2007 Prius Destroyed by Toyota Dealer

The labor costs (not even considering costs for individual parts) involved in disassembly to inspect / remove burned valves, piston rings, bearings, jornals, etc then rebuild, would quickly outweigh the cost of the whole motor in many cases.

 

it would upset me highly but a free rental car and a complte restoration of where I was and I'd be ok with it. I would want support if anything happens later attributed to the swap tho, or you could get a lawyer and make a lot of noice and get maybe a newer car. who know?

 

New Car? No, that one is not happening.

New Engine? Sounds like a great deal to me. I would just be very clear with them that what you are getting is a brand-new engine at no cost to you. I would follow the advice of making arrangements with the service writer to be there at the point of removal of the old and insertion of the new engine.

I see two down sides: 1) Aggravation and loss of your time. Make clear to the dealer that you appreciate their honesty and integrity, but you still are out a lot of time and it has caused you aggravation. Many people lose time and are aggravated, but yours is coming specifically because of their actions. This is reason enough to have a very nice loaner (Prius is likely not available) and free service for awhile. 2) You won't have your car back for awhile! No need for further explanation on that one.

I suggest you also get a couple of things clear with the dealer. One is what this does for your warranties. Do certain clocks start all over again? How does this affect your HSD warranty? Another is this: What about the odometer? I think neither you nor the dealer can roll back the miles, but you want to have some clear designation of the miles at the time the new engine is installed. This is, in many ways, tied to the issue of the warranties.

I wish you well! I know my 2007 is running well with 15,000 miles, but I wouldn't mind a shot at having a 2007 with 0 miles (on the engine, if nothing else!).

 

I would at the least ask for the best extended warranty there is just so that you will have peace of mind down the road.

 

Dont let them rebuild it!!!!

 

Which dealer would this be? If you don't want to say which one, what city was it in?

 

Very well said. In the past, I'd cringe about getting a new motor installed. With everything these days being plug and play with harnesses that can only be plugged in one way, and either work or don't work there is little risk. Back in the day it only took that one little vacuum hose or similar to make things "run", but never the same.

With that being said though, there are others that may see this as a bad thing. These are people that still think a new motor is bad because of the potential for other things to be missed. Unfortunately, if I was looking at two exactly the same year Prius', one with a new motor, and one with the original motor...and the price was the same. I'd still probably go with the one with an old motor. I've personally lost faith in dealership techs and their ability to do good work (for instance, use a torque wrench, follow bolt tightening sequences, etc).

Mike

 

I'm starting to catch just the faintest whiff of troll. I'm going out to the garage right now, remove all of the oil from the engine, drive the car on the interstate and see if the dashboard doesn't light up like a Christmas tree before the engine is destroyed.

Not!

 

Can they reset the odometer to 0 if they put in a new engine?

I don't think this devalues the car at all. In fact, new engine is a perk.

I agree. New engine. You're lucky they took responsibility. Free rental for length of repair. And some major butt-kissing. Like perhaps throw in an extended warranty for FREE.

BTW my Dad did this once with my relatively new 1979 Ford Pinto. It seized in the driveway and I shut it off immediately. I asked him....did you put oil back in it after you drained it? He got this sheepish, surprised look on his face. I cried I can't afford an engine rebuild. (I couldn't afford an oil change, that's why he was doing it.) He said he'd fix it. I had use of his car the entire time he had it. Two weeks later and it was fine. I don't know what he did but he was able to get it going. There was a mechanic that lived across the street so I can't swear they didn't roll the car over there and Ted rebuilt the engine. Maybe he did. Don't know. But when I picked it up it worked fine and I had it for 10 years with only regular maintenance and a new starter at 7 years.

 

No. However the OP will have the repair invoice that shows the mileage when the new engine was installed. All factory warranties will continue in force as if the original engine was still installed. In particular, the powertrain warranty provides the relevant coverage, 5 years/60K miles from the in-service date.

For those who DIY oil changes, a good habit would be to put the new oil and new oil filter in a conspicuous location near the car being worked on, and also place the ignition key (or fob) in that location. Hopefully this will prompt the DIYer to ensure that the new oil has been installed and that the job is complete, prior to starting up the engine.

Another good habit would be to ensure that the old drain plug washer has been removed and replaced with a new washer. In any event, there should be one washer only: no washer is not enough, and two washers are too many.

A final good habit would be to double-check that the oil drain plug has been satisfactorily tightened (to 28 ft.-lb) and that the oil filter has been tightened to at least 1/2 turn after the gasket has contacted the engine, but no more than 3/4 turn.

 

No, the other parts of the car have already completed 20k miles.

If for some reason you have to replace the odometer on a car which requires that the mileage be reset to zero, California requires that a sticker be placed on the vehicle to indicate what the mileage was when the old odometer was replaced. I would speculate that other states have similar requirements.

 

Prius has an electronic odometer, so if the combination meter has to be replaced, the dealer will specify the odometer reading from the old combination meter when ordering the replacement part. Hence the new odometer will show the more-or-less correct odometer value.

 

Hi Patrick,

The California requirement was probably written considering the "old" non-electronic style odometers that can't be adjusted.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc28053.htm

 

You are entitled to a new car. I would push them hard to give you a new one. There is not excuse for this. There was no special tool. I just had mine oil changed an hour ago and asked them about a new special tool. They even looked in their database or bulletin from Toyota. Told them what happened to your car. They simply think the tech did not put the drain plug back in right or stripped the threads and left it. They said their dealership would just give you a new car and take your old one and repair and resale. Doing an engine is a big job.

 

Unfortunately the writer telling you that "they'd give you a new car" and actually being in the fire if this was to actually happen to them (and you) are two different things. Although it would be nice for them to just hand over the keys to a new car, this is unfortunately unlikely. A new engine can relatively easily and reliably be put into a new car.

The potential problem though is collateral damage from lack of engine oil affecting other parts. I don't know about toyota but I know other manufacturers will just authorize the basic block (rotating assembly, pistons, etc) to be replaced. All other peripheral components will be reused if they "appear" to be in good shape. Although in this case the dealership will be covering the cost, and not toyota, I'd imagine the dealership will do the repair similar to what the manufacturer would do (and not replace everything, but replace just the bare bones stuff). What can happen is you're good to go... then in 10k miles your oil pump will go (because it was run dry), or some other component that was indirectly affected will die.

 

Perhaps the serviceman who did the work or his boss the head of the service department is the "new tool" spoken of.

Good lord, these are employees of the same company that made the car. Can they not service it properly without f-ing up?

:spider:

I'd want blood...but then again I can be a little :der: sometimes.

I suppose a brand new engine would do ok, as long ask they give you a loaner car and free service for the life of the vehicle (and good service too, not just that crappy "oops we f-ed up your car" service.

 

It sucks, but this happens more often than one would think. (One of the reasons I change my own oil, and am thankful that the Prius is configured in such a way that it can be done without even lifting the car.) I just don't understand how anybody could justify getting a new car out of this, though. Replacing an engine isn't like collision repair. As long as they torque everything down and seat all the connectors the car will be good as new. Be sure to ask if they double-checked the oil drain bolt when you pick it up!

 

That must be a record for a Pinto. Mine lasted 33,000 miles.

 

No way will they "give" you a new car. If they were to decide the only way to make good on the damage was to provide a new car, the OP would have to pay the difference between a new car and one with 20K miles on the odometer at the very least.

But as I said before, replacing the engine is not that big a deal.

 

I drove about 3 miles from a dealership, unknowingly leaking oil all the way from just having it changed. They put on the wrong oil filter. The engine seized. New engine needed, too. Well, junkyard find. Oh well. Not my happiest day as a high schooler.