Wife mad about scratch on her HL NEED HELP

[4wheelinmilkman]

Hello all, I put a scratch on the wifes 09 HL on the lower climate control trim. I was at a toyota dealership the other day and asked them how much was a trim ring around climate control. And after i woke up from passing out of the price they told me they said i would have to replace the climate control which is $500 dollars and they said labor would be around $500 so around $1000 for a small scratch. So if anybody knows if i can find just the upper & lower climate control trim ring in Sport model silver. Thanks

[PhotonDreams]

Ha! Don't worry. She'll let you sleep back in the house when the snow comes! On the other hand you could try saying something like, "They say you should never hug anything that can't hug you back". Then tell her they want about $1,000 to fix the darn thing.

Then again you might try, "Hey, I think the scratch adds character to the car, you know, kind of like all that stuff on the Antiques Road Show".

Of course your ultimate ace-in-the-hole is that the Highlander has been out for about 3 years now and call to a few local junk yards or a galactic wide web search of junk yards might now start to turn up some Highlanders that are a bit trashed.

All in all it'll be interesting now to read what other advise from various man caves will pop up on this issue. Best of luck. Oh, this is probably worth a call to Click and Clack on PBS Car Talk! Good luck.

[luck123]

Are u kidding me? $500 for labor? RUN from that dealership!

I guarantee you, I could have that trim replaced in less than 10 minutes. I know because I have done it. Check my thread on replacing the radio in the DIY section:

DIY Radio and Subwoofer Install in 2009 Toyota Highlander

Very easy to do...start with seat heater control panel underneath the HVAC panel first, then the HVAC panel pops right off next.

Also, consider used? Do a used part search at http://www.car-part.com/. I did a quick search and found used ones for $125.....slightly more reasonable than the dealer, no?

Hope this helps.

[4wheelinmilkman]

Thanks for your replies. I knew $500 for the part was crazy, but then when she said at least another $500 in labor b/c it was a 6hr job...I thought that was outrageous! I did a search on eBay and found one for $100. Probably give that a try...anything to get me back in the house...lol. I've smoothed things over with the wife...taking her to the beach next week. Wish me luck!

[TrailDust]

Do you have a picture of the scratch? I want to see what put you in the dog house.....

[gonzo08452]

lol...welcome to my world (aka the Dog House). Don't worry, the make up part is the best part.

[PhatRoyale]

Tell her how scratches like that will be more commonplace from now on due to the poor quality plastics used in the interior compared to older Toyotas.