TL;DR: The 2020 Canadian model of the Hatchback XSE trim doesn’t include AFS.
Contrary to all evidence prior to purchasing my 2020 Corolla Hatchback XSE, I was under the impression that Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) was included. It increases the IIHS safety rating and it was one of the features that persuaded me to make this purchase.
It was only a few days after my purchase that I started to seriously doubt that I had the safety feature. I’ve never owned a vehicle with AFS and from what I’ve read and heard, the feature is barely noticeable so I just assumed it was an error on my part. Add in the fact that I didn’t do much night driving at the time so couldn’t verify it too much. It was only when I had to look up procedures on how to program TPMS on techinfo that the flag was set. I came across the electrical drawings on the headlight system and noticed there were different harnesses for the headlights. When I took a look under my hood, I found my wiring matched up with the non-AFS specification. I crawled under my car to inspect behind the rear left and also found no height control sensor for leveling the AFS.
Giving the benefit of the doubt that I’m just making a silly mistake, I proceeded to reach out to my dealership the next day to inquire about AFS and how to test it out to get a definitive answer about it. Their immediate response was that I definitely have it and just to bring it in and they’ll have it checked out. The automotive foreman wasn’t available when I brought it in and I had to wait or come back another day. Not having spare time that day, I decided to come back another day.
At the same time, I was already reaching out to my other dealership where I did most of my service for my previous Corolla. The parts manager couldn’t verify the feature from the part number of the headlights due to the database not being updated to the latest model year. However, he did provide internal documents/additional information about AFS and he was convinced from the paperwork that I was supposed to have it. They did not have the same model at the time to verify but I found out a few days later they checked a floor model that came in and told me that it didn’t have AFS either.
When I returned to the dealership where I purchased my car, I waited around for the foreman to look at the car. Having full view of my car through the glass windows, I saw the technician sit in my car for 10 minutes reading my manual only to the vehicle to me shortly after. The foreman never looked at the car. The car was returned to me and the service advisor told me that the technician reported that I have AFS. I requested the technician to come out and explain to the advisor and me how he came to the conclusion. When the technician came around with both of us watching, he pressed the Automatic High Beam (AHB) button to show us how to use it. This clearly wasn’t what I was talking about and the advisor agreed as it says what it’s doing on the dash when pressed.
I then told the technician to bring out a laptop and try to connect to the AFS ECU. When it was attempted, no connection could be made which gave a definitive answer that AFS was not there. Everyone I spoke to up to this point all agreed that I should have the feature and Toyota made a mistake. The sales manager was no longer around at this time of night so I had to return another day again.
Returning at a scheduled time, I was made to wait over an hour and was told to go through the check again with service. When the sales manager finally came to see me, he told me that he had contacted Toyota Canada and because of the fine print on the contract, Toyota Canada was free to make any changes without penalty to the dealership. He also said that if I decide to reach out to Toyota Canada, I would get the same response and nothing will be done. For my troubles, he was offering one free oil change.
Not pleased with the situation, I reached out to Toyota Canada. I was then contacted by a man who introduced himself as a manager from Toyota Canada headquarters. He explained that there was a mistake made and no 2020 Canadian Corolla Hatchback XSE’s are supposed to have AFS. It was then decided last minute that it would cost too much and AFS was pulled without updating any other paper work. I was then offered a non-negotiable number (less than the USD MSRP for AFS) and was told that was all they could offer as they needed to pay anyone else that has the same issue. No buy back was offered or information whether it will ever come in future models as it would jeopardize their competitive edge.
I found out later that the offer was contingent on signing a waiver which included clauses like the issue is assumed to be resolved, they weren’t at fault, I had to withdraw any legal proceedings, and that I wasn’t able to speak of this issue to anyone. In the case of any breach, they get their money back and can sue me for damages. I didn’t agree to this as I felt it wasn’t the right resolution and it was asking for what I felt was more than what I was being compensated for. During these weeks of conversation, they used the time to scrub the information they have about AFS from their website.
To top it all off, I find out when I receive the settlement waiver that he’s not in fact a manager but just a Consultant for Customer Relations.
For reference, from my research, it came out to be about $6k USD MSRP in parts to rectify the issue.
Dealership: We’re not liable if the manufacturer decides to add/modify/remove parts. Here’s a free oil change for your troubles.
Toyota Canada: We made a mistake in paperwork; thanks for letting us know so we don't get in trouble with other customers as we hide our mistakes. Here’s what we value it at for your troubles.
OMVIC: It’s not the dealership’s fault, so it’s out of our jurisdiction. Go to court.
CAMVAP: It was never installed at the factory so we can’t arbitrate as we only deal with warranty issues.
Ontario Government and Consumer Services: We have OMVIC and CAMVAP to deal with vehicle issues so it’s out of our jurisdiction. You’ll need to go to court.
Transport Canada: No response.
Here’s documentation to support my claim:
Press Release:
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Purchase Agreement:
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VIN Lookup:
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Brochure:
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Specifications:
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Toyota.ca Features Page:
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Toyota.ca Configurator:
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Lesson learned: You can’t trust what Toyota says anymore. I would be so pissed off if I ended up waiting for a 2021 sedan and they pull Android Auto on delivery.
Contrary to all evidence prior to purchasing my 2020 Corolla Hatchback XSE, I was under the impression that Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) was included. It increases the IIHS safety rating and it was one of the features that persuaded me to make this purchase.
It was only a few days after my purchase that I started to seriously doubt that I had the safety feature. I’ve never owned a vehicle with AFS and from what I’ve read and heard, the feature is barely noticeable so I just assumed it was an error on my part. Add in the fact that I didn’t do much night driving at the time so couldn’t verify it too much. It was only when I had to look up procedures on how to program TPMS on techinfo that the flag was set. I came across the electrical drawings on the headlight system and noticed there were different harnesses for the headlights. When I took a look under my hood, I found my wiring matched up with the non-AFS specification. I crawled under my car to inspect behind the rear left and also found no height control sensor for leveling the AFS.
Giving the benefit of the doubt that I’m just making a silly mistake, I proceeded to reach out to my dealership the next day to inquire about AFS and how to test it out to get a definitive answer about it. Their immediate response was that I definitely have it and just to bring it in and they’ll have it checked out. The automotive foreman wasn’t available when I brought it in and I had to wait or come back another day. Not having spare time that day, I decided to come back another day.
At the same time, I was already reaching out to my other dealership where I did most of my service for my previous Corolla. The parts manager couldn’t verify the feature from the part number of the headlights due to the database not being updated to the latest model year. However, he did provide internal documents/additional information about AFS and he was convinced from the paperwork that I was supposed to have it. They did not have the same model at the time to verify but I found out a few days later they checked a floor model that came in and told me that it didn’t have AFS either.
When I returned to the dealership where I purchased my car, I waited around for the foreman to look at the car. Having full view of my car through the glass windows, I saw the technician sit in my car for 10 minutes reading my manual only to the vehicle to me shortly after. The foreman never looked at the car. The car was returned to me and the service advisor told me that the technician reported that I have AFS. I requested the technician to come out and explain to the advisor and me how he came to the conclusion. When the technician came around with both of us watching, he pressed the Automatic High Beam (AHB) button to show us how to use it. This clearly wasn’t what I was talking about and the advisor agreed as it says what it’s doing on the dash when pressed.
I then told the technician to bring out a laptop and try to connect to the AFS ECU. When it was attempted, no connection could be made which gave a definitive answer that AFS was not there. Everyone I spoke to up to this point all agreed that I should have the feature and Toyota made a mistake. The sales manager was no longer around at this time of night so I had to return another day again.
Returning at a scheduled time, I was made to wait over an hour and was told to go through the check again with service. When the sales manager finally came to see me, he told me that he had contacted Toyota Canada and because of the fine print on the contract, Toyota Canada was free to make any changes without penalty to the dealership. He also said that if I decide to reach out to Toyota Canada, I would get the same response and nothing will be done. For my troubles, he was offering one free oil change.
Not pleased with the situation, I reached out to Toyota Canada. I was then contacted by a man who introduced himself as a manager from Toyota Canada headquarters. He explained that there was a mistake made and no 2020 Canadian Corolla Hatchback XSE’s are supposed to have AFS. It was then decided last minute that it would cost too much and AFS was pulled without updating any other paper work. I was then offered a non-negotiable number (less than the USD MSRP for AFS) and was told that was all they could offer as they needed to pay anyone else that has the same issue. No buy back was offered or information whether it will ever come in future models as it would jeopardize their competitive edge.
I found out later that the offer was contingent on signing a waiver which included clauses like the issue is assumed to be resolved, they weren’t at fault, I had to withdraw any legal proceedings, and that I wasn’t able to speak of this issue to anyone. In the case of any breach, they get their money back and can sue me for damages. I didn’t agree to this as I felt it wasn’t the right resolution and it was asking for what I felt was more than what I was being compensated for. During these weeks of conversation, they used the time to scrub the information they have about AFS from their website.
To top it all off, I find out when I receive the settlement waiver that he’s not in fact a manager but just a Consultant for Customer Relations.
For reference, from my research, it came out to be about $6k USD MSRP in parts to rectify the issue.
Dealership: We’re not liable if the manufacturer decides to add/modify/remove parts. Here’s a free oil change for your troubles.
Toyota Canada: We made a mistake in paperwork; thanks for letting us know so we don't get in trouble with other customers as we hide our mistakes. Here’s what we value it at for your troubles.
OMVIC: It’s not the dealership’s fault, so it’s out of our jurisdiction. Go to court.
CAMVAP: It was never installed at the factory so we can’t arbitrate as we only deal with warranty issues.
Ontario Government and Consumer Services: We have OMVIC and CAMVAP to deal with vehicle issues so it’s out of our jurisdiction. You’ll need to go to court.
Transport Canada: No response.
Here’s documentation to support my claim:
Press Release:
Purchase Agreement:
VIN Lookup:
Brochure:
Specifications:
Toyota.ca Features Page:
Toyota.ca Configurator:
Lesson learned: You can’t trust what Toyota says anymore. I would be so pissed off if I ended up waiting for a 2021 sedan and they pull Android Auto on delivery.
