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UPDATE ON MY NON RUNNING 02 PRIUS

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by baddad457, Sep 29, 2007.

  1. baddad457

    baddad457 New Member

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    Well I trailered the dead 02 Prius to a dealer that claimed they could fix it. 60 miles away. Been two weeks now and I got a phone call yeasterday with the news. Car needs $8000 worth of parts and still no guarantee it'll be fixed. WHAT A GREAT CAR !!!!!!!!!!! AM I LUCKY OR WHAT ? Toyota offered to "pay for" (which really means they're off the hook for nothing) $5000 of it. They still want me to pay for $2750 of the bill. And STILL can't tell me why the car went belly up in the first place. The last dealer that worked on it, I suspect, was the problem. The dealer working on it now told me the previous dealer sold me a bad battery (that episode cost my $430 to buy and install the battery) Car ran fine for two weeks afterward and then went dead. I'm going to see a lawyer ASAP. Either Toyota's going to pay for more, or they get sued and I start an internet campaign informing the public what a great deal their hybrids are. A car that gets 45 mpg isn't much good when it stays in the shop and runs up billls totalling more than the car's worth. I'd be better off with anything else.
     
  2. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(baddad457 @ Sep 29 2007, 08:12 AM) [snapback]518977[/snapback]</div>
    Can you get a listing of all of the error codes or more specific diagnosis? Your lawyer will need this too.

    Bob Wilson
     
  3. lefat1

    lefat1 Fat Member

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    let me get this straight, this is a 6 year old car with likely out of warranty mileage. what makes you think toyota has any liabilities to you for this type of problem. perhaps i'm missing something here :blink:
     
  4. baddad457

    baddad457 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lefat1 @ Sep 29 2007, 12:59 PM) [snapback]519104[/snapback]</div>
    Maybe the fact that a dealer worked on it, it ran fine for two weeks, then went dead ? And now needs $8000 worth of parts ? HUH? you think? I can't think of any other cars that last 5 years (it's an 02, now its 07, your math is off) and then are ready for the junkyard after suddenly going dead on you while you're tooling down the road. You buy these things and Toyota's the only choice in repairs and then they try to rape you for more money, you call that a deal? This isn't the only problem this car's had, the electric steerings been worked on several times, the main battery was under recall once before as well. About the only thing that's been nice about it is we've never had to change the brakes after 95K miles.
     
  5. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(baddad457 @ Sep 29 2007, 05:11 PM) [snapback]519177[/snapback]</div>
    whoa, calm down there sparky.

    first, they changed an aux battery at your initial visit which isn't exactly difficult and had it been the incident that kicked off your issue would have likely happened much sooner than 2 weeks later. unfortunate coincidences do happen in the repair business.

    second, they said you needed a fuel tank assy and a computer, yes? what are the new folks saying? parts/labor breakdown? have you looked into doing the computer yourself?

    you need to give us a lot more details if you want any help. now if you just want to rant and rave that's fine too but at least make that clear.
     
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Ya know, $2700 repairs for a 5-6 year old car (2008 model year are coming out now, 2002 started coming out at this time 6 years ago, so the math is ok--and it'll serve you well to be nice to people here if you want them to be nice to you...kinda like kindergarden) of any kind isn't exactly unprecedented. Not that that makes it good or OK, but stuff happens even with a highly reliable vehicle like a Toyota.

    We had to pay almost $3000 for a 5 year old Ford Windstar a couple years ago, stuff happens. Warranties are just that...they're limited. You knew the limits of the warranty when you purchased the car....if it wasn't suitable then you've noone to blame but yourself and the guy holding the gun to your head to buy.

    Now, as Galaxee said, we need a lot more info to help you. If the original battery replacement was, indeed, just the 12v battery then there really isn't likely to be any connection b/w that and the current problems. More likely it's just coincidental that the two problems on this 5-6 year old car occured close to the same time.

    Let us know exactly what needs repaired and replaced...if you're getting $8000 worth of new stuff for only $2700 I think you should be dancing in the streets, you'll have a like-new car for a pretty good price.
     
  7. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    And at any rate if the dealer DID mess it up, it isn't Toyota. The dealers are independent business operations. They are not owned or directly controlled by Toyota. So I don't know how you think you can sue Toyota. Certainly the dealer may be liable, subject to you proving beyond reasonable doubt it was what they did.
     
  8. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    And you think GM would offer to pay anything toward a transmission overhaul of a car 2 or 3 years out of warranty? You're dreaming! If $5000 is nothing to you perhaps you could see your way clear to giving me a loan for $5000, I know you wont want it back, after all it's nothing.
     
  9. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    If it really does need $8,000 worth of repairs and Toyota is willing to pick up $5,000 of it, I'd say that's not bad. Having to pay $2,750 after 6 years isn't bad if it's out of warranty. I probably put that much into my Nissan until I was rear ended and it was totaled. Too bad as after all that work it was running really fine. It was a hatchback too. Although I do like the design of the Prius hatchback much better.

    I guess you didn't have the extended warranty?

    I do. I'm glad.
     
  10. baddad457

    baddad457 New Member

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    Gee, I see ya'll don't mind paying more than a car's worth for repairs on a 5 year old car. Must be nice to be able to throw more money down the drain, I for one can't afford it. Y'all want to remind me again how much money I saved on fuel ? You think that added up to more than an $8000 bill ? And as for the 12V battery that was replaced, that's also toast, the new dealer wants the invoice to be able to show upper management what the other dealer is up to. And it's also likely the cause of the new problems in that $8000 bill. As for the new codes, I haven't a clue as to what's included in that $8000 bill. Gosh I feel so lucky to be saving the environment. I wonder if one of those "green" political action organizations would help out ? And I do feel Toyota should foot moreof the bill, as they've made so much out of the fact that these cars are so reliable in their advertising. Suckering the unsuspecting public into buying these cars then hoping to make even more off the shop time when they crap out before they should. My advice to you all is get rid of the ones you have before you're dragged into where I've been, while they still have resale value.
     
  11. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    whatever man, guess you've lived a charmed life up to now, but occasionally those of us who live on planet earth have unfortunate things happen to us. It doesn't mean it's a conspiracy and it doesn't mean someone else is to blame.

    Again, you have little in the way of information to give us that might allow us to provide actually help. You heap on speculation that somehow a bad 12v battery could cause $8000 in damage. And then you pretend that you have to pay the whole $8000 when you've already acknowledged that Toyota has offered to foot 2/3rds of the bill when they are under ZERO obligation to do so.

    You had the choice to buy an extended warranty which would have covered all of this...but YOU chose not to, now you want the priveledges of the extended warranty anyway.

    I do feel badly for you that things have not gone well, but this could have happened with ANY car, ANY brand when it gets to be 5-6 years old. Nobody likes it, but it's not a reason to condemn the entire line esp. when you and we don't even know what's actually wrong. AND, if it is actually somehow due to the bad 12v then how on earth do you rationalize condemning the car? That's like getting bad gas and saying everyone should sell their car b/c yours broke when you got bad gas...

    Again, I know you feel bad. I know you're worried about the expense. But do try to remain rational and level headed here and put things in perspective. The vast majority of '01 and '02 Prii are running great and have few or no expensive problems. Just like the majority of '01 and '02 Honda Civics are running great with no problems. But there are exceptions with the Prius just as there are with the Civic, but those exceptions don't make the car bad.
     
  12. baddad457

    baddad457 New Member

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    No, see you're wrong. Properly maintained cars simply don't quit running after 5 years, if you think they are supposed to, you must live on Mars. I'm not a totally ignorant person when it comes to cars and vehicle maintenence, I've built, swapped and hot rodded many vehicles, I'm not just spouting off about something I know nothing about. When you or your wife are out in the middle of BFE and your car quits suddenly and without warning, let me know how you feel. Call me and I'll bring the trailer if you're in the neighborhood. And we did have the extended Warantee. Toyota's offering to pick up $5000 of the bill really amounts to nothing out of their pocket. If they really wanted to stand behind their product, they'd do more than tell me I'm lucky to get off only oweing them $2750. I see one of you is "down under", I'll bet you think twice about tooling around in the outback in a Prius. That would be loads of fun, sitting in 130* heat in a dead car.
     
  13. miscrms

    miscrms Plug Envious Member

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    You're being asked to pay $2700 of an $8000 repair on a vehicle that books private party for $11000. Exaggerating and being abusive towards the members of the list isn't likely to get you a lot of sympathy. How much money you've saved on gas is irrelevant, as this could have happened in any vehicle. We had a toyota van that blew a head gasket and cracked the block at 90k miles. It really sucked, but thats the way things go sometimes. In the end they gave us a very nice trade in offer, and we took it rather than have it repaired. Perhaps its time to consider that option in your case.

    You've given basically very little factual or useful information that might help anyone deduce whether or not the dealership is giving you the right info or not, or whether the first dealer may have caused the problem. Until you calm down and do so, I'm really not sure what you are expecting here.

    Rob
     
  14. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(baddad457 @ Sep 29 2007, 09:47 PM) [snapback]519277[/snapback]</div>

    You think your car is worth less than $2,750? That's what you claim you will be out of pocket.

    What car do you plan buying for that same $2,750?
     
  15. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    tell ya what. i'll buy the car from you for the $2750. how's that.

    your hyperbolic crap isn't cutting it, you provide NO useful info despite repeated requests, there are people who WOULD have been willing to help you here had you not gone all childish and a-hole on us, and you expect what?

    right, buddy. i wanna live in your world.
     
  16. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(baddad457 @ Sep 29 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]519286[/snapback]</div>
    Did you read the part about trying to remain rational, level headed and calm? I never said that cars are "supposed to quit running after 5 years". I said that in the real world sometimes they do. It sucks when it happens, we've all acknowledged that over and over...and for a while we sypathised with you...right up until you started attacking us. Now you're just coming off as a defensive self-rightous jerk and I'm suprised with your attitude that Toyota bothered to offer you a dime toward repair.

    Nobody's claimed you are, but this certainly helps highlight your irrational defensiveness.

    Been there, done that, it sucks...but I don't come crying that the world owe's me something it doesn't. I pay my bill for the out-of-warrantee repair and get on with my life.

    Then, again, you need to provide a LOT more information. What out of that $8000 isn't covered by the warranty and why? If your car is only 5 years old then it should be covered for anything drivetrain related or hybrid system related...can't imagine there are any other major parts other than body work that wouldn't be covered for $8000. For about the 20th time, if you'll give us info we can try to give you info...unless you just want to irrationally keep attacking us.

    It amounts to at least $5000 in lost revenue PLUS the cost of the parts and labor they have to pay...I'd guess around $8-9000 assuming your numbers are accurate. But the sentence says a LOT about you. You want them punished. You don't give a crap about having your car fixed and running you want Toyota to suffer somehow for this. This is bitterness and spitefulness on your part and you're coming here to spread it further. Nice, real nice.
    Again, they stand behind their products to the limits of the warranty. And, in your case, well beyond it to the tune of $5000. But you've got the extended warranty and yet it doesn't cover this expense. I can't wait to hear the explaination on this.
    Poor sad me again. Yes, it sucks...I can say it 20 more times if it'll make you feel better. But you're not the first nor will you be the last that this happens to. And nobody will like it any more than you do. But ANY car could die in the middle of BFE and if one were unprepared in the outback one would die. But anyone who drives in the outback in ANY car will go out prepared to survive the breakdown of their car should that unlikely situation occur.

    Please, seriously, save the woe is me stuff and bashing of the members of this forum. Try to be a bit more calm and rational. Come back on Monday after you've had a chance to talk to the dealer, get some info, find out what needs to be replaced and why (as well as you can), let us know what's not covered by the extended warranty and why the dealer says it's not covered. And best of all some explaination of how a bad 12v battery could cause $8000 in damage...that's got us all befuddled.
     
  17. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(baddad457 @ Sep 30 2007, 12:42 PM) [snapback]519286[/snapback]</div>
    I'll have total confidence in the Prius. I just got back from a trip to Innamincka in a rented Nissan Patrol, What a piece of crap! I wouldn't drive the Prius on the Strzelecki Track and nor would anyone who valued their car but I am thinking about a trip to Townsville on sealed roads and the reliability of the Prius is a non issue. You are one person with a problem, many many others have had absolutely trouble free runs with their cars to this point.

    If $5000 is nothing out of Toyota is that the limit of cover under the warranty?
    Why not ask Toyota to give you $5000 for the car and walk away, there must be a GM dealer near by.

    I'll be keeping my Prius and I'll have faith in it and I will eventually replace it with another Toyota, most likely another hybrid but that is a lot of years away. My last Toyota was a 1990 Camry with 277,000km on it, I've a 1968 Crown I'd drive to Townsville tomorrow if I felt like it and had the time and a RAV4 I would take up the Strzelecki Track tomorrow.

    This is looking like an elaborate flame job.
     
  18. baddad457

    baddad457 New Member

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    My main reason for this thread was to point out that these cars are far from perfect. As for those who keep insisting they can somehow help, none have thus far had a clue as to why it went dead and how to fix it. You simply cannot fix these things on your own, Toyota saw to that when they kept info on the systems to themselves. Again, 5 year old cars that have been properly maintained and driven simply do not go dead and need $8000 worth of repairs, this is not normal for any car. BUYER BEWARE !!!! Nor do other manufacturers keep service and repair info from the repair community as Toyota has done. They have apparently also kept repair info from their own service network. The previous dealer who has obviously (to me) caused all this and the one's working on it now are groping around in the dark, neither has come up yet with a definetive root cause to all the problems. The only reason for these cars to have been brought to the market was the fuel economy, of which there's not enough difference to justify the added cost of repairs or purchase price. In due time the market will clearly show this, it's already coming to light. If you all don't like members giving evidence that your precious cars are not infallible, get over it. And if you don't want to loose your shirt in the long run, don't keep them over about 2-3 years, sell them to some other dupe before it happens to you.
     
  19. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Please point out the individual that claimed the car is infallible.
    You didn't come here on some mission, you came here to bitch.
     
  20. unruhly

    unruhly New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Sep 30 2007, 11:12 AM) [snapback]519422[/snapback]</div>
    We call them flamers Dr. E.

    Anyone with the supposed knoweldge of cars that this 'gentleman' assures us he has, would be able to provide details (perhaps not specific codes) on what is to be/was done to the vehicle, and why his hypothesis of the dealer causing the problem is sound.
    The complete lack of providing these insights is an insult to this board and it's members!