2017 Prius Engine Destroyed By Rodents One Week after Buying

Hello all,

This post concerns a brand new 2017 Prius bought from Toyota of Orange not more than two and a half weeks ago. We traded in a 2014 Prius with 52k miles and got a brand new 2017 Prius Four in Magnetic Gray and Moonstone Interior with the Advanced package. All was well for a week or so and then about a week ago we drove it and it started to shudder violently while driving it. We thanked our lucky stars this didn't happen in busy traffic on the freeway as it could have been disastrous. We managed to hobble the car back to Toyota of Orange (living in Anaheim Hills thats only 4 miles or so) where it was examined by the technician. The diagnosis was that rodents had chewed through the main harness overnight and the car needed major repair work. We almost fainted when we were told it would cost $4,000 - about 1/8 of what we paid for the car all told. Fortunately we do have insurance and the tech told us that the insurance would cover it. Toyata denied any responsibility whatsover and indicated that this doesn't happen - which upon research we discovered is not true.

Needless to say we are absolutely furious. A cursory glance though Google indicates that the wiring harnesses are made from Soy - a highly attractive food source for rodents. It is also a fact that in any suburban areas there are lots of rodents. It would seem to me that the use of Soy in the harness is a major mistake and indeed a hazard to Prius owners.

Please provide any advice or input as we could sure use it.

Thanks again - and sorry if this comes across a bit of a rant - but $4K is looney if you ask me.

Best

O'Shag.

 

thanks for the welcome Bisco. Yes, 'Argh' indeed..

 

Chuck, Haha Yes. I am sure he would have made short work of the rodents.

 

Hi Tucatz, They say it is not covered under warranty. They will not pay for the repair.

 

When we brought it back to Toyota of Orange, the manager's response was - 'I have four hundred cars on my lot, and none of them have this problem'. What does one say to that?

 

So Samprocat, do you think its okay for Toyota or any brand for that matter to make a car that is so insanely vulnerable to destruction from something so common as rodents? Soy may be a lot less expensive for the manufacturer - in this case Toyota - to use in place of pertroleum based wiring harnesses, but look at the subsequent destruction and massive cost - that is unless you believe several thousand dollars is acceptable? Yes I do have insurance, but by putting the responsiblity on insurance companies that only drives up the cost of insurance for everybody does it not?

 

Thanks Samprocat, Chuck and Bisco for the input.

Chuck I will go through that information.

I don't know as to how widespread this issue is with respect to different manufacturers, but I do know it is in no way acceptable to sell a car for 30k knowing that this is a potential issue and not telling the customer. We had no earthly idea that this was a potential problem. Had we have known, we would at the least taken extra precautionary measures or even decided on another car. AS it is we are left with a 4K bill only 2 weeks after purchasing the car.

 

This family has a Range Rover, 3 Mercedes Benzes sitting in the driveway, and like I said we had the 2014 Prius until trdded in for this new Pruis. Not one of these cars has had the car engine destroyed by rodents.

You are saying it is okay to palm off the expenses on others as long as it is not me? You think it is justifiable to help Toyota skirt the responsibility and have the general American population pay for it by way of increased insurance costs? I don't think that way. I believe this issue - a terrible design choice by Toyota which costs customers like us thousands and even worse could lead to death or injury if the car fails on a busy road, is Toyota's sole responsibility, not ours.

I was persuaded to by this car by Toyota. I was led to believe it is a reliable car that would serve its intended purpose without issue for many years. I understand the limits of that responsibility, but in this case they are most definitely at fault and should fix the car at their expense.

By the way Sam Spade, I asked for advice, not to be attacked. I find your tone and insinuation to be derogatory and disrespectful.