Fuel Economy Drop After Speed Sensor Replacement

I'll be honest. I'm scared to buy one. I have a learning disability that gives me a hard time understanding directions and information without being physically helped.

(Unfortunately, I don't have friends here offline that can help, that's why this forum is my best point of contact for Prius related stuff.)

 

A long story short, my Prius ended up back at the same dealership. They've had it a few days, but gave me a loaner this time, which was appreciated.

They emailed me an update tonight, and it's not good at all.

"The tech has recommended for the abs actuator to be replaced as it incorporates a lot of the systems associated with the codes hes getting. So in order to remove and replace that its 4 hrs labor @ $185 ($740) and the parts are $1013.70 so $1753.70 plus tax."

There's no way I could possibly afford that, especially because my job security evaporated this week.

I tried looking the parts up on RockAuto, but I don't think I'm looking at the correct ones. I think the only one over $140 is an Ignition Starter Switch.


The following is more context, but probably superfluous. I try to provide as much info as possible, in case something I don't think is important enough to mention, is actually a necessary part of the puzzle.

Spoiler: Read more...

I take everything a dealership says with a heap of salt, but I do have a question. The tech mentioned after reviewing my DTC pdfs from over the course of this situation, some codes showed up only after the replacement repairs. It's possible that when the original shop replaced the hub assembly, and later the speed sensor, they may have caused a short that got us here. Truth be told, my roommate and I had independently shared that concern.

Without getting too deep in the woods; after the hub was replaced, but the issue persisted, they suggested further work. This wouldn't be covered under their guarantee, since they said it wasn't necessarily related to the original issue. Usually they're okay with me asking questions, so I asked if a speed sensor is something that's normally replaced along with a hub assembly. They said they had no way of knowing the sensor was bad when originally diagnosing the issue, because the sensor is buried in grease. I don't know if that's a common issue, but unfortunately they didn't seem willing to explain it further, so at the time I let it go.

I think I ended up paying around $250 for the sensor installation, but I don't have that bill on hand to double check. This is the bill for the original hub assembly job, though.

I suppose it doesn't make a huge amount of difference at this stage, but do you think it's likely, or even possible for the original shop to cause the abs actuator to fail in this scenario? Or is it more likely just hitting the pothole sent this all in motion and the ABS imploding was inevitable?

 

I wanted to try out some of your suggestions, but my car's been at the dealership this entire time.

They think it's these that need replacement, but they couldn't confirm it. (They never gave me the paperwork I asked for, so I'm not even sure how they came to that conclusion.)

(It's not this specific dealership, I'm just showing the parts!)


When they called to ask for me the loaner back, I told them not to do the repairs, and I'd take the back car instead. (I didn't directly say it, but I want to get it done elsewhere.)

I couldn't bring it home the same day I returned the loaner, but they gave me my key so I could, even if they were closed. They had insisted on getting the loaner back that day, but since I was running behind for an appointment, I didn't think to check my car before leaving.

Yesterday I drove the 40 minutes to get it (Sunday, so unfortunately they were closed). And. Uh. Here is how they left it for me.

When I dropped it off with them, obviously it had a cowl, wipers, functional glovebox arm, etc. The missing parts are completely MIA. (I always said "stealership" in jest, but oof...) They honestly expected me to take it like this...
Now I don't have the loaner, or my own car.

So... I understand it's okay for some water to get in the engine bay, but it's been raining (often pouring), for days now... I didn't think to cover it somehow before leaving, because I cannot articulate how frustrated I was. Still unsure what do do, I left it there. How possibly screwed am I?


I'll call Toyota directly tomorrow, although I'm not optimistic they'll give a hoot. (In over a decade of working with them, unfortunately they've not been very accommodating.)

This sucks.

 

The black arm seemed broken on the glove box, but you're 100% correct. I'm really scared about the engine bay.

The worst part of it is knowing I'll likely just be on my own to pick up the mess (hopefully I actually get my parts back).

 

I have a really unfortunate update, and I admit I am close to tears. I'm really confused and upset.

Toyota's Customer Advocate department has been aware of the cowl situation since May 5th, when the dealership blatantly lied to them, saying I had been there that morning to return my car, and left before they could help me.

I was at work, and never took my car from the parking lot like they claimed. Toyota didn't do anything to help even after I informed them that I could prove they'd been directly lied to. Instead they just kept telling me to sit tight and don't worry, they'd "make me whole". (I don't know what that means.) That's the last I heard from them.

I saw on Thursday night that my case with Toyota had been closed without any resolution or communication provided to me. On Friday morning (yesterday 5/9), I tried again to call the Toyota agent assigned to my case, but I was told maybe he'd call me Monday.

I called another dealership and explained the situation. They said to have it towed directly there, and they'd try to help. They said to cover themselves they need the paperwork breaking down what Dealership One claims they did. (I do understand this).

When I went in, Dealership One only gave me part of the documentation. When I asked for the rest, they insisted that was all of it. When I proved that was untrue, they pivoted to saying I can't have the rest of it because they don't have it. They said I can come back for it on Tuesday. (It should be digital, right? Why wouldn't they have it?)

Currently I don't think Dealership Two can look my car over, but they said Dealership One legally has to provide the documentation. I don't know how that works, but I also don't feel like policies and laws will help me when no one enforces them.

Dealership One shrugged off that my situation wasn't an isolated event, and that they commonly leave vehicles with exposed engine bays out in the elements, because they said it won't hurt anything. Sometimes they leave gloveboxes on the floor so they can offer customers a new cabin filter but forget.

When pressed, they were alarmingly comfortable admitting they don't always remember to do safety checks before returning vehicles to customers.

I feel sad and like somehow I have woken up in the Twilight Zone. I can't understand why Toyota doesn't care about any of this. I love my car, it's still broken, and I feel really upset and helpless.

 

(I don't know if I should be editing my previous reply, I apologize if adding new ones isn't the right thing.)

Toyota says it doesn't make their certified dealerships take accountability for their actions, because they're only the manufacturer.
It explains a lot though. This arrangement is probably an absolute perfect dream for a bad actor running a stealership.

 

Since my last post, my car has started randomly accelerating when it's raining out, and the stereo sound will fluctuate as well. I haven't run an OBD2 on it yet, but I'll have to do that when I have access to my reader again.

I'm not sure what was reported to Carfax, but my car's value also dropped from $3,000 to around $500 shortly after the dealership fiasco. Could it be related?

Both Toyota and the dealership refused any accountability, so I'm completely on my own. If I knew a safe way to do it, I would go public.

 

The dealership told Toyota a lot of things that weren't true, including that I came in and yelled at them. This allegedly happened while I was at work, an hour away. I never yelled at anyone, I don't like confrontation. If anything, I get really quiet.

CarFax said my trade-in was $500, just checked again and it says over $1000, and about $3,800 private sale. I think I might be misunderstanding what that means.

When I say public, I just mean a public review, I only need to make sure I word a review carefully. I've been thinking it over for months, and I think I'll feel a tangible amount of catharsis from sharing my experience.

I love my car, trading or selling it isn't an option I want to consider. I have more good memories with this car than anything else in my life. (If that sounds sad, it's probably because it is.)

Maybe I could offer work time in my garage and use the proceeds to buy the parts. I have a variety of parts for different vehicles I'd trade (Miatas, Civics, RX-8s, stereos, random bits and bobs), but I don't think I should get the brake booster and pump used, right?

Monday I lost my job on the farm, but I really just want my car like she used to be.