CA CARB Emissions Warranty Be Persistent!

Hello Everyone,
I wasn't sure where to post this. I'm the CT resident with 2009 Prius who was charged for replacement of water control valve and then oil temp sensor failed.

CT/RI dealerships were telling me these parts were not covered under CA CARB warranty. I've been on the phone for hours trying to resolve this and unfortunately had to educate the Toyota customer service team regarding the CA CARB warranty details. I have more time than money so calling multiple dealerships in CA really helped.

Just received final call from Toyota today stating they made a mistake and both parts are covered under the extended CA CARB emissions warranty for 15 yrs/150,000 miles. Of course this only applies to vehicles that have this warranty and are registered in appropriate states including CT, RI, MA, VT and a few others.

Just saved myself $500 and they are compensating me with a gift card to cover my wasted time. Can't put a price on stress and frustration but being a squeaky wheel really payed off. Hopefully others will be helped by this as well.

Feel free to join in on my happy dance!!

Maria (aka Daisy)

 

Your list looks about right although the dealerships are obviosuly a bit confused. CT put the CARB laws in place for 2008 models and I think RI for 2009 models. I'm wondering how many people have had to pay for these parts when they shouldn't have. I'll be reading the fine print from now on.

 

Makes sense and very disappointing.

 

I know! I had one Toyota rep reading the parts list from warranty book that comes with the car. He was ignoring all the footnotes referring to CA CARB laws.

If the final decision had been that parts weren't covered, I was going to argue this is an emissions performance warranty issue NOT an emissions parts warranty issue. Makes a huge difference. My car would not have passed CT's emissions test with these two parts malfunctioning. Emissions performance warranty (CA CARB states only) states Toyota has to repair car so it passes emissions. They state they need documentation that car has failed test. I wasn't looking forward to arbitration on this since I was rushed into getting valve replaced before I did my research. Never thought you'd have to pay for an emissions test to prove the obvious. Oh well...it's a done deal. Now I have to pick a mild day and go out there and replace my engine air filter and cabin filter. : ) Dealer should be doing that for free after all this!

 

Yay!

 

Well....after all this time Toyota is now saying they made a mistake. Coolant flow valve and oil temp sensor are NOT covered under CA Carb Emissions Warranty despite CA dealership confirming my vin specific car would be covered under warranty if being repaired in CA.

They rejected my request for reimbursement of coolant valve repair and stated I would need to hire an attorney since they don't have an arbitration process. Customer service supervisor could not tell me why parts weren't covered??? Luckily I got temp sensor repaired under warranty before they changed their mind.

Obviously an attorney would have cost more than repair. The best I could do was file a complaint with attorney general's office and dispute the credit card transaction which I did.

I just received check for coolant valve repair from Toyota as a goodwill gesture thank goodness but I still need answers for future reference. I told rep I would be following up because I need documentation as to why these parts aren't covered under the CA Emissions Performance Warranty.

I bet the dealership doesn't want to deal with me again but they are the best of what's available.

Any enlightenment greatly appreciated!