Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

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Illuminati
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Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Illuminati »

For those who don't already know, Amy and I bought a 2006 Prius in July of 2006. It was fully loaded which included High-Intensity headlamps. What seems like 9 months after we bought the car, the driver's side headlight would flicker and then go completely out. We could turn the headlights off and turn them back on and the headlight would start working again. We eventually found out that this bulb is a dealer-only part and that while Toyota was getting a lot of these cases, they had no clue what was causing it yet. Some dealers were replacing just the bulbs, some just the headlight computer (yes, a computer for a headlight), or some even made their customers replace both!

We eventually broke down and had the computer replaced in the drivers side headlight. We had a way to get free labor, but the computer alone, for one headlight, was nearly $300! :roll:

Well, that seemed to work for about another 9 months... whoopee.

However, the drivers side headlight eventually started acting up again, and just like the first time around, it started off a little rare, and gradually became more frequent, to the point where it is expected to go out about every 10 minutes.

We were annoyed and of course the dealer wanted next to replace the bulb, which would have cost another few hundred dollars (I want to say another $300 just for a f* bulb!).

Last December-January, we were at the point where BOTH headlights will randomly, but expectedly go out every few miles down the road and sometimes both go out at the same time... we know it is dangerous, but is hard to justify spending $1000 JUST IN PARTS to replace headlights.

With all of the bad publicity Toyota was getting, they decided to help the customer out and announced that the bulbs seem to be the culprit and have been fixed. They are also offering the bulbs at a discount of $150 per bulb... labor not included. Yay?

So we got annoyed to the point where we finally scheduled an appointment to get both bulbs replaced tomorrow where they charge us for two bulbs ($300) and two hours of labor ($120/hour). So like the title says, "Toyota, I'd like to get robbed tomorrow. Here's $540 for two headlights."
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by skier »

saw an article in businessweek i think about the runaway accelerator problem and it states that toyota execs had been making drastic cuts in quality in order to save money, and in the past few years seems it evidently went too far. In the last 5 years more than 10 cars had been reported runaways, just not as publicized

no one in my family would ever buy toyota at this point, just laugh at the idea
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by hark »

These recent screw-ups have really damaged Toyota's reputation, that's for sure.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Amy »

Something not mentioned here was that Toyota offered us a refund for the computer. It seems that the dealers have been suggesting the computer and bulb be replaced, when only the bulb needed the replacement. The other thing that is interesting is that the after market bulbs seem to last, unlike the factory bulbs. This indicates that they changed something and they are not telling us. Instead, they sent us a letter informing us how to get the most out of the life of the bulbs. IMO, it should have been a RECALL and not some customer service thing. Still paying $150 for a defective LIGHT BULB is incredibly ridiculous. Not to mention that PAPPAS TOYOTA in ST. PETERS MISSOURI charges $120/hr!!!!!! They claim it takes 2 hours to replace the bulbs because you have to take off the bumper (1 hour per bulb). Well, if that's the case, don't they only have to take the bumper off once? I am FURIOUS with PAPPAS TOYOTA in ST. PETERS, MO. Like Justin said, "Hello, Pappas? I'd like for you to rob me tomorrow!"
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Apoptosis »

Don't forget my friend Neil has that shop out there in Wright City and has been a Ford mechanic for 15 years... I'm sure he can replace the light bulbs for you for under $50 in labor and has a lift and everything so he can easily remove the bumper if needed... I wouldn't pay Toyota that much for some light bulbs... Just call me if you want his phone number.


I looked up some parts on RockAuto.com...

The Headlight Switch Motor looks to be $93
The Headlight Bulb is ~$7 to $11 each
The Headlight Relay is $59

Those prices appear too low as you are being quoted crazy high prices... Do you have HID lamps? Are they dealer only parts?

I don't see a headlight computer at all.... Wonder if that is a computer only part or something....

You might want to let Niel work on it as the parts can be bought online and you pay no taxes on them. The bulbs and stuff are name brand companies... Delco, GE or Wagner.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Amy »

The bulbs are HID Dealer only parts (believe me, I've tried finding it elsewhere). However, I'd be happy to give Neil a call and see if he'd want to do it. Do you know where in W.C.? My Bro-in-law said that on one side a lot of stuff has to be moved out of the way to get to the headlight, and that's why it takes an hour (including removal of the bumper). Can you shoot me an email with his #? I'll see if I can get the bulbs from the dealer and have him put them in. I hope they'll just sell me the part without install...
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Nobahar »

It's a shame they really used to be such a good company, I hope Honda doesn't go that way. I would have thought the Japanese would have learned that their reliability and quality was the only reason they had an edge over American companies.

With Toyota's blunder it really opens the market up to the other automakers, which may be better for the American economy.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by bubba »

Everyone I know that has had a 'yota had just as many issues with their car (if not more) then anyone with an American made car.

Remember a year or so back Toyota was replacing frames on the Tundra trucks, the FRAME, seems they were snapping behind the cab. Didn't get much news as it was seen as a fluke and the mighty Toyota would never make a bad car.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by KnightRid »

I think I would have traded the thing in. If there is something wrong in ALL of the vehicles, they should be recalled and fixed for free.

Saving the environment seems to be expensive up front AND down the road ;)

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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Velo:Sity »

Because HID bulbs have huge lifetime, they shouldn't be considered expendables, and thus replaced by warranty. Since your initial complaint was made during the general vehicle warranty period, the problem should be resolved at no cost to you.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Apoptosis »

Velo:Sity wrote:Since your initial complaint was made during the general vehicle warranty period, the problem should be resolved at no cost to you.
I had stuff fixed under warranty that broke after the warranty period on my Dodge and I went back to get the part fixed again and they said it had the normal warranty period on it. In the case of the part in question it was one year if I recall... I went to autozone and bought a $26 low pressure switch for the A/C and fixed it myself using one wrench and 5 minutes of time... The dealer wanted $250 for the same fix... $100 for the part and $150 in labor.

I agree that Justin and Amy shouldn't have to pay anything at all, but Toyota isn't the only company screwing things up lately... DId you hear that nearly two months ago GM recalled 1.3 million compact cars?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 93008.html
The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Chevrolet Cobalts, 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G5s, 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Pursuits sold in Canada and 2005 and 2006 Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico.
They did and they still haven't fixed them all. The local Chevy dealer pulled all the Cobalts off the lot even.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Amy »

Nissan has also been having recalls. You don't really hear about them because Toyota had a string of bad luck lately.

Unfortunately, our car was (is) high mileage and was out of warranty before we started having trouble. At four years old, we have 133K+ miles on it.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Velo:Sity »

It was over the mileage limit after 9 months? That's some serious driving.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by skier »

my dads 2000 F150 work truck has over 260k on it and our '93 sable only has 215k

gm's only been in the spotlight for shutting down saab and hummer entirely
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Amy »

Yeah, I was driving it 80 miles/day 5-6 days a week for work at the time. Racked up the mileage pretty fast. We also drove it to New Mexico at least once in that time period. 36,000 miles came pretty fast.
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Re: Hello, Toyota? I'd like to get robbed tomorrow.

Post by Amy »

At Priuschat.com there are numberous Generation II Prius owners with the same problems. Why hasn't Toyota done a safety recall on what is a serious issue?
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