One month before today, I received a letter from Toyota regarding the Toyota Prius recall. Due to busy schedules, I wasn't able to schedule an appointment until few days ago... My car broke down, the steering had a loud crack and apparently something seems to snapped. The steering went loose and my car wheel won't even move a slightest despite how I try to spin the steering wheel. Got the tow truck, towed to nearby Toyota Dealership, recalling that the recall from Toyota was on steering shaft, I thought I was saved. Three days later, I was contacted by the dealership saying there were more parts to the damage causing the steering to fail entirely. Apparently, inspected by the dealer, the steering link is damaged, splines were rounded, and spiral cable were broken!! The dealer tried contacting Toyota regarding the issue and there were no response up till to date, they resorted to factory manager of their dealership and concluded that those part will not be covered under Toyota's recall campaign. Consequently, I was left with a quote of Does anyone have any idea of those cost are reasonable, and should the campaign actually covers those parts mentioned? Thank you for your time for responding and looking into this problem!! (Sadly my car is salvaged title, I had the car repaired at a toyota dealership before and they never mention anything about steering being damaged.) 2008 Prius 86,000 miles
Only superficial damage on the frontal bumper and water tank was replaced. As I recalled, it costed less than 300$ for the repair.
Since your car has a salvage title, the vehicle manufacturer typically will not accept responsibility for the issue that you experienced. The steering gear might have been weakened in a front-end collision. Regarding the repair price you were quoted, you might call around to other Toyota dealers or independent servicers (if there are other choices in your area.) Perhaps an independent would be willing to install used parts. It is very unlikely that an insurance company would write off a 2008 model year vehicle due to only $300 of damage. If the damage were 30x that amount, it might make sense for the company to decline to repair the vehicle and instead provide a cash settlement to the owner.
Like was said by someone else. An insurance company would not total a car for $300 of damage. In my experience, Toyota would pay for subsequent damage caused by a failed recall part. But not if they have reason to believe there is/was other preexisting damage.
