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Communication module inop

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by crewdog, May 1, 2017.

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  1. Prius from Dad

    Prius from Dad Senior Member

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    Bummer. Did they at least give you a Prime loaner?
     
    #41 Prius from Dad, May 8, 2017
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  2. badasset

    badasset New Member

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    No, the loaner is a 2016 PriusC and I swear that its truck area is smaller than the Prius Prime.
     
    #42 badasset, May 8, 2017
  3. jburke313

    jburke313 Member

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    That's too bad.. Mine is at the dealer now for the same issue. I hope they figure it out but am not getting my expectations too high...
     
    #43 jburke313, May 9, 2017
  4. crewdog

    crewdog Acting Ensign Prius Prime

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    fwiw,
    NHTSA compaint 10983806 is active for the Communication module in the Prime

    Feel free to document your own vehicle issues, maybe the data trend analyzer dept will do something.
     
    #44 crewdog, May 9, 2017
  5. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    What does this module do that creates a safety hazard when it fails ??
    (No I don't know what it IS.)
     
    #45 Sam Spade, May 9, 2017
  6. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    I don't know for sure, but I would guess that part of it would be that this is the component that would send out an automatic SOS in the case of an accident, or allow a driver to call for emergency assistance, providing GPS location info to the dispatcher.
     
    #46 CharlesH, May 9, 2017
  7. jburke313

    jburke313 Member

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    So picked up from dealer and of course it's not fixed. They told me safety connect module was fine and entune issue must be my phone, so it's me not any mechanical issue.... Said mechanic connected his phone no problem and safety connect module worked (not possible). I made them show me, pushed the button and surprise it doesn't work. They tell me I have to sign up for SC. I was. After leaving all day and two more hours with me there they called Toyota and opened a case. Hurry up and wait...
     
    #47 jburke313, May 9, 2017
  8. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    Yes, your dealer's service department is in serious need for some tech training on these new cars. The Safety Connect stuff in the car has absolutely nothing to do with your personal cell phone or any of that "Entune" stuff. The problem is apparently in the Safety Connect network somewhere, related to the cell phone service for the BUILT IN cell phone.
     
    #48 CharlesH, May 9, 2017
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  9. YPizza

    YPizza Junior Member

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    Yikes, I noticed the same issue with my SoCal Prime today.. absent green SOS status light and 4/28 last update in Entune.
     
    #49 YPizza, May 10, 2017
  10. crewdog

    crewdog Acting Ensign Prius Prime

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    So I called the Toyota Customer Support Line yesterday, option 4, option 2, spoke to my case manager for this issue, and under some mild interrogation and cross examination got the following:

    This issue is being treated as a series of single issues.
    As they come in, they are not grouped together.
    Each customer case manger doesn't know what the others are doing.
    There is another department of data analyzers, above his paygrade, whose job it is to determine if there is a trend.
    It is not known how often that data is analyzed for trends; daily, weekly, monthly, star-date range.....
    There is another department, above his paygrade, to deal with NHTSA complaints.
    The customer case manager is NOT aware of when and/or if Toyota SOS calls the servicing dealer.
    Just because a case is made in the Toyota Technical Information Service, it is not automatically entered in the Tech Support case system.

    For everyone who may have this problem, might I respectfully suggest y'all make a case # with the Customer Support 800 number, option 4, and treat this as a problem with the dealer service. If you press Entune problem, you'll only get a user support person.

    I think if I don't hear anything in a few days, I might just purchase some Toyota stock and inquire through Investor Relations.
     
    #50 crewdog, May 10, 2017
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  11. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    Has everyone who has been hit by this problem had the issue begin on April 28? Is it happening only on "recently" purchased Advanced Primes, for some as yet unknown value of "recent"? It is obviously a systemic problem; it is just a matter of how long it takes for them to recognize it. Hopefully it will not take someone dying because the Safety Connect system was unable to summon assistance after an accident. Yes, they cannot guarantee that Safety Connect will always be able to summon help, but I can imagine the personal injury lawyers drooling if it came out that Toyota had been told about the issue, but just hadn't gotten around to fixing it.
     
    #51 CharlesH, May 10, 2017
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  12. badasset

    badasset New Member

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    Latest update. Car is still in the service department. They did swap out the communication modules and it did not correct the problem. They now have a call into Verizon to have them check things out on their end. Last message from my service department is they are waiting a callback from Verizon. So maybe by Thursday something will get resolved.
     
    #52 badasset, May 10, 2017
  13. badasset

    badasset New Member

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    No joy - picked my car up today with no resolution to the safety connect problem. They have assigned a Toyota Case #171230147 to my issue and now need to wait for a response/corrective action back from Toyota. It could be a while, since I think it is coming down to just finding the right person/group within Toyota to resolve this issue. :(
     
    #53 badasset, May 11, 2017
  14. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    Has anybody pinged @Prius Team about this?
    I guess I just did :D
     
    #54 Prodigyplace, May 11, 2017
  15. badasset

    badasset New Member

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    Looks like a similar problem with safety connect has happened with the Lexus line too (see attachment). You would think Toyota would have a handle on the problem by now. LexusSafetyConnect.jpg
     
    #55 badasset, May 11, 2017
  16. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    Not a similar problem. The same problem. A poster mentioned the same issue (unexpected expiration of MIN/MDN in the cellular account) in the context of a Highlander support incident that happened in May 2014. (Communication module inop | PriusChat)
     
    #56 CharlesH, May 11, 2017
    Last edited: May 11, 2017
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  17. CoolMoon

    CoolMoon New Member

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    It seems has nothing to do with the hardware, so dealer could not help at all...It looks like just some settings on toyota's end were messed up.

    It was mentioned in another thread that a 800 phone call asking for level 2 technical support might solve the problem.

    Remote Climate - Entune App | PriusChat
     
    #57 CoolMoon, May 11, 2017
  18. jburke313

    jburke313 Member

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    My case was opened with Toyota on Tuesday after a day at the dealer where they told me it was user error. Still no call back from Toyota...
     
    #58 jburke313, May 12, 2017
  19. crewdog

    crewdog Acting Ensign Prius Prime

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    @Prius Team

    Trying to update vehicle status with dealer yesterday, and service adviser was actually adamant that I take a free Corolla loaner car. I have to give points in this escapade to Nalley Toyota of Roswell Service Dept; They are at least trying and willing to work, if Toyota HQ would cooperate.

    They have not heard back from Toyota SOS.

    They were interested in the NHTSA complaint number.

    Did not seem surprised that an SOS assist request by technicians would not be able to be accessed by customer service reps for owners.

    What do we know?
    On April 28, there are a few Primes out there whose safety connect quit working.
    Those Primes are scattered across the US.
    Replacing the Communication Modules does not fix the problem.
    Reprogramming the comm module does not fix the problem.
    The cellular carrier for the telematics, Verizon, is still up and running.
    Looking at other vehicles, it is not the first time a Safety Connect issue has appeared.
    the consumer takes last place in this turf war.

    What's the common thread that would tie all these together?

    I'm going to go with Whatever Server the Safety Connect Program stores its database on, or, a corruption in the data file, which we all know can happen to complex programs from time to time.

    Searching Google News for April 28, not much seemed to have happened except the NFL Draft, which was in the evening on the east coast. If Clem or Clem's Son got excited about some teams choice and banged on a server to express some gridiron emotion, well that could have caused a read/write head to skip and mar a disk surface.

    And about 2:30 pm Pacific time on 4/28, there was a 2.9 earthquake near Soledad California.

    At 12:23 pst there was a 6.9 quake in the Phillippines, and at 9:30 am pst there was a 5.9 quake off of Chile.

    Anyway, I think we'd just like a team approach from the back end at Toyota to just fix this problem. I don't think anyone cares about policy, procedure, or even defending one's turf; We're the reason Toyota and everyone who works for them has a job to begin with and we just want to drive these freaking incredible Primes.

    </screed>
     
    #59 crewdog, May 12, 2017
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  20. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    The Toyota Safety Connect "account" at Verizon.

    Probably nobody at Toyota knows how that really works......and only a few at Verizon.
    Verizon has no mechanism for taking customer reports on this service.
    Toyota has no mechanism for getting reports from it's customers to the RIGHT people at Verizon.

    Things like this would be funny.......if it weren't so pathetic.
    It's as bad as having two young kids.....HE did it.....no HE did it......no........

    Finding someone with a WORKING service that you could use to contact Verizon for technical assistance on the one that is NOT working might be your only direct avenue to the right people......and even that might not work.
     
    #60 Sam Spade, May 12, 2017
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