headlight replacement

[jaw444]

happy ending :-) Today, the Toyota case manager for my headlight case said they would reimburse me for the repair. That was easy. Thanks priuschat people for all the good info and empowerment.

[SBB]

We just had this happen to us (on a 2008 Prius, about 23k miles on it), and thanks to this forum we knew to push for warranty coverage if we got any resistance from the dealer. To our surprise we didn't; they covered the repair in full without an argument. Perhaps Toyota is now quietly taking care of this dangerous (and potentially expensive) problem and in doing so trying to avoid the chance of having to do another recall. (I've still posted a defect complaint via the NHTSA web site because it's absurd that headlights should fail like this on nearly brand new cars.)

Thanks again to everyone in PriusChat for the discussion, ideas and support.

[buster brown]

my 2006 is now experiencing this same issue and I will contact the dealer tomorrow.

[windstrings]

This is one of the smaller threads about this subject.
Its apparent Toyota has a real mess on their hands.

Too bad they won't just fix the issue and be done with it.

Dragging out this bad press for so long could be much more expensive than just fixing it.

[buster brown]

i agree - my regular mechanic said it may be covered under the extended warranty - and it appears that some folks here have been successful in having it covered. I sure hope so! It is a chunk of change.

[buster brown]

I was not as lucky. I went to the dealer on wednesday and was asked if the lights came on
and then went out or if they would not turn on at all. When I said they came on and then
went off, he sait it was the overheating of the filiment that was causing this problem and
the headlight needed replacing.

I said there were 162 pages of compllaints on file with the NTSC about this problem. He
was firm that this would be on my dime.

He didn't think this was covered under the extended warrenty - which I'd purchased from
someone on this chat forum.

Is this true?
Should I go to another dealer?

[windstrings]

Originally Posted by buster brown

I was not as lucky. I went to the dealer on wednesday and was asked if the lights came on
and then went out or if they would not turn on at all. When I said they came on and then
went off, he sait it was the overheating of the filiment that was causing this problem and
the headlight needed replacing.

I said there were 162 pages of compllaints on file with the NTSC about this problem. He
was firm that this would be on my dime.

He didn't think this was covered under the extended warrenty - which I'd purchased from
someone on this chat forum.

Is this true?
Should I go to another dealer?

If your talking about HID lights.. first tell the moron there are no filaments on an HID bulb... only contact points inside the bulb where the arc takes place, and second if its overheating its because something is generating heat more than its supposed to.

Then ask to talk to the "real" service manager or go somewhere else.

[buster brown]

thanks! just to confirm, the HID lights are the ones that pivot so they are constantly parallel to the ground?

[jaw444]

buster brown--
I suggest first contacting Toyota and getting a case number and case manager assigned. Tell them you are dissatisfied to learn that the HID lights have a widely reported problem with early failure which is not normal wear and tear, and that you want the repair covered under the extended warranty or under their customer courtesy policy (i'm not sure exactly what the term for that is). You might also want to say you would like Toyota to give you information on what is being done to correct this known safety problem with these headlights. I don't know if they'll agree to cover the cost but when i had this repair done and then a few days later read these threads, i followed suggestions by other posters and called Toyota, and as in several other cases, they did reimburse me. I think they might take into account how many miles are on the car, just judging from how they seem to be (in the examples in these threads) less generous the older the car is. (my car is an 07 with 40K miles and the extended warranty). When they said they would reimburse me they called it a 'one time good will gesture,' which is troubling because this does not acknowledge that there is a problem with the car that is not the responsibility of the customer. If i have a second light go out, or the same one again, then it's my problem, they seem to be saying. I would like to think it won't happen again but reading these threads on the subject, i'm not at all reassured about this.

[windstrings]

Originally Posted by jaw444

which is troubling because this does not acknowledge that there is a problem with the car that is not the responsibility of the customer.

There are very few good will gestures... its all business "good and bad"

They worded it that way as advised by their lawyers so as to not admit guilt or liability.

They are trying to avoid a wholesale recall or media attention as there being a failure of problem.
Its all about money and not drawing attention.

The more they think you know the more dangerous you are and the more vocal you are and appear professional about it, the more they fear you may have the finesse to actually attract negative attention to them if things aren't rectified.

I would suggest not giving up and not making threats.
Be polite but informed.
Advise them this is highly documented and is a safety hazard and that you will exhaust all resources to get this resolved.

Lets call a spade a spade.
Politics are fine if it gets their attention, but otherwise you have to go to plan B...... expose them.

This problem has gone on a ridiculously long time and there is no "good will" excuse why its not resolved.

If it was really Good will, they wouldn't be respecter of persons and only grease the wheels that are squeaky.