MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

[p626808]

Wow.. great job hobbit!!

as the donor.. I am glad you found it.. it was like a needle in a haystack..
(although I think the needle would be bigger than the crack you found!! lol)

Scott

[hobbit]

Looks like I found the manufacturing problem, since my own original
MFD appears to be one of the later [fixed] units and I could just
ferret out differences right in my own kitchen.
_ http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/mfd/compare.html
.
I think I'm finally done with it, and huge thanks for p626808 for the
loan of his extra unit. I'm going to return it soon, and I expect
it'll become another "refurb unit" on the market since there's not
a lot else you can do with these things. Hopefully it wouldn't fail
again on another owner, but at least we'll know what's wrong.
.
_H*

[wag]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Nov 21 2007, 06:10 AM) [snapback]542364[/snapback]</div>

Looks like I found the manufacturing problem, since my own original
MFD appears to be one of the later [fixed] units and I could just
ferret out differences right in my own kitchen.
.
_H*
[/b]

Wonderful, wonderful troubleshooting, researching, photographing, and documenting skills, Hobbit!
You should be extremely proud and satisfied with this fine piece of work.

Thanks,
Wayne

[richard schumacher]

What's the refurb situation? Are they still available, or is the only recourse now to buy a new replacement from Toyota?

[galaxee]

they're still available, if your dealer is willing to provide them. since we're no longer associated with the dealership, we're out of that one.

[donee]

Hi Hobbit,

Hellava Job. Well done.

When you were soldering could you tell if the old MFD solder melted faster, or at a lower temp? SAC305, the solder commonly used for lead free soldering in Japan, and most other places these day, is allot stronger and melts at a higher temp (about 218C), versus SN63. Besides the corrected pad and mask PCB problems, switching to SAC305 would greatly improve the life of the joint.

My car is an early '06, with the low-resolution MFD. Would anybody have an idea if this is the same as the '05 MFD?

[jrmgkia]

I just sent an email to Toyota using the same link you provided. Maybe if everyone does this they will start to get the message that owners are not happy with their response to this issue. Below is a small section from my website I used this as the bases for my email.

A few weeks ago the screen on our 2004 Prius started acting really weird and randomly switching between screens and giving strange error messages. I did a quick search on Prius Chat and found that this is a really common problem that affects not only the Prius but also some 2004 Land Cruisers and Highlanders with navigation screens. Unfortunately our Prius had about 50,000 miles on it and was no longer covered under the factory warrantee but I read a few stories on the web of Toyota fixing this problem, even on cars that were out of warrantee, so I decided to just take it into the dealership and not mention what I knew about the problem, just to see what they would say. A few days latter I got a call saying that the screen would have to be replaced at a cost of $4,200,and that the dealership had called Toyota corporate to see if they would help with the cost, but that corporate hadn't offered any help. The dealership suggested that I call and see what I could get done with corporate.

I called Toyota corporate with a list of ten reasons why they should cover this repair, I was told someone would call me in two business days and let me know what Toyota was going to do. After waiting three days for the call I decided to call myself and see what was going on. I was told that Toyota was willing to pay for half of the repair and that I would have to pay for the other half, I explained that that wasn't an option and I once again explained why Toyota should cover the whole cost of the repair, I did however mention that if necessary I was willing to pay up to $500, and not a penny more, realizing that after all the car was out of warrantee. I also suggested they look into using a refurbished display since this is what Toyota uses when warrantee work is done and I had heard it was significantly cheaper. I heard back from Toyota a few days later and I was told the refurbished screen and labor would come to 1,000 dollars and that Toyota was still willing to pay half of that. I argued that Toyota corporate was originally going to pay $2,000 of the $4,000 repair and so now they should take that $2,000 and pay $1,000 of it to the dealership for the repair and then give me the other $1,000 for all of hassle this has been. That didn't fly and since my sister really needed the car back I agreed to the offer and ended up paying 500 dollars for the repair. This just goes to show that doing your homework and fighting back can save you a ton of money, in my case $3,500.


8 reasons Toyota should have covered the faulty screen in our Prius

1.I have a web site dedicated to the Prius and our experience with it.

2.This is a well known defect affecting 2004 Prius, Land Cruiser, and Highlander Models.

3.We are loyal Toyota customers and own 2 Priuses.

4.The car was less than 3 years old and barely over its warrantee mileage.

5.This was clearly a manufactures defect and not caused by abuse.

6.The car was always serviced by Toyota.

7.Toyota has acknowledged the defect and many on the web have reported that Toyota footed the bill for the repair, even after the warrantee period.

8.I saved Toyota 1,500 dollars by not having the gas guage recalibration procedure done. Which I could have had done under warrantee but opted not to do because it really isn't that big of an inconvience and it would have just made the cost of the Prius higher for Toyota. Who I am sure would have passed that on to future customers.

[Eug]

My MFD's still working fine in my 2004 after 55000 km, but I bought the extended warranty mainly for this reason. Very worrisome.

[bwilson4web]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrmgkia @ Nov 22 2007, 08:58 PM) [snapback]543067[/snapback]</div>

. . . That didn't fly and since my sister really needed the car back I agreed to the offer (rjw $1,000) and ended up paying 500 dollars for the repair. This just goes to show that doing your homework and fighting back can save you a ton of money, in my case $3,500.
. . .
[/b]

I think this is a fair settlement and should be the standard for this particular problem. It also explains my approach to extended warranties:

• First model year - buy the extended warranty since there are likely to be latent defects not caught until the vehicles get in the field.
• last model year - skip the extended warranty since the earlier years will have mostly likely found the problems. Best buy!

If Toyota brings out a new Prius with a substantially improved architecture (say built in plug-in and power out,) I would be tempted. But otherwise, I'll start shopping for the last of the previous model year cars and if I can't get one 'new', I'll simply get one used a couple of years later.

Bob Wilson

[mcbrunnhilde]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bwilson4web @ Nov 23 2007, 10:54 AM) [snapback]543280[/snapback]</div>

[*]First model year - buy the extended warranty since there are likely to be latent defects not caught until the vehicles get in the field.
[/b]

Bob, that's exactly why I got the extended warranty on my 2004...if I had gotten a later model year, I am quite sure I wouldn't have purchased the warranty. My sister, whose VIN is pretty close to mine, had the MFD replaced, but mine is still working. I hope it either lasts the life of the car or craps out before 100,000 miles!!

BTW kudos to Hobbit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You rock!!!!!!!!