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First Real repair at 78500 miles--Struts

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by efusco, Aug 12, 2008.

  1. mrblaise

    mrblaise Go Lakers!!

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    You guys have convinced me that the extended warranty is a definite in my book,even if just for the peaceof mind it will afford.
     
  2. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    You do realize that spending a thousand now on an extended warranty will most likely save you less than $500 later.
     
  3. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    crap, didn't know you had the EW. it might be covered, struts have anticipated life in the 100k range depending on conditions.

    maybe they can reimburse you- call up TFS and see. and don't worry about the BT brace and tire pressures, the likelihood of that messing up your strut is nearly nonexistent.
     
  4. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    My "real world" driving experience on various other vehicles is that struts last me about 50k. Usually they've blown by then. Even if no leak is visible their performance is shot long before that. I put Tokico's on my Nissan sports car (went to stiffer springs in it also, along with stiffer swaybars and tower brace all at the same time) and Tokico's in my Accord when the time came to replace the original parts. I was happy with the results in both, better than the OEM parts were new.

    The "press on a corner" test really wasn't that definitive on the original parts, but the feel when driving was, as well as hearing rattles. (After pulling them off I found that some of the front pistons would not return after being pulled/pushed either way, they were completely shot.)

    Got another 50k out of the Tokico's before replacing them as ride deteriorated. I had to drive over a lot of train crossings on them, and it undoubtedly didn't help.

    My Tundra needs tires, struts/springs, alignment and the rotors turned to prep for winter...ouch, this is gonna hurt.
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Hi Shawn,

    I agree. I replaced the front struts on my 2001 at ~60K miles although no oil leak was evident; after successfully replacing the rear shocks where oil leakage was apparent on one side. After I took the coil springs off, I found that one front strut, when compressed by hand, took a very long time to recover; while the other strut did not offer the same resistance to compression as the new parts.
     
  6. rigormortis

    rigormortis Active Member

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    i skimmed through my extended warranty booklet and theres nothing there saying that struts are excluded.. except if the damage is from towing or an accident and stuff like that.

    and in the case of another post about spending 1000.00 to save 500.00 in that case i would push my prius 150 miles away so i can collect the dislocation benefit!!!!

    when efusco referred to the struts as 'maintenance items' he made it sound like no warranty would cover it and now its got me worried heh
     
  7. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    I'm surprised they didn't specifically exclude the struts. They really are wear items although few drivers realize that.
     
  8. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    technically they are wear items, like i mentioned earlier. they're not particularly common replacement parts this early though, which is why DH speculates that it's included in the 100k mi EW.
     
  9. N3FOL

    N3FOL Member

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    $1K + for struts? ...I think I will do it myself when the time comes (-) the alignment.

    Enjoy the ride.
     
  10. jeffreyalexander

    jeffreyalexander New Member

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    I had similar problems but toyota informed me that struts and shocks have a lifetime warranty; thus they gladly offered to change all struts. I am at 65,000. They even let me upgrade the rears to the touring gas shock for no charge. They also told me that this held true regardless of an EW or not.
     
  11. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Oh man....I'm getting a little ill....:sick:
     
  12. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Pls tell us who this dealer is, so that we can all head over there and get our suspension parts replaced when needed! :p
     
  13. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

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    Jeffrey,

    I think you got lucky. No way the struts and shocks have a lifetime warranty.
     
  14. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Got the car back this afternoon. Handling is noticably better and the 'rattle' is gone.

    Remember that this was a local Goodyear shop, not a Toyota dealer, and I was probably one of the few Prii they've every worked on....though the owner seemed to know his way around it when I first took it in.

    Well.... when I pick it up the AC is on Auto and MAX Cold and blasting when I turn it on., the engine is loud sounding...more rough than fast it seemed. Enough that I got out to check that my BT skid plate was on right b/c it had made that sound when I first installed the BT plate due to some vibration where it contacted the engine mount....it was fine.

    I figure I'm just overreacting a little and drive on. I traveled maybe 150 yards to a stop light and glance at the CAN-View....SOC is 31% and climbing!! I've NEVER seen it below maybe 38% before and it must've been in the 20s before I noticed. Wth did they do, leave it in Ready/Neutral/MAX AC for a couple hours?!

    My MPG was down from about 59 when I dropped it off to 54 when I picked it up. Almost wonder if someone left it on all night and didn't know how to turn it off.

    Later I noticed that I couldn't adjust the volume with either the steering wheel control or the knob...and the buttons on the MFD didn't induce a 'beep' when pressed. A shut down, disconnect of the CAN-View, and restart fixed that, but I've never had that problem before.

    I don't like to think of myself as a complete anal-retentive....but damn it makes me not want to leave my car with someone else when crap like this happens. How freaking hard is it to turn on and off the stinking car??
     
  15. philmcneal

    philmcneal Taxi!

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    when in IG 2 the HV battery is connected, but its needed so that techs can switch the transmission to N so that when its put down from the hoist the car can roll naturally, so while its in the air your battery has been draining in N.
     
  16. fthorn

    fthorn From gas hog to greenie to gas hog

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    Can anyone CONFIRM THIS?