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2006 Prius ABS control module - ZG1 Salvage Title

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Shackman7878, Jul 16, 2016.

  1. Shackman7878

    Shackman7878 New Member

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    I have owned this Prius for 5 years now this is the 4th one in the family, Got a Letter in the mail about Brake control module Failure ZG1 and I was having the same issues listed on the Extended warranty. So took my Prius to get it checked out at a local dealer payed 90 for the diagnostics time, after going back to pick up my Prius My service writer told me my car was in a accident and said it might not be covered and he said he wish I would have told him about that before he checked the car out I said "i had no idea that would be a problem" He said to bring it back if the dash lights come on again 26 miles later showed the ABS ((!)) Brake etc lights on and had no brakes, Drove the car back to the dealer check it out again, He said it was the Brake control module was the problem but he would have to talk to his manager about the issue

    Day later got a call back from the service writer, He said he ran a Carfax on the car and since it was a Salvage and the Questionable History it will not be covered under the Extended warranty.

    Right now i am stuck in a rock and a hard place. Right now cant afford the bill given from Toyota Dealer for 3K. looked in to rebuild units and hearing they sometimes last for the life of the car and some lasting 5 months and quit or getting a known good 2nd hand part but from this notice it effect 659,000 Prius. So asking has anyone ran in to this problem and how they got issue fixed. I mean do i Pay the bill from Toyota, Clear the codes sell and give it to someone else (Will never do), take it to a scrap yard and get 1k or 2k, or drive it until the module fails and rear end a car or go though my garage. Right now saving for another car I need this Prius to last me 6 to 7 months. Welcoming all input going to try and I will talk to Toyota Customer Care and hope they can help me.

    13730561_10209421638874606_946910284_o.jpg
     
  2. aaroncv3

    aaroncv3 Member

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    Aww man, I have no idea, but I wish you the best of luck! Sorry to hear about the trouble!!
     
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Since your car has a salvage title you cannot expect the manufacturer to honor the extended warranty notice. The point of that title is to document that the car had been damaged to the extent that it was deemed uneconomical to repair by an auto insurance company. The manufacturer does not know how well the car was repaired, whether the accident damage relates to the current problem you are experiencing, etc.

    I recommend that you buy a used unit for $100 or less on eBay, and have it installed by an independent who specializes in Toyota hybrid vehicles.
     
    fotomoto likes this.
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    You can make the argument that you've driven the car for 5 years and the salvage title was issued a long time ago. The failure of that unit should be covered under warranty as it was operating properly the last 5 years. This is no different than if a car had an accident in it's lifetime

    Toyota corporate or possibly another dealer can help

    EBay has them for about $225, I have one available if you do decide you need it. But I would press Toyota for the warranty
     
    #4 JC91006, Jul 16, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2016
  5. Shackman7878

    Shackman7878 New Member

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    Only thing on a 2nd hand part is this effects 650,000 cars, With my luck i get one that is part of the "extended warranty" or it last 2 or 5 months After spending 500 - 800 in labor.
     
    #5 Shackman7878, Jul 16, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2016
  6. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Well there's the option of buying new that sucks even more

    I'd suggest you continue inn trying to get coverage from Toyota, you should get covered
     
  7. Shackman7878

    Shackman7878 New Member

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    Also a side issue i been having since ownership, The smart key will unlock and lock doors form outside buttons, Prius will start with the remote, But if you insert the key to the slot Prius will not start or do anything, once you remove the key from slot it starts fine. Has anyone ran in to this? and or fixed this before.
     
  8. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    That is not the original key and it didn't get programmed for that function.

    If you have a proper working key, then you can duplicate it to work in the slot
     
  9. SubversiveV

    SubversiveV New Member

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    I'm in a similar situation and would benefit from knowing your outcome on the decision.
    My vehicle has a salvage title as well, I have all the codes and lights indicated by the warranty extension for ZG1.
    I have not yet taken it to the dealer to diagnose but if the title is going to void that warranty, it would be great to know that. I just emailed their service coordinator who states they honor despite the status of the car's title.
     
    #9 SubversiveV, Aug 24, 2017
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2017
    SFO likes this.
  10. PriusCruzer

    PriusCruzer Junior Member

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    I'm in the same situation as well ;-(.
    I have a 2005 salvage that had been in a front end accident that only took out the A/C condenser and radiator along with the attendant minor, but somewhat extensive body damage.
    I got the car in 2008 with 14,000 miles on it. It was my daily driver until 2014 when I purchased a new 2014 Plug-In Prius. After that I let my sister drive the 2005. Recently she let me know that it has some warning lights on. It has the red "BRAKE" light on the left side of the instrument panel ON, as well as the yellow "ABS" and "((O))" indicators on the right side of the Instrument Panel.
    A friend has the Toyota Techstream software so we hooked it up and found that it had the C1253 - Hydro-Booster Pump Motor Relay, C1256- ACCumulator Low Pressure and C1391- Abnormal Leak of ACC Press DTCs and that they are classified as "Current". Just to make sure, we cleared the codes which also made the lights go out. The lights stayed out when I restarted the car but came back on again after driving for a few miles. We put the computer back on it and it had only the C1391- Abnormal Leak of ACC Press DTC.
    Looking around the internet (but mostly at priuschat!) I found out about the ZG1 WEP for these issues. In reading more I also learned why my car is running the booster pump every 7 seconds for about 5 seconds (which is way too much), why a "barking" sound comes from the left front area of the engine compartment (near the master cylinder and Brake Actuator Assembly) and why I feel some pulsing in the brake pedal (not speed dependent). All of these seem to indicate problems with the Brake Actuator Assembly which is what the ZG1 WEP addresses.
    I took the car into the dealer yesterday and told him about the issues and showed him a picture of screen shot of the Techstream software with the DTCs.
    He said that they would need to check it out for themselves (which I am totally okay with) and get back to me.
    I got a call from him yesterday afternoon and he said that they did get the codes which indicate a problem with the Brake Actuator Assembly. Then he went on to say that the WEP would "probably" not apply to me because the car has been in service since 2005 and it is now more than 10 years since 2005. I had read the ZG1 WEP several times and knew that the 10 year limitation was for the "Secondary Coverage" which only takes place after Dec. 31, 2017. I told him that since it is not 2018 that the car should be covered under the "Primary Coverage" (BTW, the car has 103K miles now). He agreed but then said that my case would need to be reviewed and approved by a "warranty specialist" before they could order the part and begin the repairs. The dealership that I took the car to is well respected for good service (I have a dealership that is only 20 miles away but I took the car to this one which is 45 miles away) and the service advisor that I am dealing with has a good reputation as being a "good guy" and he seems to be quite intelligent. I am sure that he read the ZG1 WEP and knew that my car falls under the primary coverage so it is quite frustrating to hear him and Toyota try to get out of the WEP!!! Why don't they like to do warranty work????
    He also said that the car is due for having a valve adjustment now and will be due for a tune-up soon. I think that he is doing that so that they can make some money from me if they have to do the warranty repair. Looking into the valve adjustment issue on Priuschat and elsewhere, it seems that it is an "inspection" or "check" and not required to tear into the engine to actually adjust the valves. I do not seem to have any valve noise so I do not plan to even take the valve cover off right now. As for the Tune-Up, I do plan on doing that myself in a few thousand miles.
    With all of this I am concerned that my case will be analyzed by the warranty specialist and they will claim that it is not covered due to it being salvage. I am encouraged to see that some people are saying that their dealers do not seem to care if it is salvage or not. That is great! Does anyone know what the official policy is concerning salvage vehicles?
    I can certainly show that I have had the car registered as "Operational" here in CA since 2008. I do my own oil changes and other maintenance myself so I do not have an on-going history of service but I did take the car into the dealership that is closer to me a couple of years ago and they replaced the inverter pump and the steering shaft linkage and I think something else under warranty so it has been established that the car has been repaired under warranty. Do you think that will help my case? If all of these things fall through, has anyone had any luck escalating up to Toyota Care? If so, how does that work?
    Sorry for the long message!!
    Thanks!
     
  11. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Don't worry so much, they'll probably cover the repair.

    You can always decline their offer for extra services, it's customary for them to try and make extra money
     
  12. PriusCruzer

    PriusCruzer Junior Member

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    !!!! U P D A T E !!!!

    I got a call from another service advisor from the dealer on Monday and he said that the Warranty Specialist said that they would honor WEP ZG1 and replace the Brake Actuator Assembly. Yippeee!! He said that he would order the part and get it replaced probably on Tuesday. I thanked him and was looking forward to hearing back from him later Tuesday or today to let me know that the repairs are complete and that I could pick up the car.
    Well, I did get a call from the same Service Advisor yesterday afternoon. He said that he got the part in and was going to start working on it but that they (Toyota ?) found out that it was a salvage and that Toyota rejected the repair.
    I explained to him that the vehicle has been repaired to operational status and has been in service for almost 10 years. I also told him that I had taken the car into Toyota before and had a number of recall items successfully repaired a few years ago at around 50K miles and the car now has 103K miles on it so it is not like it has not been actively driven.
    After all of that he said that maybe I should talk to Toyota Customer Service.
    I looked around on the web and there were a lot of postings that said that it is best to try to work out warranty issues directly with the dealership instead of going to Toyota first, but the Service Advisor said that I should talk to Toyota.
    The original Service Advisor that I was working with last week was off until today so I am planning on calling him and see if we can get the warranty honored before I call Toyota corporate.
    What do you guys think?

    Thanks!!
     
  13. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Maybe talk to the original service adviser, tell him it would be hard to pay out of pocket for this repair. They may ignore the salvage title as Toyota corporate has already authorized the repair.
     
  14. ih8spm

    ih8spm Junior Member

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    Why call Toyota if your getting it fixed free? Don't poke the bear.

    SM-G935P ?
     
  15. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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  16. ih8spm

    ih8spm Junior Member

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    I guess I missed read that. He should try another dealership. I've been to my more than fair share of dealerships and have never had them run a carfax and I find it odd they did that upfront. Who knows?

    SM-G935P ?
     
  17. SubversiveV

    SubversiveV New Member

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    I'm holding my breath as well. I asked that question about salvaged titles on the WEP before making my appointment and got their answer in writing. They're covering mine as of five minutes ago over the phone. If anything changes I'll report back.
     
  18. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    they are doing the free fix's to avoid future liability they are not going to do it for a car that's been totaled and put back together by god knows who.. salvage is just that, should never be allowed on the road just cut up got parts
     
  19. ih8spm

    ih8spm Junior Member

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    Wierd? Salvage is good for parts but not good enough to be put back on the road? If the repair is done in barn in the middle of a desert and and then inspected by a licensed state official it should be good enough. When airbags became the norm in vehicles in the early 90s many insurance adjusters just totaled out the vehicles for liability.... Today, those same adjusters are told to pay up to 60% or more of the cars value for repairs. I'm not here to derail but not everyone can afford a new car and sometimes you can get a great deal buying one used or even salvage.

    SM-G935P ?
     
  20. PriusCruzer

    PriusCruzer Junior Member

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    UPDATE 2

    Yesterday, I sent a very warm and glowing email into Toyota corporate about how I love the Toyota cars that I have which is both the 2005 that is the subject of this tread and also my 2014 Plug-In Pruis (bought new from the dealer). I really do like both of the cars and I would really like my wife or I to be able to drive the 2005 for another 3-5 years. In the email I kindly talked about ZG1 and then stated that even though the car has a salvage title, it was in just a relatively minor front end crash which did not even set off the airbags but caused enough damage that the insurance adjuster totaled the car. Actually, I think that there had to be some collusion between the owner that got in the accident and the adjuster because I saw the car when it was in the "crashed" state and it did not have all that much damage.
    I had not got a reply email back from Toyota so I did a follow-up call to Toyota. I ended up talking to a pretty nice guy. He was able to pull up my email from their system and read it. I scanned over it and mentioned the ZG1 WEP and then he read about my salvage situation. He said that he thought that Toyota would NOT be able to honor that warranty for a salvage, but he told me he would put me on hold and try to find a definitive answer. He came back on the line a few minutes later and said that Toyota would NOT honor the warranty on a salvage and he cited that Toyota cannot legally do it. He said he tried all the ideas that he could think of to try to get it approved but he could not do anything for me. Needless to say I was quite disappointed ;-(.

    So, SubversiveV, I am really interested in what your written assurance to do the ZG1 on your salvage car looks like and how a could get one.

    Anybody else have any pointers on what I should do next? My wife or I would really like to drive this car again because it otherwise is a great car!!

    Thanks