Follow Up: Kaizen really does stop at the Port of Portland

The Good News; the gap is gone. Superb diagnosis and professional "surgery" have left the seam along the right rear side skinny again, uniform and watertight.

The Other News: I really cannot credit Toyota or the dealer for this.

The dealer put it on the list for "when the rep comes next time". Not only that, but the Service Advisor and a repair tech made a VERY obvious hands on search of all surfaces including the entire bottom of the rear bumper to show me that I had been hit or had backed into something!

Alas for them, not so. They behaved as though disappointed that they didn't "catch me" trying to foist a free repair job off on them. I don't suppose you would have appreciated this behavior, either.

So how did I get it fixed? Go ahead, ask!

Suitably, pissed (not in the Irish sense, mind you), I drove the car up the street to Exotic Motors, where smart Prius owners on the Eastside of Seattle take their Prii for body work (as did the new CEO of Delta after his weeks-old '04 was severly rear-ended - he now has it with him in Atlanta).

One of their Service Advisors, a foyne Irish Lad, took a look and said, "Stay here, Bob I'll be right back."

I stayed and he actually came right back.

Using a sheet metal pick and and old screwdriver wrapped in masking tape to avoid bruising the paint, he (YIKES!!!) pulled the bumper module out ever further, looked, did some fiddling with the pick and the screwdriver, carefully removed the tools and gently popped the module back in.

It snapped into place as nice as you please. Now warn't that grand?

And...no charge.

So I asks him: "Assembly issue?". "You bet", says he.

Seems some one (probably at the Port) didn't line up the bottom sheet metal tab correctly, banged the panel into place and bent the tab flat.

Spiky little port assembly dudes! There'll be no more local microbrew rounds until we have a Kaizen meeting night, gents!

I got back to the dealer Service Advisor and told him the story, and that he owed the Irish lad, big time. "Look", says I, "we just saved Toyota the price of a color-matched rear bumper plus assembly including the little black fairings at the base of the bumper module".

The Service Advisor said, "I'll tell the rep next time I talk to him". Not even a faux "Thanks, Bob".

What's with these folks, anyway?

Anyway, lads and ladies, thought you'd like to know about this.

Sometimes you are NOT crazy when you bring your Prius in with a problem. And sometimes Toyota just can't figure out what to do nor be humble when they are wrong and you are right - and even save them some yen. I think that only happens in Toyota City.



Bob