'02 Prius steering rack

My 71 year old FIL paid $1500 today to replace a steering rack in an
'02 Prius that's 3 1/2 months out of warranty.

The car has 27k on the clock and is literally driven to church on
Sundays. It hasn't been hit, driven over curbs, etc... He babies it
and drives it like it's made of paper. The trouble indication was
severe shuddering during low speed maneuvering.

I've seen messages around the 'net that allude to a possible warranty
extension to this part, but can't find any concrete data, including on
Toyota's pay-per-use TIS, to arm him with when he meets the zone
manager. I am willing to help him persue this to arbitration, if
necessary. The dealer is not being helpful.

Can anyone offer information to help?

There's no way a steering rack on any 39 1/2 month old car with 27k
should go completely bad.

Thanks!
Barry

"Bonehenge" <Keep_it_in_the_newsgroup_please@aol.com> wrote in message
news:8aapb11b92bpqss317n9km4jjq2q2jcubg@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> My 71 year old FIL paid $1500 today to replace a steering rack in an
> '02 Prius that's 3 1/2 months out of warranty.
>
> The car has 27k on the clock and is literally driven to church on
> Sundays. It hasn't been hit, driven over curbs, etc... He babies it
> and drives it like it's made of paper. The trouble indication was
> severe shuddering during low speed maneuvering.
>
> I've seen messages around the 'net that allude to a possible warranty
> extension to this part, but can't find any concrete data, including on
> Toyota's pay-per-use TIS, to arm him with when he meets the zone
> manager. I am willing to help him persue this to arbitration, if
> necessary. The dealer is not being helpful.[/color]

Toyota does not have zones - they have districts and regions. He is
probably going to meet with the district service manager. If the warranty
is expired, then there will no be any warranty coverage. Any assistance he
gets towards the cost of the repair will be goodwill assistance.

His chances of receiving goodwill assistance will be better if he shows that
he is a regular service customer with maintenance receipts at the
dealership, even if there is no recommended service to the rack. This comes
under the "good customer" principle. Like a favored customer at a
restaurant who gets preferential treatment or a high roller at a casino,
good customers are much more likely to receive goodwill assistance. If you
go regularly to your favorite resturant and then go to a different one, it
is not reasonable to expect the same treatment as you get at your regular
one.

Shouting, screaming, threats of arbitration and lawsuits will get you
nowhere, under the principle of getting more bees with honey than vinegar.
Politely pointing out that nothing you father did or could have done (if
that is indeed the case) to the steering rack could have caused it to fail
prematurely, and politely hint that as a safety-related item, he would hope
that it would last longer.

Good luck!
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 01:57:51 -0500, "Ray O"
<rokigawa@tristarassociatesDOT.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Politely pointing out that nothing you father did or could have done (if
>that is indeed the case) to the steering rack could have caused it to fail
>prematurely, and politely hint that as a safety-related item, he would hope
>that it would last longer.
>
>Good luck![/color]


Thanks!

I will pass that along.

"Bonehenge" <Keep_it_in_the_newsgroup_please@aol.com> wrote in message
news:lalrb1pkgcujvur0d6uqgk9ckcltso8v2r@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 01:57:51 -0500, "Ray O"
> <rokigawa@tristarassociatesDOT.com> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>Politely pointing out that nothing you father did or could have done (if
>>that is indeed the case) to the steering rack could have caused it to fail
>>prematurely, and politely hint that as a safety-related item, he would
>>hope
>>that it would last longer.
>>
>>Good luck![/color]
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> I will pass that along.[/color]

You're welcome

Ray O (former district service manager)

Over the weekend, the FIL found a letter from Toyota extending his
steering rack warranty to 5 years. That's GREAT news!

The bad news? He paid out of pocket on Friday afternoon. Monday
morning, the next business day for the service dept., Toyota of
Wallingford, (CT) refused to refund his money, and directed him
instead to Toyota. They don't deny that this is a warranty issue, but
state that he should have said so on Friday, and the transaction is
now complete.

My stance is that the dealership, A.K.A. "The Professionals" should
have KNOWN that this could be a warranty issue, especially since he
flat out ASKED on Friday of there were any bulletins covering the
problem, due to the circumstances of the failure, and Toyota's
reputation for standing behind their cars. He didn't remember having
the letter. Mistakes are always understandable, the corrective
action is what really counts. The dealership was nice enough to
provide him with the address to send the receipts to. Wasn't that
wonderful of them?

This guy does ALL his service work at dealerships, even TIRES.
Luckily, Toyota of Wallingford is not the only Toyota dealership in
the area, the others can now collect guy's service money.

"Bonehenge" <Keep_it_in_the_newsgroup_please@aol.com> wrote in message
news:tso3c116oso60fi7lkk4l8r5jflnkdj6lc@4ax.com...[color=blue]
>
> Over the weekend, the FIL found a letter from Toyota extending his
> steering rack warranty to 5 years. That's GREAT news!
>
> The bad news? He paid out of pocket on Friday afternoon. Monday
> morning, the next business day for the service dept., Toyota of
> Wallingford, (CT) refused to refund his money, and directed him
> instead to Toyota. They don't deny that this is a warranty issue, but
> state that he should have said so on Friday, and the transaction is
> now complete.
>
> My stance is that the dealership, A.K.A. "The Professionals" should
> have KNOWN that this could be a warranty issue, especially since he
> flat out ASKED on Friday of there were any bulletins covering the
> problem, due to the circumstances of the failure, and Toyota's
> reputation for standing behind their cars. He didn't remember having
> the letter. Mistakes are always understandable, the corrective
> action is what really counts. The dealership was nice enough to
> provide him with the address to send the receipts to. Wasn't that
> wonderful of them?
>
> This guy does ALL his service work at dealerships, even TIRES.
> Luckily, Toyota of Wallingford is not the only Toyota dealership in
> the area, the others can now collect guy's service money.
>[/color]
I agree, time to find a new dealer!
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

hachiroku wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> Brother's? (Um, is it STILL Brother's, or has Lia bought THAT, too?)
>[/color]

Toyota of Middletown is looking good as a replacement service location.