My parents (who I convinced after I got my Prius) got their Prius this summer. Recently it had the emergency 'see dealer immediately' light come on. I thought it may be the computer programing issue (my car is currently getting that tweaked) but it turned out to be a problem with the water pump. Now here is where the rat comes in. Literally. The repair folks claim (although they provided no physical evidence) that there were rodents chewing the wire and that led to the pump failure. Despite my parent's platinum warrantee (thanks Prius chat and Greenfield Toyota) they are getting charged diagnostic fees, and $310 for the pump . I smell a rat...and it wasn't I am sure in my parents car! (it isn't lilke they park in a field or anything!). Help!
They (service) have to provide damaged/repaired/replaced parts for inspection upon request. Did they ask to see this chewed wire?
I agree. PROVE IT! At this point, even if they produce chewed wires, can they prove that the wires came from your parents' car? I would fight this one. Pick up the phone and dial this number: "Customer Experience Service Line" : (800) 331-4331 x33 When I had a problem with my stereo, I called and they saw me through the entire thing. Very nice, extremely curteous. $310 is a good sum of money especially since the warranty was purchased. Call them.
And wouldn't "chewed wires" just cause the water pump to quit? How would that cause physical damage to the pump? Seems it would be as simple as fixing the chewed wires and the pump should work as good as new. (note: I claim ignorance here as I suppose it's possible that by shutting off while the car is running damage might occur to the pump for all I know)
Man i would tell them to "Just fix the wire". I'd even have it towed to another Toyota dealer. I think any decent dealer would honor the warranty even if this really was the cause. On the warranty claim form all they have to say is"fixed broken wire".
:huh: California State law REQUIRES that all replaced parts be given to the owner/person paying the bill. I couldn't even just tell the guy that was doing service on my Bronco-II to just throw them away. He insisted that I carry them out the door (if they were small enough).
i agree. anyone who refuses to give replaced parts, that weren't covered under warranty, to the owner of the car is breaking the law in most (if not all) states. [just for your info, everyone, toyota takes back all parts that are replaced under warranty and sends them back to the factory to be analyzed for their information.] it's also bad business practice in general. i also don't know offhand about whether a certain wire could be chewed and short the pump motor or something. maybe i'll be able to get an answer to that if someone else doesn't beat me to it.
Hard to see how rats chewing a wire could burn out a pump. I'd expect just a fuse to blow. But I do worry about rats and mice! They got into my central AC at my house and chewed up enough wires to blow the breaker. I have not rewired it yet to see if anything got damaged beyond the wires, but I would expect it to run fine once I put in new wiring.
here's what i was told. most likely, the pump is fine and will run again once wiring is repaired. if they insist, you go get a second opinion before replacing it. or just ask them to repair the wiring first and leave the pump. if the pump is still nonoperational (which you should go ahead and confirm) then allow them to replace it. they should not do any work without your approval; however, it isn't mandated by law in all states that they wait to hear from you before doing the work up to a certain dollar amount. so if you don't trust them, put it in writing. under a chance circumstance, such as the wire was broken and was still able to intermittently touch, the voltage spikes caused by that intermittent touching could have damaged the pump. but that is highly unlikely. good luck.
Who I don't know but this appears to be over the top. You need the parts and then have a independent observer look at them.
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