My wife was picking up our daughter from school and had to circle the block several times. Around the fourth time, our new Prius's system warning light went on and the computer asked my wife not to drive the car anymore. My wife called the dealer and they sent someone to get the car. When they lifted the car they saw that the coolant had leaked. This sounds pretty close to what was described for the service campaign (Toyota to Correct Flaw in Prius Exhaust Systems - Driver's Seat - WSJ) Later that day the dealer said to my wife that a "rock had hit the radiator". I found this bogus at best and decided to contact Toyota directly. They initially did not know about this service campaign, after they looked it up they said that my VIN was not on the list and that they were not going to do anything. I asked them to contact the dealer and make them aware of this service campaign, and they agreed to it. Going around the block should not cause a rock to hit the radiator with such force as to make a hole ! I am out of the country right now and my wife has to deal with this alone. We are running out of options. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks !
I have a hard time believing that it was a rock myself. Probably a faulting radiator/connector. But without looking at it... perhaps they can point it out to your wife and she can take a picture. Sorry to hear you are getting the run-around so early on. Hope things work out.
This is bogus. The A/C condenser is always in front of the radiator. If a rock hits, it should damage the condenser instead of the radiator. Ask the dealer to prove that the A/C condenser is also damaged.
Perhaps the dealer didn't mean that the rock flew through the front grill but rather the car ran over the big rock or the tire hit and shot the rock underneath. In any case, as I remember working underneath my V before, I don't think any rocks can cause the damages the dealer claimed! Your wife should have heard something VERY LOUD if that's the case. I'd demand to see the damages they claimed. Good luck,
Just for clarification, the Inverter radiator is in front of the ICE radiator but is much smaller. So a rock could hit the ICE radiator without hitting the Inverter radiator. It is possible but I do not know how likely. Having said that I agree with asking for the parts back to verify that the radiator had a hole that could have been caused by a rock.
