Hatch latch assy broken, not covered by extd warr.

I'd check to see if it can be considered part of the "Tail Gate Lock Assembly"

Toyota Financial Services

 

Good find Bob.

Louise, in my opinion, it is part of the Tail Gate Lock Assembly, and I wouldn't take the dealer's BS that it is not covered.

Take a look at Tempus' thread about his similar experience with the "Glove Box Assembly" under the extended warranty:

http://priuschat.com/forums/care-ma...ken-glove-box-springs-extended-warrantee.html

 

I don't know, but I'm thinking of two possible explanations:

1. I think that there may be structural economic incentives for Toyota and the dealer to deny a warranty claim, not unlike those of a health or property insurer and its employees. My bet is that the dealer makes less profit from doing work under a warranty than it would without a warranty. For example, if the dealer sells a HID replacement bulb for $350 and makes $100 profit thereon, I doubt very much that if the bulb were under warranty that Toyota will supply the bulb for free and give the dealer $100. And while my dealer charges me $90 an hour for labor, I doubt that Toyota reimburses the dealer that much per hour for labor performed under a warranty. Finally, it wouldn't surprise me if there was something for warranty work similar to the "holdbacks" we hear about for sales.

2. The dealer is just plain incompetent or wrong --- now this is something I've seen a lot of. Most recently, my dealer twice told me that front alignment was not covered under the warranty. The second time he told me this I told him that was BS. That it was well known that a lot of Prius were being delivered with the wheels out of alignment; that there was a Service Bulletin to this effect and that dealers were to give a free wheel alignment to the customer if the customer complained about it; and that Toyota finally put a sentence in the warranty booklet itself expressly stating that the alignment was warranted for 1 year/20,000 miles.

 

I'm going to suggest the following reason, since the dealer is the one making the most profit from selling the warranty, they absorb most of the cost of warranty claims, they get parts at cost from Toyota, but have to absorb labor and the rest of the cost of repair.

The Extended Warranty is like insurance for the dealership, they get money up front, deposit and earn interest, and expect a majority of warranty buyers to not make claims, if they can deny a claim, then money they don't have to pay out from the fund, just like an insurance company.

 

Actually, both the dealer and toyota make money from the warranty. For example, you can buy the warranty online for around a grand at a slightly marked up price, which is probably marked up by toyota. And this warranty is the "official" toyota warranty that ALL dealers have to honor. The dealers get reimbursed by toyota for their time.

 

Are you referring to the spoiler? I cannot think of any other painted plastic part in the hatch door.