 Prius, same package. The rationale is, just what you stated, the damage is significant and the car may never be the same (other parts could be affected by the result of the engine damage). Look at what your Prius would have been worth now...probably more than you bought it for. If the dealership balks at the idea get a lawyer. I'm sure they would give you blue book + for a trade-in value.

 

Replacing the engine with a brand new one should be no problem.. plug and play... also, You have a brand new engine. I would however make them give you a brand new loner for the entire time they have your vehicle and a promise to give you one sweet deal on your next purchase. The fact that they immediately took the blame and promised to make you whole says a lot for their integrity.

 

The drain plug needs nothing more sophisticated than a wrench. If they want to get fancy, they could use a torque wrench. It's just a standard drain plug like on any other engine.

Yeah. I think they're blowing sunshine regarding the use of a "new tool."

 

Wouldn't this have to be shipped back to Japan?? I mean the entire car is made in Japan, so if the car needs a whole new engine, isn't this something that would require the entire car to be shipped back to Japan to put a new engine in??, How is Toyota going to get a brand new engine for this Prius?, Are they going to order just an engine from Japan and wait for it to be shipped here.

I would be very interested to hear how they go about replacing something as significant as this on the car. I don't know enough about cars and parts and such, so I am totally ignorant as to what they do in a situation like this when the entire car is produced in Japan. Does Toyota just order specific large parts like this from the plant and have it shipped here.

 

Hi Michelle,

The dealer would order a replacement engine from the Toyota parts distribution system. The regional warehouse may already have this in stock. When the new engine arrives, the dealer tech would remove the engine/transaxle as one large component. Once that assembly is removed, the transaxle would be separated from the engine. The new engine would be mounted to the transaxle. As needed, minor parts from the old engine not supplied with the new engine would be transferred over. Then the new engine/transaxle assembly would be reinstalled in the Prius.

 

Assuming all the other dependent parts accept the new engine fine, this will INCREASE your car value and be a win win for you, right?
You're back to a brand new engine! 0 miles!

If it were me, I'd argue tooth and nail to get the book value reimbursed to me, then apply that toward a 2010 model!

If you plan(or are considering) taking action in any different direction than what your service department is suggesting as a fix, don't accept let them start fixing the issue or sign anything yet until you're all squared away on the plan.

 

HI Patrick,
Thanks for explaining this!!!, In this case, I would agree that letting them put a whole new engine in sounds pretty good.

Keep us posted on what you decide to ask for.

That is very sloppy work from Toyota to forget to make sure the drain plug was screwed back in properly. I would expect some half as* work from a place like Wal-mart,, which I had a similiar experience, and never again will I ever take my cars back to them for an oil change.

When I still had my VUE, I took the car in for a regular oil change, and I only live about 1 mile from the store, when I got about half-way home, the engine area started smoking a bit and I was like Wth?? I thought maybe some oil was spilled on the engine and it was just burning off. When I got home it was smoking even more!!, I was freaking! My husband was home and I told him to drive it back to Wal-mart and have them check what they did to my car.

WEll, the stupid fool who put the oil in, put it in the wrong place, how that is possible I don't know,,, but they had to drain it out of the area where it was put in and put in fresh oil in the right hole.... OMFG!!!! You work at a oil change place and DON"T KNOW WHERE TO PUT THE OIL!!!!

Now I expect that kind of stupidity from someone like me , who doesn't know shit about cars,, but not from someone who does this every friggen day... But then again, that was Wal-mart....... I decided after that to NEVER take my car back to them.

But this,, what happened to you,, was at the Toyota dealership...

 

Having the liability so obvious on the dealer, having to tolerate a loaner will probably be the only real problem in the end. Connecting a new engine is actually less intrusive of a repair than other owners have had to deal with.

For me, it was my Taurus. The engine was designed with too high of a compression. That caused the head gaskets to eventually leak. Under a recall, mine got fixed... but the car was never the same. A bearing was somehow affected. It eventually broke and took the piston with it. That of course, destroyed the engine. The replacement Ford provided worked just fine. I was pleased with the outcome... but pretty ticked off when it first happened. Makes you wonder why I now drive a Prius, eh?

.

 

i would push for a new prius...after all they were the numbskulls that used the "new tool" and messed up an oil change, how much damage can they do with a whole new engine swap?

 

Hi Ben,

Hopefully the new engine will be installed by the dealer's senior Prius tech, and all will be well with your car again.

If you have any interest in this, I would encourage you to arrange with the service writer for you to visit your car after the old engine and transaxle has been removed, so that you can see what this looks like. This will also give you a chance to speak with the tech working on your car, look at the new engine sitting in the crate, and have any questions answered.

 

The "new tool" would have to be the new hire/hopefully former Toyota employee. Judging by this action the guy is clearly a "tool" and to make such a foolish and costly mistake he must have been new.

I too would lose faith in the dealership. They want to do everything possible to ensure this is not reported to corporate... I would opt for a new vehicle if possible, or insist that repair work be done at another dealership. While it is refreshing to see that they have taken responsibility the explanation doesn't seem accurate, or at least not complete.

 

You're absolutely NOT going to get a new Prius out of this. Replacing an engine is no big deal (as others have said already). I am not that mechanically inclined, and I replaced my own VW's engine and clutch a few years ago in my own garage and with minimal tools for the job. The dealership will have no problem getting and installing a new engine. I bet it won't take more than a day to do the swap once the engine arrives.

 

Yes, the "new tool" was the kid they just hired last week and it was his/her first oil change. On the job training.

 

Are you sure you're getting a whole new engine or are they swapping out the parts that were ruined because of lack of oil?

Wildkow

 

The Prius has an all-aluminum motor, like most new vehicles now. Run low on coolant and severely overheat the motor, or run it without oil and also overheat it, it's probably beyond repair. Parts warp, etc

An engine swap is a fairly straightforward process these days: unplug the various wiring harnesses, follow the steps in the manual to remove various bolts, use a motor lift to remove the motor/cvt as one unit. Separate the motor from the cvt, bolt up the new motor, reverse the procedure to reinstall

With older motors, one of the most common errors was forgetting to hook up the return spring on the carb. You'd know as soon as you fired it up the first time, it would scream. Sometimes it would run ok at idle, then first time on the street you'd press on the gas, it would keep going. Come up to a red light, take your foot off the gas, uh-oh.

Another common error on old cars was to forget to hook up the automatic transmission kickdown linkage/TV cable, or forget the spring for it. Depending on whether it was a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge, you'd get very odd shift feel as the kickdown/TV proportioned line pressure to the clutches in the valve body. Or, the 1-2 shift was harsh/delayed, or kickdown wasn't proper. You could easily fry an automatic transmission by not properly setting the kickdown/TV.

The nice thing about modern cars like the Prius is that there is no worry of any of that. The throttle is by-wire, it either works or it doesn't

I'm not sure what a Prius factory crate motor includes. They may have to swap over minor things like exhaust manifold and air cleaner box, or it may be complete. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Probably the biggest thing that could go wrong is improper bleeding of the coolant system for the engine and the inverter.

 

Hi Ben,

Maybe you misheard the service writer: S/he probably said they were using a "new fool" to do the oil change!

 

oh boy. well at least the admitted it, and engine swaps aren't too much of a big deal. if they wanted to tear it down and rebuild... well that takes far more talent than remove and replace.