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Combination Meter Warranty Enhancement

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Patrick Wong, Oct 24, 2012.

  1. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Today, I received a warranty enhancement notice from TMS USA. It provides owners with notice that Toyota has extended the product warranty covering the 2004-2009 model year Prius combination meter for a period of 9 years from the date the vehicle was placed into service, without mileage limitation; or 9/30/2013, whichever period is longer. You must receive a letter from Toyota that lists your specific VIN for this warranty to apply.

    For technical details behind the combination meter failure, see my thread here:
    T-SB-0172-09 Combination Meter - Intermittent Display | PriusChat
     
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  2. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Yay! Interesting. I wonder if they'll refund money for anyone who paid out of pocket to Toyota to get it replaced. Did it say anything about that?

    I doubt they'd reimburse repairs done by pEEf though...
     
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Yes. It is normal policy for Toyota to offer reimbursement consideration to owners who incurred out-of-pocket repair costs. Such owners would need to mail a copy of their repair order, proof-of-payment, and proof-of-ownership to the Toyota Customer Experience Center in Torrance, CA.
     
  4. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    BTW, did the letter list your specific VIN or was it a generic letter that listed a range of VINs?

    I wonder if I'll be receiving one.
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The letter listed the VIN of my 2004. I expect to receive a similar letter for my 2007 eventually.
     
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  6. tdelker

    tdelker Junior Member

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    Hmmm.. I wonder if it's enough to simply say one day my meter was blank when it was cold?
     
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    No, when you take your car in for service, the dealer tech needs to be able to replicate the problem or you will likely be charged for an hour of labor time due to no-trouble-found. You will have no lack of cold weather this coming winter and hopefully your combination meter will fail sufficiently so that at minimum you can get a good photo of the problem - and at best you can show the service writer the problem when you arrive at the dealership.
     
  8. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    If I had the problem, I'd personally try to take a video of the problem happening, including my something that makes my video unique (e.g. including my voice, face or some feature/attribute of my car). So far, I haven't ever had such an incident yet.
     
  9. tdelker

    tdelker Junior Member

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    Mine only happened once. I'm hoping that it will reproduce. I'll keep an eye on it. Plus I haven't gotten the letter yet, but I know my dealer "wants my car." At least that's what the flyer said, so they will give me a new 2013 for free, at least that's what I would like to believe :)
     
  10. northwichita

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    (edit- removed link no longer working). I could use this repair (am using an Ebay replacement for now). Wonder if the mileage cap at 299k will also be fixed? I've emailed Toyota , waiting for a response.

    Update. Email to Toyota Owner was not answered quickly enough for me, I phoned and was told I could go to the dealership and have the repair done if I could show the problem . The warranty letters are being mailed out these next several weeks, so I'll wait on the letter. I will also being going over 300k in the next several months, so that is another reason to put off the repair, I would like the odometer to work past the 300k mark, and this repair will determine if this 'cap' was also fixed.

    Received letter, will wait till replacement odometer clocks another ~20k before I visit the dealership.
     
  11. LEARNER

    LEARNER Junior Member

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    Update...

    :) NEVER MIND I joined the yahoo group and now can see the file..

    When did you get the letter?

    I see it says do not drive the car after it happens....I hope this is not used to disqualify Prius Owners by the dealerships

    Hi northwichita,

    I tried the link you posted and all I get is....
    Document Not Found

    The document you requested could not be found.

    I have a 2004 Prius with same problem. My instrument Panel just went out permanently without warning and fits all the symptoms described on the other thread.

    Wanted to research this Enhanced Warranty before doing the circuit board repair by EVNUT.

    Thank goodness the car is still driveable. I'm using a MPH Android APP on Smartphone that's working pretty good. I miss the cruise control the most...
     
  12. northwichita

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    Removed expired link, found it on a google search.

    I looked for more info on this, couldn't find it, obviously changing the combination meter before getting warranty work on it isn't a good idea, but I don't know what your referring to here.​

    I see it says do not drive the car after it happens....I hope this is not used to disqualify Prius Owners by the dealerships .
    I don't believe this would cause a disqualification for warranty work- believe it is just a general safety warning, the type I don't usually follow.

     
  13. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    FWIW, I received my letter today (for my 06) and it had my VIN on it. Perhaps they're sending them out in order by age of car or known mileage?

    It's interesting that they advise people to not drive the car and get it towed if the combination meter goes out and doesn't come back on if you power cycle. Perhaps they're concerned about liability w/a non-working speedometer and gas gauge? Maybe they don't want too many miles to be driven "off the clock" since I believe miles don't register on the odometer when in that bad state.
     
  14. fyc2001

    fyc2001 Junior Member

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    I called toyota customer service to confirm my 2008 prius for this warranty, csr told me to i need to go to dealer and service tech has to duplicate the problem. I called dealer service dept, they wanted $110 to diagnose, if the problem exists then I don't have to pay, if the dashboard comes back on after a power off and on cycle then I am out of $110 just like last year when I took in my prius under the CPO warranty.

    How do you guys get the warranty? TIA
     
  15. cooljw

    cooljw Member

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    The notice the dealers received (Prius Combination Meter Warranty Extension) clearly says that it is not necessary for the dealer to replicate the problem. See page 2.

    I just got the letter last week and wouldn't ya know it, the problem appeared for the very first time on my '07 this morning. Only 60k miles on it too. I'll be calling my dealer to make an appointment tomorrow.
     
  16. cooljw

    cooljw Member

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    Ok I took my Prius to the dealer today. Besides fixing the steering shaft recall and an oil change I also asked them to replace the Combination Meter per the warranty extension. Of course they couldn't replicate the problem. But eventually they said they could do the replacement but would have to keep the car for about three days. :eek: What??! And they won't provide a rental car. They said there is an exchange program for the part, so after they take the part out it would take about 3 days to send it in and get a new one back.

    Is anyone else getting this story? I insisted they simply order the part in advance but they said they couldn't due to the exchange program.
     
  17. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I don't see any business need for that policy. The dealer parts dept could note your car's odometer reading, provide that to the parts supplier, and order the part for you. Then when the replacement arrives, the service dept could contact you to bring the car in, do the swap, and you would be done.

    As there is no lack of Toyota dealers in the Orange County/San Diego area, perhaps you might contact another dealer to see whether they will do business under a more customer-centric policy.
     
  18. John H

    John H Senior Member

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    The policy doesn't allow any milage to be added to the vehicle while the replacement part is being programmed with the odometer reading.
     
  19. cooljw

    cooljw Member

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    I think that is what the service manager was trying to explain to me. He said the odometer reading when they take the car in must be the same as after the repair is done. Still, that doesn't quite explain to me why they can't just order the part in advance and then do the swap.

    Update: I just spoke to the Service Manager at another dealership. He said they are well aware of the problem and the Warranty Enhancement provides for a loaner car too. So I made an appointment to bring them the business instead. He also said it might be 2-3 weeks, not 3 days. Wow.
     
  20. John H

    John H Senior Member

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    the company they order the replacement from programs the odometer, not the dealer. otherwise the dealer would be capable of reprogramming odometers in the back of the shop.