Audio doesn’t work if car was ever turned off in last hour

I don’t know if this is the right board, so please tell me where else I can post to if this isn’t the best spot.

Okay, so this post is about two things: the issue, and how I should deal with Carmax service.

The issue

Short version:

If you turn the car off after about ten minutes or so of use (driving to the corner store and back), then even if you immediately turn it back on, the audio will not work at all (radio, XM, CD player, bluetooth).
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Long version:

(Skip this first paragraph if you want to get straight to the issue)
Purchased a used 2015 Prius Five @ 42,600 miles for a nice price. As soon as I took the keys and drove it into the Carmax parking lot to mess with it I realized the audio didn’t work at all. Texted the sales guy ans he came out and witnessed it. Since they didn’t have service in nor a loaner I had to accept the vehicle and take it for a week.

Messing with the car I learned the following:
Upon first use, the audio works fine and the volume dial and volume buttons display a change on the screen when used.

After a 5-10 minute drive, I turn the vehicle off, and almost immediately turn it back on (or I can wait a few seconds; doesn’t matter). The right passenger speaker lightly crackles, as if someone were plugging a 3.5mm cable into the aux port in a stereo (if you're familiar with that sound). The audio does not work. The most obvious indication is when tapping digital buttons on the screen, there is no audible "beep" to go with it. The radio, bluetooth, cd-player, and so forth do not play anything at all. The volume knob on the panel and volume buttons on the steering-wheel make no changes on the display screen.

If the car is turned off and walked away from for at least an hour (I have tested 15 minutes and 30 minutes) it will function again for the next full drive until it is turned off again. If no drive is taken then the audio will work if the car is turned on, tested, turned off, turned on, and then tested again in quick succession.
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Dealing with Carmax Service (need advice)

As mentioned above, I immediately experienced the issue upon taking the keys to the car on a Saturday, but their service people were not there and there was no loaner. I drove the car for one week, waiting an hour after turning it off before going for another drive (or simply using the speaker on my phone when I couldn’t wait).

One week later, I dropped the car off and got my loaner. Mind you, this place is an hour away from me so this is not an inconsequential drive. I also work 8-5 and they are only open until 6, so I have to book it to make it a few minutes before service leaves or come in on a Saturday.

I did some researchI registered the vehicle with Toyota, which the origjnal owner didn’t do, and it gave me access to all of the service history with the dealers. At 13,000 miles, the vehicle was taken in for this exact issue. I have the service record and if anyone is interested I can post the exact text. Service at the time could not replicate the issue, and it goes unmentioned in all other service until the very last service it recieved assumably before the vehicle went to auction. In that service record it mentions a recommendation to change the amplifier which the owner did not accept. Carmax service tells me that between then and my taking ownership, they changed the amplifier.

Here’s my issue with their service. I left the car with them for a week and they could not replicate the issue and called me almost daily to tell me that. They said, though, that they disconnected and reconnected everything before they even tried to replicate the issue because “it was working” (which is poor diagnostic service, because you want to speak to the customer and replicate the issue so you can then see if it’s fixed later). I thought that maybe re-seating all the plugs might have even fixed it, so I went to pick it up the 6 days after dropping it off (they close at six and rushing from work I made it at 5:55PM). I pick it up, chat with the service guy, and assume the best. I drive five minutes to the corner gas station, turn it off, buy a drink, and then turn the car back on. No audio. I’m understandably not happy. I call up Carmax and ask if my service guy left yet (he did) and then tell them i’ll be right in (and hang up). When I show up their sales manager is waiting for me and looks worried (as he should) and helps me to drop the car back off and get the loaner again.

I’m pretty upset. Here’s how it works with Carmax: you get a 30 day Warrenty where you don’t pay for repairs for anything that comes up and you can take it anywhere for repair. After that you can opt for a deductible-based “Max Care” plan that is as close as you can get to a warrenty for a used car. I am on day 16 of my 30-day warrenty and this issue has existed since the moment I took the keys. I’m pissed.

Should I take the car back from Carmax and take it into my local Toyota dealer and have them work on the issue instead?

Thanks a ton, guys. I have not posted in literally about ten years on this board and am glad to be behind the wheels of a nice Prius Five, but this issue is driving me crazy.

 

The issue is that my 30-day warrenty will run out in 14 days and then if something new comes up i’ll never have had the chance to notice it. It feels like they’re running the clock, you know?

 

They have not even begun to work on this issue yet, and it could take time to order an amplifier and such. By then i’ll be lucky to have a week left in the warrenty since they would have to give it to me by this Friday (in four days) for me to have it the last week of the warrenty. I’m worried this will run the clock and i’ll get it back after the warrenty expires.

 

The car is fantastic otherwise and really kinda rare to find in this package unfortunately, so it seems better to put the heat on them to fix it.

I won’t let them stone-wall me. I’ll raise hell with documentation and constant insistance (if I have to) to avoid that. I won’t alienate a possibly polite and civil outcome by being hostile up-front, but if I have to i’ll raise the attention until I absolutely have to raise hell.

The same. I have carefully tried my best to diagnose the issue. This is not one you live with because any time you go somewhere, so something that takes less than an hour, and then get back in the car, the navigation, bluetooth, and all the audio will not work.

 

That’s an excellent point. I think I will. I think it may be possible they’ll say no, but you’ve convinced me to at least try.

 

You know the thing that really eludes me is that it will work fine and perfectly, but once turned off if it's turned back on it doesn't work at all. You think a faulty fuse possibly expanding during use could do that, even if it works for over an hour of constant use but doesn't if you turn it off and then back on? To my knowledge, audio doesn't have a "starter" electrical component, so I don't know what might be faulty.

 

I hear that. I work on computers and networks and have a mind for this stuff, but I just purchased this and i’ll be damned if I can’t get Carmax to send it to wherever it needs to go to get the right care. I hope the dealer’s service dept has better luck.


iPhone ?

 

Update: they sent the car to the nearby Toyota dealership.

If Toyota tells me they can’t diagnose this, today, I’ll bring this up with them. Thank you, sir. This is excellent.

It isn’t this repair i’m concerned about so much as the fact that this repair ruined my ability to really drive the car around and make sure it had no other issues that show up from driving it for a while. Yeah nothing obvious showed up in the week I had it but still.


iPhone ?