My 2010 Prius Hybrid System Indicator suddenly becoming cloudy one day. Its inside the glass cover and I initially thought it was condensation, but it hasn't gone for several weeks. I have the Toyota Extra Care Platinum extended warranty, so took my car to a Toyota dealer. They said it was due to some chemical reaction from something I used. I found that ridiculous because I don't use any chemicals on my car, let alone myself but they didn't budge. I have to call Toyota & see what they have to say. I search online a lot and just found 1 instance on 'truedelta' website but no details. Has anyone come across this issue? Any help/suggestions are much appreciated. Thank you.
This is condensation under the plastic, which is a known issue. I'm sure someone will chime in with specifics, but there are a few threads on it around here.
This happened to mine and my dealer removed the dash cover and cleaned the lenses under warranty. Mine happened during the basic 36k warranty. Others on here said the dealer replaced the entire electronic module under warranty. So yes it is a known problem and it is condensation as you said. You will need to check with Toyota and see if it is covered under the extended warranty. Let them know that you know that it is a known problem.
'rdgrimes' & 'jdcollins5', thank you for your response. I called Toyota care and they mentioned the condensation is due to problem with the rubber sealing and that's not covered even in the platinum extended warranty. The hybrid system indicator is functioning properly, the warranty only covers for mechanical failure, so they would not cover it for condensation. Only the factory warranty (3 yrs/36k miles) would cover this issue. Moreover, the whole thing comes as a single big unit, so I cannot replace just the glass cover and/or rubber seals. I guess I am stuck with this until the hybrid system indicator has a mechanical failure. Any thoughts on how can I remove condensation and prevent it from happening in the future. Thank you.
The way my Service Advisor explained it to me is that they removed the dash cover which will expose the instrument panel. Then they were able to remove the outer lens from the HSI, clean it and re-install. He did not say anything about replacing the rubber seals but I have not had any further problems. Removing the dash cover is not an easy task but at one time there was a post on here about how to do this.
Read this old thread - similar problem to yours: Fungus (!!!) growing inside dashboard glass | PriusChat
I wouldn't agree to that completely. Few months back, a CD got stuck and the navigation buttons were acting funny. The 'Map' button would change tracks and there were issues with some other buttons too. Toyota replaced the entire navigation display & CD unit under the extended warranty. So it does help depending on the issue.
phoenixgreg: Hopefully I don't get the fungus problem, its been blurry only due to condensation for the past 2 months.
And how much did you pay for that warranty? And did you finance that cost over 5 years? If it was a good deal, they wouldn't be selling it. The odds are overwhelmingly against you ever coming out ahead.
When I initially bought my certified used Prius, the dealer charged me $2500. So I came back home and did some research online and found that some Toyota dealers were offering the exact same warranty for $1100. So I cancelled the expensive one within 30 days & got my full refund. I did not finance the warranty, so no added cost to it. I had asked the cost for replacing the navigation display & CD unit but don't remember the exact value, but I do remember that it was definitely more than my warranty. You cannot look at individual cases, some do benefit with the warranty. But I agree that overall, the company makes money on it. It's just like insurance, some people benefit when they are covered but overall, the insurance companies are the winners financially.
Many on that old thread got the dealers to replace the main cluster - some got the lenses cleaned and the meter properly sealed against moisture. I'm sure if you use your warranty for it, you will come out ahead.
I called Toyota & was told that they will honor the extended warranty for mechanical defects only. The sealing issue is not a mechanical defect since the HSI is still working fine, so it is not covered under extended warranty. If it had happened within the factory warranty of 36k/3 yrs, they would have done it without any questions. Unfortunately, my factory warranty ended last year.
That's a shame. To remove the dash to even get at that cluster is major surgery. The clouded lens will probably be a permanent feature.