Problem caused by after market alarm

[patlester84]

Hi,

I bought a 2008 corolla LE from a private party 6 months ago. Now it has trouble starting. I took it to a Toyota dealer. He said while installing the after market alarm system, the battery wire was cut and then loosely connected with a connecting wire. To fix it he said it would cost 1300$ as they have to replace the entire battery wire harness.

Its still under factory warranty (2008, 16k miles), but they said since the problem was caused by the after market alarm, warranty would not cover it.

I cant believe I have to pay 1300$ for a cut wire. I asked if I can fix it by putting a wire of the same rating in between, he said it is not safe. It would damage the computer circuits etc...etc....

I wanted to get a second opinion on this....Can anyone tell me what I should do?

patty.

[FutureHoldsNoBounds]

I would ring around and get second and third opinions. Dealers generally operate at a higher standard, and as such charge alot more for it, and in some cases unnessarily.

The fact of the matter is you have been driving the car with the modication for 6 months and had no problem until now. And it appears that it is a problem now because the connecting wire has gone loose. So one can only assume that if you properly and saftely connect the wires back together things will go back to normal.

The dealer telling you that it could damage the computer circuits etc sounds like scare tactics to me. Like I said, you have been driving it for 6 months and it was OK. Anyway, get more opinions before acting on the advice from one dealer.

[patlester84]

thank you.....

I have been doing quick search and there have been several instances of people replacing part of engine wire harness with connectors and using snips from older wire harness. Mine is cut near the battery, so it should not be such a big deal.

I also took it to a local mechanic and he said it looked fine to him.

[shadowtag88]

i would probably just patch it... its not a 1300 dollar fix.