I thought this a little odd. Hal now has about 1,000 miles of bumper to bumper warranty left, and I noticed that the drivers side floor mat attachment point hook had just torn through the grommet that's molded into the mat, allowing the mat to go askew. I stopped by the Dealership, told them I'd like a new one (what with their excuse for sudden acceleration in various models having depended partially on improperly secured mats). I figured it would take 5 minutes while they went and grabbed me one out of stock. The service rep was extremely solicitous, directed me to the free coffee and wi-fi, etc., . . . and I waited. And waited. Went to ask why it might take so long to get a floor mat off the shelf to replace the torn one I had carried in? He asked me to deliver Hal to the Service Drop-off point, and wait for the Customer Service shuttle to take me to work. Huh? Informed that I had already wasted nearly an hour and had to teach a class in 30 minutes, he indicated that I'd have to bring the car back that afternoon so they could "Inspect it and take pictures." Is a simple warranty part ALWAYS cause for a full CSI investigation with Toyota, or do you figure this had to do with Lawsuit-phobia on the part of Toyota and/or the dealership?
Interesting. I don't know why your dealer could not have performed the inspection and taken photos while you were there. It is unusual that the carpeted mat had worn to the point where a grommet has been damaged, with only 35K miles of use.
It's not carpeted, Patrick, just runner / plastic, but is clearly OEM, with Toyota and Prius markings, etc. To their credit, they DID replace both, even though the other has rarely been used . . . But yes, I found it odd that this was more than a five minute stop for a photo (if that!) and replacement.
does seem odd, but you're probably right about the recall issues. they probably want to document that the plastic carpet/grommets are not lasting and should be redesigned. however, they certainly did a poor job of informing you and it sounds like a poorly run service dept. or maybe just a bad day.
