Warranty Denied....now what?

I feel it should be covered. I would call the Toyota Rep, not the dealer. This should not be falling off of a new car and your dealer should have noticed it on your 15k service. I don't know the number but a search should find it for you or perhaps another member has it handy. I don't think Toyota wants the reputation of things falling off there cars at 15k, especially when it involves the high voltage system. SAFETY HAZZARD should get there attention.

 

I haven't noticed anyone complain about a broken plastic shield before. My guess is that the dealer does not consider this to be a warranty repair because the service tech believes the shield was damaged from an impact?

I recommend that you have this replaced ASAP as you would be very unhappy and a significant shock hazard would result if the high voltage wires (the orange cables) were damaged and exposed.

I believe that the black cable connects the 12V auxiliary battery positive terminal to the main relay/fuse box near the inverter.

 

Assuming that what you saw was this hanging loose, Fox Lake Toyota should have caught it with any sort of visual (they use lifts afterall.) If they didn't notice this was hanging down at your 15K service then you should bring that to their attention. It sounds like it should have been covered under warranty if caught then (failed clip or loose/failed fastener?) You are probably out the money, but if you are reasonably certain that the condition was present when you took it to Fox, then you should think long and hard before relying on them in the future...unless they make it right. That right there is the one piece of leverage you have, and for a relatively minor repair they might cover it or even go to bat for you with Toyota so that you get reimbursed.

 

well, making the assumption that the part fell on its own, unrelated to any impact:
in general, if a warranty issue is present but not brought up by the customer, most dealerships won't address the issue unless it's a recall. they get dinged for doing lots of warranty work.

no joke. if you find a dealership that doesn't do that, stick with em.

that said, the scrape on it does obscure the story of it falling down on its own.

 

Looking at the part on our car, it seems to me that it should be straightforward to determine if the part was hanging before hand. If the nuts are still in place with broken pieces of the plastic still attached then something knocked the piece loose. If the fasteners were missing then it might have been hanging down.

 

Wow. I thought that the frame wire was alot more protected than that. How would you be able to scrape it on something without doing other damage under the car?

 

I've bottomed out on that piece before... I'm glad mine is still ok.

I agree: safety hazard

 

It's impact damage. I had a shield come off mine on a 4x4 track, I accept it was my fault.

 

Where is that shield located please? Right under the backseat area?

 

I did not see a reply, but her 15k services sounds like it's also her first 15k on the car.
Are you saying that if a part is improperly installed at the factory, that any damage to it, as a result of the defective workmanship, is the owners fault?
Or are you saying that you can expect things to start falling off of your Totota Prius at 15k miles, so do weekly walk arounds and checking under the car?
And are you also saying that the dealers 15k service @ $???.?? is a rip off and, so inadequate, that they should not be expected to notice something hanging down from under the car when they go under to change the oil.
Or perhaps you are suggesting the OP isn't being honest and it wasn't loose to start with, and caused the original damage.
Or perhars you're impling the warranty does not cover defective workmanship of this nature.
It's correct that it's impact damage. But if it was the result of a defective part or defective workmanship, why is it the owners fault.
I'm just curious about your reasoning.

 

I believe his reasoning is that he accepts responsibility for his actions instead of trying to force a corporation to pay for his irresponsibility.

This part most likely fell off from one of the following scenarios,
Running over a parking lot stopper
running over a center line divider
bottoming out while pulling into a driveway or garage that isn't street level
Or running over large debris like a tree branch, fallen tail pipe, or blown out tire.

 

Depends on what hits it. It is level with the frame as best I can tell, but something centered under it could whack it without hitting the frame or anything else.

If the fastening system failed within the warranty period, resulting in the part dangling and then being damaged, it is Toyota's problem--and the dealer should have noticed it. If it was fully attached, took an impact and failed it is the owner's problem.

 

Hi Ed,

The battery cable runs the length of the car on the driver's side.

 

O.K. I agree with you if the owner caused the problem to start with. I tried to make the point that if it fell down on it own and as a result was damaged, then I felt it should be covered. I never implied that it should be covered if the damage was incurred while it was still properly installed on the car.
However, your conditional wording "most likely" makes assumptions not yet in the facts and that the owner is less than scrupulous and trying to srcr*w Toyota, which is your choice.

I choose to keep an open mind and point out both situations. If it was loose as a result of defective, improperly tightened fasteners, then it should be covered by warranty. If not, then it's the drivers and/or owners responsibility. It is possible that someone other than the owner may have done the original damage.
But then I don't have a crystal ball, and therefore cannot jump to conclusions as confidently as some.

 

I'd say the moral of the story is, if you notice something like this tell your service writer immediately so it gets documented. Unless you are paying way to much for your oil changes, its not being done by a hybrid tech, or even a full Toyota tech. Usually its the high school grad garage monkey, only way they can do it for $20-40. While I think people here believe your story, you have absolutely no way to prove to the dealer that it fell down before it got damaged. If the dealer covers it, and then has to send that part back to corporate to justify the warranty coverage, there is a good chance they are not going to pay him for it because it has impact damage. Some dealers might do it anyway to keep a customer happy, but most won't in my experience.

Rob

 

not sure how this could possibly be a warranty claim. you should sell bridges.

 

My first post may have been too subtile - I was asking how could this part get damaged without having other damage occur underneath the car. I don't think that the damage occurred until after the piece was hanging down and then scraped on something. I'm basing this on where the scrape is and lack of damage to other areas in the photos.

It looks to me that the part is still functional with the scrape and should be fine, although a larger washer at that fastener wouldn't hurt anything.

I would also be concerned that the dealer didn't find this while it was on the rack and take care of it.

I'll be checking the fasteners on my car next time I do an oil change.