Hi - I am new and I have a 2005 Prius purchased 6 weeks ago and it has 45,000 miles on it. One of the indicator lights came on and we took it in to the dealership today. They advised that there is a problem with the coolant flow control valve. They are saying that this is not covered by our extended warranty and also not by the Toyota hybrid parts or powertrain warranty. I am not having any luck finding out what this part does and why it is not covered. The Toyota dealership cannot answer my questions and so far 3 people have called me from the dealership and I am now waiting on my fourth caller who may know what is going on. They were initially quoting repair fee of $510, but since we are only 300 miles over the 3,600 toyota certified veh warranty they have said they will meet us half way and charge $250. So far they have not been able to tell me the problem with the valve: leaking, cracked, etc ? Wouldn't this part be covered ? I am frustrated because we got the 7y/100k extended warranty for these type of things specifically. Any advice would be greatly appreciated !
well, first we need to know which valve we're talking about. there are about 3 things in there called coolant flow control valve, 2 of which are essentially electric water pumps. maybe we can dig up more on the cause of the problem if you can get the OBDII code. extended warranties are tough to make a call about... depends on whose warranty it is. basically to run a repair through extended warranty, they have to call for pre-authorization and they get a yes or no, and that's the final answer. for $250, if they're gonna meet you halfway, well, it really is a good deal. take it while you can, even though it sucks.
My brand new '06 w/133 miles threw a malfunction indicator light; it had a code P1121, which is for water bypass valve which was found to be "sticking". Original diagnosis was that there was a coolant flow problem. As galaxee indicated, w/o the code, it's going to be tough for anyone on PC to offer suggestions.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(laxcat @ Apr 16 2007, 06:23 PM) [snapback]424343[/snapback]</div> If it is not on the list of excluded components, it is covered (assuming that you have the Platinum coverage). I don't see this valve listed. Toyota Financial Services - Extended Service Coverage </div>
yeah, that's assuming they have the toyota warranty. you can only buy that within the 3/36 boundary, and the car has 45k on it. maybe they did drive 9k miles in 6 weeks but damn i'd hate to have that kind of commute! there are tons of extended warranties out there, and they all play by their own rules.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cc9150 @ Apr 16 2007, 09:06 PM) [snapback]424407[/snapback]</div> Don't they put plutonium in there? (oops, that's platinum) Only thing that worries me about my Prius is the complexity. I could replace anything on my 71 Superbeetle! But my Prius is like a spaceship, I know that it has more computing power than the Apollo Space Capsule.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(abq sfr @ Apr 16 2007, 10:47 PM) [snapback]424434[/snapback]</div> My desktop calculator has more computing power than the Apollo capsule. The VW Superbeetle is a very unsafe, unreliable car. I wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot pole. Dave
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveLeePrius @ Apr 16 2007, 10:00 PM) [snapback]424441[/snapback]</div> I survived my Superbeetle somehow, but would never consider having it over a modern car. I guess you were never young? Bet you knew that '53 Ford pretty well though. My Prius is 100 times more safe than the VW, and probably 10 times more reliable. Still, I could fix the VW, and did, miles from anywhere. It was so reliable I carried 2 extra fuel pumps, a complete metric socket set, and a 5-gallon gas can on the back seat, since the speedometer cable broke and the fuel gage didn't work. Never fixed those, just a lazy teenager I guess.
Thanks for the quick responses. Hopefully I will get more info today when they call back. Will try to get the OBDII code !
