Toyota Will Void Warranty For EV Button ~ '04 & '05

I figured this. You have to follow the terms laid out in the warranty manual provided to you from Toyota. modification to the vehicle gives them an out or excuse to shoot down any claim. it doesnt matter if you think it is right or wrong and it doesnt matter what they do overseas. warramty regulations differ from state to state. if you have a button installed i recommend you remove and hide any evidence before you take the car in. cutting into the wiring harness is a big no no. if your gonna wire switches in, try to use junctions and connectors so they can be removed for dealer visits.

if you have a ev switch and bring the car in with a hybrid battery problem you are gonna get told by putting it in ev mode you damaged the battery by discharging it outside its set range.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(toolbox\";p=\"43100)</div>

what's funny is that the system doesn't even allow this to happen. if the batt. gets too low it automagically kicks the engine on for regen. same goes for rapid acceleration while in EV mode.

-drew

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(toolbox\";p=\"43100)</div>

I agree that, alter OEM wiring harness is pre-much voiding warranty.. Specially most automobile maker picky about it(for U.S market), because too much law suits agains really stupid things... Think a moment why so many warning lables and dumb instraction for any product in U.S??? Im from consumer product development background and I heard so so many dumb things which you never thought to do.

 

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

 

proof is the biggest thing if you decide to go to court...if the insurance company can only guess what happened and thinks it is owner negect and cant prove it you got em and will win your case.... if they have proof or pics of a nitrous bottle or cut up harness you sealed your coffin. alot of times warranty companies have to look at the expense of a repair vs fighting the decision. you have to make a business decision on whether it cheaper to just buy the repair or to fight it out, but the customer is gonna be giving a hard road and it gonna take alot of phone calls and complaining.

 

Even if you removed the mod before bringing it in for service, wouldn't the fact thet the car was put in EV mode be logged in the computer? I would think that would be enough evidence that the system was tampered with.

Either way, as much as I want to do the EV mod and even have an OEM switch I now have second thoughts. I assume the other mod to enable all the nav and phone functions while the car is moving carries the same consequences as the EV switch?

Mike V. <><

 

Evan,

I quite agree, however I have had some interesting experiences with aftermarket mods on new vehicles. My other vehicle is a Dodge Durango (talk about opposite ends of the spectrum...) and when I brought it in to the dealer for regular maintenance the head mechanic remarked "what no cold air intake yet?" and proceeded to show me a catalog of aftermarket performance parts.

OK - so I was planning to make a few mods to try to increase fuel economy and performance anyway, so in went a really nice cold air intake and a ported and polished throttle body. The next time I brought the truck in I met with the same tech who was impressed with the mods - however when I looked and the receipt for the work an entry was made in the computer noting the non mopar parts and that these changes may void my power train warranty! I can tell you I was pissed :cussing: but I knew the risk before making the mods and was prepared to accept them. I just thought it was very questionable behavior on behalf of the service department.

Anyway, I still plan on making the two mods to the Prius. I know the risk and the potential expense I may incur down the road as a result of the changes, but that's what makes life interesting!

Thanks for all your help and contributions to the site!

Mike V. <><

 

As Evan noted on Oct 3rd, the word AND is important. From the original first post on this thread:

25. Does Toyota support the modification of my Prius to be a plug-in Hybrid and run on electric mode only with a switch?

The question specifically relates to modifying the car such that you can plug it in to charge the battery.

I suppose you could buy an official Toyota hybrid battery charger for however many huge bucks it costs and charge the standard battery overnight. However, the storage capacity is SO small that it would be a joke to bother. You would have to add battery capacity as well.

Now, besides adding the (possibly OEM) EV switch, you are mucking with the batteries and who knows what the computers do with that. OK, Wayne probably knows . I suspect he also did his experiments knowing he voided the warranty even before Toyota got nervous about the whole 'plug-in hybrid' thing got started some months back.

 

Zephyr, the action your Dodge dealer took is illegal. If you do have problems with the powertrain on your Dodge and need warranty service, contact Dodge corporate, they know the law and should accomodate you. If they do not, get a lawyer, they will fold like a cheap suit. The Magnuson-Moss warranty act is quite clear. The warranty is now void on your air intake, but no more. If your air intake is missing an air filter or includes nitrous that's another story.

Nate

 

I'm wondering how many Toyota service people will notice you have the EV button if you don't tell them? I mentioned to my old service manager that the buttons exist on the Japanese Prius and they were totally clueless about it. This is a service center is Los Angeles that sees a couple of '04s every day. I didn't tell them that I have an EV button and it has never been noted. What they don't know won't hurt us.

I honestly don't see how the button can hurt the battery. I use it every day when I leave my home and on the couple of ocassions when I've forgotten to hit the button a second time it kicked off by an increase in acceleration. The vast majority of the time I only lose one or two bars on the battery display. If I really had a battery problem I might consider hiding the button, but I highly doubt whether this will ever happen.

 

I suspect since it is not even an option in the U.S. cars, the service techs aren't trained on it at all. Probably not even mentioned as a footnote.

 

Toyota is unable to void the warrany on the car for installing the OEM EV switch using their OEM wiring harnesses. Magnum Moss act prevents them from using that as an excuse. As has been mentioned, the only way that they can void the warranty on the car is if you get in there and start cutting and splicing, damaging something in the process. Now, if the EV switch itself fails, then you are out the replacement cost of it, since it is not offered here.