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My 7k miles Prius has broken down on me !

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by prius_fr, Aug 8, 2006.

  1. mootsman

    mootsman New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius_fr @ Aug 15 2006, 06:16 PM) [snapback]303766[/snapback]</div>

    What you should do is raise a ruckus in the dealership in front of potential customers and DEMAND that you be given a nice loner until that can ASSURE you that the problem is fixed. Stand up and don't take any run around crap. This is a ridiculous situation. Get some shoe polish and paint "Lemon Purchased at XXXXX Toyota" and park it in their lot. Sheeesh -- pardon the outburst but if they can't diagnosis them and fix 'em they should not be selling them.
     
  2. daronspicher

    daronspicher Active Member

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    Definately keep a file folder with printed versions of everything that happens... Dates, times, conditions, pictures and anything.

    If this car has a history over time of being a lemon, you want all that stuff.

    I'm just at 6 months old today, have 21,000 miles and don't have this problem.. I think I'm developing a dash rattle.. :angry:
     
  3. sloflier

    sloflier Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius_fr @ Aug 15 2006, 03:16 PM) [snapback]303766[/snapback]</div>
    This is the third time you've taken it in...correct?

    I suggest you read the California Lemon Law. It might be a good idea to compose a letter to Toyota and get the ball rolling.
     
  4. prius_fr

    prius_fr New Member

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    Zerkster -> well I have to say I like to run the A/C at low most of the time. I believe the three times the problem occurred, the A/C was on. Other than that I don't see anything. Yeah I believe the dealer is clueless too !

    richard schumacher -> Two times out of three, I was able to go straight to the dealer, by luck the two incidents occurring about 1 mile away from it.

    - Yes I have read the owner manual. I have this car for 5 months now and it was driving perfect until last week and 7k miles.

    - The three times the problem occurs, I'm cruising between 60 and 65 mph on the freeway. (so, on D and I never use the cruise control). But in other occasion, when downhill I'm using B. The only time I switched to N was last week at the dealer when they had to push the car. :(

    - I'm mostly driving with my two hand on the steering wheel. However, when I play with the radio, A/C etc (despite the controls on the steering wheel), I have only one hand on the steering wheel. But as far as I can recall, I had my both hand on the steering wheel while the 3 problems happened.

    mootsman -> I really wouldn't like to do that, eventhough I agree with you ! B)

    daronspicher -> yeah I'm documenting everything and thinking about writing a nice, long letter

    sloflier -> Correct. Thanks for the link, didn't know that law. :p I'm waiting for the answer of the dealer. If again they told me, nothing was wrong with the car, I'm going to write a long and nice letter straight to Toyota of America. (and a CC: to this forum)

    Oh by the way, the dealer I'm dealing with is Fremont Toyota 5851 Cushing Parkway Fremont, CA 94538
    (not the dealer I bought my car) I'll keep you posted. Thanks !
     
  5. whodat

    whodat Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius_fr @ Aug 15 2006, 03:16 PM) [snapback]303766[/snapback]</div>
    PriusFR,
    Wow. I sure hope this problem gets properly diagnosed and fixed. Please keep us posted.
    Thanks
     
  6. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    tell them you want their *best* diagnostic tech on the job, and that he can keep it as long as he needs to (to verify the fix, etc) as long as you get a loaner while your prius is in the shop.

    if they don't have a good diag tech, go elsewhere. this is clearly a diagnostic problem and not everyone is good at these types of problems.
     
  7. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Dang. Good luck, and please keep us apprised.
     
  8. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    If you at some point during all this were driving around with only
    the CEL still lit, the dealer *should* have been able to pull at
    least one code from the ECUs to help track it down.
    .
    If I'm misunderstanding and you were limping around with the full
    christmas tree, how 'bout this: Investigate for the problem detailed
    in http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/starthole/ and see if you
    can be the *second* known instance of that killing a Prius.
    .
    Failing that, without codes, the community will probably remain
    in a quandary...
    .
    _H*
     
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Hope you can find a solution to this issue. This one seems to stump everyone. Take Galaxee's advice on the technician.
     
  10. donee

    donee New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Aug 16 2006, 09:37 PM) [snapback]304387[/snapback]</div>
    THANK YOU HOBBIT!!!

    Crawled under my -06 after I got home and checked this out. Sure enuf! Just got it fixed now. Everybody Prius Owner should be checking this out!!!!!
     
  11. RichBoy

    RichBoy New Member

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    I think you should take it to your Authorized Toyota Dealer for proper diagnosis.
     
  12. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    After two and a half years Toyota is still installing this plate backwards? Holy Fudd. How do we get their attention about this?
     
  13. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Aug 16 2006, 07:37 PM) [snapback]304387[/snapback]</div>
    Hobbit, one only has to remove a few bolts to remove the air dam, true? Did you do this without raising the car?
     
  14. donee

    donee New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Aug 19 2006, 11:15 PM) [snapback]306049[/snapback]</div>
    Hi Richard S...,

    I removed the aerodynamics piece with the 8 screws. It bridges two other aerodynamic pieces further back, that have meet in the middle of the car. This allowed me to get enough deflection on those pieces where they meet in the middle of the car to get the job done. One of the rearward aerodynamic pieces has a hole in it, that I could sight on the upper bolt with. I did this all with the car on the ground. The hardest part of the job was pushing the harnesses out of the way to get the upper bolt back into the hole, at full arms reach, from underneath. I had an offset box end wrench that fit up to the top bolt. A ratchet wont fit over the top bolt.
     
  15. ScottY

    ScottY New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Aug 18 2006, 11:17 AM) [snapback]305315[/snapback]</div>
    holy crap... I better check mine today! how long you think it will take Toyota to install this plate correctly?

    EDIT: I just check... just like what you guys find, the plate is installed backwards.
     
  16. Mary Snyder

    Mary Snyder New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Aug 16 2006, 09:45 AM) [snapback]304030[/snapback]</div>

    Please write and let us know what happens, as I am planning to buy a Prius. Do you have to be a computer wizard to drive a Prius? It does sound like a computer on wheels. Do you have to practice much before you really can drive it, and how is it for backing up. Please try to get the dealer to give you another Prius.
    Mary
     
  17. rufaro

    rufaro WeePoo, Gen II

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Aug 16 2006, 11:00 PM) [snapback]304535[/snapback]</div>
    Even better advice...take Galaxee's tech (if you can get him away from her...)! B)
     
  18. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Masnyd @ Aug 20 2006, 03:27 PM) [snapback]306321[/snapback]</div>
    hi Mary-

    you don't need to know anything about computers to drive a prius, and as long as you can drive a "regular" car you can drive the prius. high mpg driving does take a bit of a learning curve but by hanging around here you'll learn quickly.

    backing up is no problem overall, if you need to go sharply uphill backwards you'll end up going very slowly but otherwise it's just fine.

    don't worry about buying one, 99% of prii on the road have had no problems whatsoever, in fact the prius boasts the highest customer satisfaction rating of any car! (according to consumer reports) my husband fixes them for a living, and he feels best about this car for reliability and my safety.

    occasionally strange things happen, like they do with all cars. you'll find a biased sample of problems here because people come looking for advice when something happens. the incidence of problems here are not by any means a representative sample of the general population of prii out there. for every problem there are thousands of us driving trouble free, but noone posts a "hey look! i've driven 18,800 miles without a single problem!" thread. ;)
     
  19. marjam

    marjam Member

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    Hey look, I have driven over 60,000 miles combined on an '01 Classic and an'04 and not a single service problem!!!!!!!

    How's that, Galaxee! :D
     
  20. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Aug 18 2006, 08:17 AM) [snapback]305315[/snapback]</div>
    Too bad I don't have a decent jack or ramps so there's no way I'd be getting under my car to check mine out.

    Possible places/people to try contacting w/the URL and pictures: TMS USA on this board, your Toyota dealer, NHTSA, your Toyota dealer, and the customer experience center at http://www.toyota.com/about/contact/index.html.

    Cutting into the M/G wiring harness would be a very bad thing and to me would almost be grounds for them to initiate a recall.