Latest drama with bad Toyota service

I thought I would post an account of my headlight drama and Toyota's disappointing service thus far in resolving this issue. Hopefully, if other users experience something similar, they will know not to back down.

The issue began when my driver side headlight went out in my Gen II 2008 Prius. I imported the car to Canada when I moved here from the U.S. Despite the proximity of Canada and the U.S., having a Prius from a different country has caused inordinate headaches.

At first I thought it was just the bulb. I spent nearly four days tracking down a compatible bulb, because the HID system in my car is not sold in Canada. Therefore, few auto part stores carry it. The dealer wanted to charge me $300 for one bulb--which they would have to order.

I finally found aftermarket bulbs locally at $160/pair. That's still more expensive than the U.S., but it's better than $80, and I didn't have to pay customs and shipping.

After a lot of frustration, I installed the bulbs myself. (Why has Toyota made it so difficult for owners to service themselves something that should be very simple?) And of course the headlights still don't work!

I took the car to the dealer (MEADOWVALE TOYOTA in Mississauga, Ontario) for more diagnostics.

The dealer called me and said that the issue was the daytime running light module which they had installed for me in December. This module is a requirement of Transport Canada for all imported vehicles. However, Toyota does not provide the part. You have to buy it from the retailer Canadian Tire.

Now Toyota was claiming that the module was defective and needed to be returned. Of course, they would charge me for labour for disconnecting it and then installing a new one.

Skeptical, I went to Canadian Tire and explained the situation. They told me that it's impossible for the module to deprive one and only headlight of power.

An extremely helpful Canadian Tire technician ran diagnostics on my car. He disconnected the module to test it. He discovered that the module works fine. He was critical of Toyota for installing the module on the headlights, when they could have installed them on the parking lights. That would have complied with Canadian law.

More importantly, he also discovered that ballasts had burnt out. The Toyota technician clearly spent no time to investigate this possibility.

I called Meadowvale Toyota again and explained the situation. They didn't even apologize. It was like a shrug. So we missed something. So what? They said that they would have to validate the diagnosis with their technician. Then the service advisor started giving me the run around about the warrant. "We have to order the part. We have to fill out a CMS request to get permission from the U.S. to do the repairs, blah, blah, blah."

After I finished talking to her, I called back and spoke to her manager. I told him the situation and told him that I expect far better service from Toyota. That this is a ridiculous situation. He agreed and is willing to get everything resolved.

Of course, without headlights, I can't drive until the sun comes out. That means I can't go to work at my usual time, leaving at 6:00 AM. That means I have to come home early, because it gets dark earlier in Canada in winter. Even then, Toyota wasn't willing to give me a loaner car until they resolved the issue.

The whole thing is very frustrating. This is far from the service level I've come to expect from Toyota.

I'll keep the forum posted on how the story ends after I drop my car off today.

Moral of the story: don't back down, even when the technicians tell you one thing. Insist that they do their jobs completely and demand that you get what you're entitled to.

Thanks for letting me ven,

brian