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I'm Being Bullied!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Michael Lui, Oct 29, 2022.

  1. Michael Lui

    Michael Lui New Member

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    I am being bullied by Queensboro Toyota to pay to fix a problem that their mechanic caused. I brought my car to their service department to have the brake actuator on my 2007 Prius replaced. I got my car back with a master warning light illuminating on the dashboard (that was not there before). Nothing was said to me about the warning light. I had to pay $3200 for the repair before they released the car to me. As soon as I got into my car to drive off that's when I saw the red triangle warning light. Now they want me to pay for a new hybrid battery. I can't afford to put down another $3000 for a 2007 car. Hybrid battery just don't fail. There are tell-tale signs that a hybrid battery is nearing its end. None which I had experienced.
    This dealership made over 19 million dollars in revenue last year and their projected revenue for this year will be a lot higher. I just want them to fix what they broke. Please help! I need some advice to see how to convince this multi million dollar company to do the right thing.
     
    PriusCamper likes this.
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Prius hybrid batteries work great when the car is driven everyday, but when the car sits for a few days or a week or longer the battery modules self discharge and as the pack gets older they will discharge at different rates leading to an unbalanced pack and warning lights.

    And because most Toyota Stealerships have no moral compass they'd rather scam you for for a brand new pack rather than charge and balance you battery pack in the same way good auto repair shops wash the car after they're done doing repairs on it. It's just basic decency to do everything possible to take good car of your car, but criminals at stealerships don't understand customer loyalty. They think you don't have any options and they can force you to buy a new battery pack rather than offer a charge & balance service to help maximize longevity of your Prius.

    You can build your own high voltage trickle charger to charge and balance your pack for $100 here: Build Hybrid Battery Maintenance Gear For Under $100 | PriusChat

    Or you could by a more expensive commercial product from Hybrid Automotive or Maxx volts. Or find an auto shop that uses those products here: Dealer Map | Hybrid Automotive Approved Resellers | Hybrid Automotive
     
  3. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Sadly a battery of that age just does (appear) to stop working one day for the reasons given above by PriusCamper. A lot of that happened during COVID when stay-at-home was in effect. A lot of batteries just died and a lot of batteries were replaced.

    You might get further with a resolution by tempering your approach and see if the dealership is open to some kind of 50:50 type compromise if you were to go ahead with a replacement. While PriusCamper has his own bias on the dealership 'ethical compass', to be fair to them there is only one official Toyota-sanctioned remedy for any kind of battery error that indicates the battery is failing or has failed, and that is to replace. They have valid technical and business reasons for not engaging in any type of R&R work on the battery. They do have the ability to charge the battery though, so that might be an option.

    If you were to try the charging/discharging regimen mentioned by PriusCamper you might get lucky and get the battery working again (for a while, at least) for cheap.
     
    Elektroingenieur likes this.
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Toyoda dealership has capability to charge HV batt? Really . I'll be over they're Mon with my buddy who is a 23 yrs service manager . I cannot wait to see this setup. I cannot wait to hear what Thomas says about this. Interesting.
     
  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    And this is exactly what happened to.my 09 at high 200K like 260 ish or so .I had 5 Prii at time so the 09 kinda sat 2 to 5 days at a time quite a bit . Battery fell on it face in 22. At removal the buss bars and nuts were just horrid looking. Vehicle had no traces of water ingress ever.fans and blowers were clean Whistle. One owner car that never was off the road since saled in 09 except for dealer warranty at New . No campaigns ever performed nothing. And woman owned no kids carpooled w 4 adults everyday till late 21.
     
  6. Another

    Another Senior Member

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    Instead of playing the I’m a victim card, just quit whining, suck it up and find a local independent hybrid repair shop that does cell balancing. They exist nationwide.
     
  7. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Catchy clickbait title..
    A brake actuator job likely books out at 6+ hours of labor, or would be finished in a full working day.

    Did the dealer have the part in stock, or did you know it would take days/weeks for them to complete the job?

    Did the dealer offer a loaner vehicle to make up for the expected delay in repair?

    Before contacting toyota corp to tell them about your recent poor dealer experience (you might get a discount towards an installed HV battery or not), first talk to someone important at the dealer, and tell them the situation (delay repair time caused HV battery to fail) and that you will be talking to corp if you and the dealer can't find some middle ground on this issue.

    This may not be the current contact for toyota usa : 800-331-4331, option 4: “Concern or problem with vehicle or dealer”.
    Which OBD2 codes (DTCs) is the stealership using to justify a new HV battery, and did they give you paperwork to support such?

    FYI : you're moderated until you've posted 5 times.

    On a side note; you created another thread a few days ago, which also received some responses, did you forget to reply?
    Not all dealers have the setup, but they do exist.
     
    #7 SFO, Oct 30, 2022
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2022
  8. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Some stealerships can "borrow" equipment from Toyota... As in if you have a brand new battery pack that's been drained down and is under warranty and they can't scam you or Toyota's warranty coverage for a new one yet.
     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    they had to bring one in to charge my battery after the body shop accidentally discharged it somehow.

    it was regional, and took a couple days.
     
  10. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Lol... I'd love to hear the conversation at corporate about the number of chargers to make available at the the dealerships. Literally, the act of trying to recharge a hybrid battery is treated like a threat to sales dept. profitability. What a bunch of well paid con-artists they all are!
     
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i'm sure if you're out of warranty, they don't have anything like that.
     
  12. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    Yes, they do. Toyota’s version of the Midtronics GRX-5100 battery service tool and its accessories, which replaced the charging equipment formerly lent to dealers as needed, are described in bulletin T-SB-0119-15 Rev2, “High Voltage (HV) Battery Rescue Charge (HEV Workstation/GRX-5100)” (PDF), May 31, 2022, as an “Essential SST,” that is, a special service tool that dealers are required to have. They’re also shown in the HEV Workstation Index (PDF) on the special service tools website operated for Toyota in the U.S. by Bosch.

    Without knowing at least the diagnostic trouble code that caused the warning light to appear, I couldn’t say whether the trouble is, in fact, with the HV battery at all, and if so, whether attempting to recharge it would be a reliable repair.
     
  13. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Unless you have your lawyer write them a letter about how your battery pack was well charged when the vehicle was dropped off and their negligence is directly responsible for the discharge. But even then, they'd probably be like, it's just a letter, maybe file a federal tort claim and our Toyota Lawyers will get us to do something!
     
  14. Aegean

    Aegean Active Member

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    Unfortunately as our Prius gets older we need to proactively avoid leaving the car parked for several days. This includes airport parking for long trips, bodywork shops waiting for repairs or insurance approvals, and at dealerships waiting for parts etc.

    For example, I had my catalytic converter stolen and I was waiting on insurance inspections, it took almost 2 weeks. Battery was at lowest level I have ever seen it when I picked it up. I don’t think it would last a third or fourth week. The dealership would love a long wait and a damaged battery to make more money. I believe when the car was new it could stay parked for several weeks without issues but not now after 16 years.
     
  15. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I've got leads installed now for trickle charging or str8 hi voltage charging . Every few months I hook up the 320 volt charger . It usually only sits on about hour then it's stable . And I disconnect . Venice hybrid charger.