20,000 mile service nightmare

man i feel for ya but hate to say it but your the one in a thousand person that this happens to. The prius has a large blind spot in the rear and the tech/quick lube guy most likely hit something backing up. i would demand a bumper too. I am sure your dealer will make it right. i have seen cars fall off lifts, get wrecked moving around and so much more. Letting your service writer have it prob wont help. he didnt wreck your car but he is the one person who will help make it right. a tech wrecked my dads 1500 4x4 doing a seat belt recall. my mom sat 3 hours before they told her and the guy pushed the bumper under the car (hard to do on a full size truck) . they made it right they do have insurance and it takes time. if your dont think they will make due call the cops and report an accident.

 

If another client bumped into your car and drove away, why should the people changing the oil be held reponsible for this accident?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jamarimutt\";p=\"44265)</div>

Because the car is under their control and their responsibility.

Until the service is done and the car is returned to its owner, the service department has the responsibility to park it where it cannot be damaged.

I have yet to take my Prius in for service, but with just about every car I have owned over the years, once the service order was written, a dealership employee drove it to where it was parked pending the work being done. After the service or repair was complete, I paid the invoice and then the car was delivered back to me. The first four or five years that I own a car, I do a walk around before I drive it off, just to make sure.

 

guess i misunderstood ...i thought it was wrecked after it was tagged . a tech cant pull you car in for service at most dealers until a repair order has been generated. a service writer will inspect your car and put a tag on the window for service (a number on your review mirror thats matches your repair order number). before they tag it they are supposed to check the outside for dents and will record this to protect themselfs. if the dent is there before its tagged they will tell you to fly i kite as they have record damaged on arrival and will make you report it to your insurance company. if they tagged it and didnt record the dent ...its on them.
i am not sure if being on there property makes them responible or not but you have to prove it happened there and most likely would end up in your auto insurance but a dealer can process it under theres its whether or not they wanna fight you.
best one i prob seen was a family with a full size gm van fully loaded for vacation came in for an oil change. the van fell off the rack and got lodged between the lift post. We ended up calling tow truck to dragged the van out on its side. Our dealer gave the cust a rental van for there trip and when they got back replaced there van with a new one. BTW it wasnt me or my lift. i never laughed so hard but thank god no one was hurt :roll:

 

the dealer is insured so he isnt paying for it anyway...

 

good thing you noticed it right away! :guns:

 

I beginning to believe that Toyota Dealers don't care about Prius owners...."What, you gonna go to Mr. Goodwrench to fix that battery powered thing?"...they got us....and apparently they don't care what they do....

 

It is not the "being on their property" that is the test. If it whether the car is under their dominion and control that matters.

This is elementary Property Law which is taught during first year of law school.

 

i think that many (not mine thank god!! but that is because of the volume of Priuses here) Toyota dealers are just like the american public in that many dont realize that impact the Prius will have on society. i think the Prius will revoluntionize the auto industry.

lets face it, the insight never did and still doesnt make anyone want to run out and buy a hybrid.

the hybrid name (not the technology sadly) is starting to become a huge buzzword that dealers are using to add many many dollars to the price of a car. unfortunately, most of these "hybrids" are only slightly better (obviously the silverado isnt even that good) than normal cars and dont really deserve the name or the premium price.

i think many people are fooled by how well Toyota has integrated the hybrid technology in a very unique and distinctive design while at the same time providing a car that if the driver was put into a running vehicle and told to drive, might be hard pressed to distinguish the operation from any other car. it has the size, performance and creature comforts that you would expect from any other car. other than the startup (or bootup) sequence, the Prius is like any other car.

well, we all know that that is as far from the truth as one can get. the sheer volume of engineering excellence and commitment to the advancement of cutting edge technology all in one reasonably priced family sedan is staggering!! This is not a $60,000 Lexus or $50,000 Cadilliac.

here in america, the cadilliac has introduced nearly every innovation in the american auto industry. they started anti lock brakes, front wheel drive, selective cylinder power trains, side air bags... and why??? it was the only car being sold at enough of a margin that could absorb new and expensive technology.

The Prius completely blows that "lets not take a chance financially, let pass the cost of innovation onto the consumer and preserve our Billion dollar profits" model out of the water and the big 3 are upset that Toyota broke that unwritten rule.

now the big 3 are under pressure to do what Toyota did and that is to provide a cutting edge, no compromise, and AFFORDABLE family vehicle for $21,000!!. Well they dont want to PERIOD. so their only other option is to trash talk the Prius while scrambling to provide stop gap measures.

the mistake they are making is that the Prius is commanding better than top dollar and i believe that after the initial excitement dies down, their vehicles wont. i have seen a lot of buzz or the Ford hybrid, but i will believe its worth buying when i see it. i can easily see then going with huge rebates next may.

 

ooops, just read my post and it missed something (i am doing tech support for someone right now also)

what i meant to say was that the main reason that the big 3 even offered hybrids is because of the premium dollars that the Prius is getting and they want to take advantage of the hybrid buzz.

but you have to have the quality as the name means very little to most people. right now i believe the big 3 is making a lot of expensive junk. but it took Toyota a few years to get it right and i think the big 3 will suffer the same growing pains.

 

Regarding that blindspot:

I backed into a parking lot pole late one evening after attending a concert in Taos. Fortunately, the Toyota supplied touch-up paint did a pretty good job of covering those deep scratches.

The next day I got on the internet and ordered an infra-red proximity sensor for my back bumper. Now I get an alarm when I get too close to something (or someone) when backing up. It was a well spent $29.95. It beeps slowly when getting close, quickly when getting too close. Also, having installed the sensor I felt okay about disabling my Prius backup beeper. NOTE: The only downside is its tendency to alarm when the sun is shining directly into it (only when the backup lights which power it are on).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ken Cooper\";p=\"44504)</div>

Where did you get this and where did you have it installed?

I drove a Toyota Corolla station wagon for 17 years (300,000+ miles), then a 2 door Ford Explorer for 8 years (100,00 + miles). Thanks to the guidance of an ex-boyfriend (the best thing I got from the relationship!) I was able to parallel park like a charm in both of them, but in the Prius I can't parallel park for sh*t! I could use some extra guidance.

 

parking assist is available in Japan only. realize if you have a tough time here, the parking is much much much tighter there.

do what i do, adjust the passenger side mirror so you can see your back tire... makes parking a breeze. easiest vehicle i have ever parked with exception of a 24 ' delivery truck i had... but it had dual side mirrors and had a dedicated set of mirrors specifically used to parallel park only.

 

We, too, had back up sensors installed on our 2005 by the Toyota dealer.
Consist of two small black buttons on the back bumper of the Silver and can be painted.It slow beeps at 8' increasing until 2' then a steady. The system "maps" the area and picks up carport supports, hydrants, shopping centre light supports, shopping carts, little people (children & pets). We are generally pretty careful but have so far noted that they would have been effective in missing many "crunches".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Canuck\";p=\"46261)</div>

Do you really mean 8 inches and 2 inches? That seems like it's cutting it pretty close.