On Saturday Aug.1 2015 I took our vehicle into a Toyota dealer service department for a low beam headlamp replacement. Later that day after dark I started the vehicle, turned on the headlights, and began driving home from a gathering. Within a minute or two I started to smell what seemed to be burning plastic coming from under the dash area. I immediately thought it was the headlamp malfunctioning. The car seemed to be driving OK so I proceeded to continue towards home. After another minute several Warning icons started to pop up on the display screen. The car limped home and was parked till Monday August 3 2015 when I had it towed to the same dealer shop. After three weeks of "diagnostics and trouble shooting" it was determined by the dealer techs to be our responsibility because of an oversize fuse, non-Toyota rear marker bulb and my operating the high and low beams while limping the car home that led to a massive harness and wiring meltdown under the hood and the dashboard.The dealer denied any liability for any part of this mess despite the fact that they were the last ones to touch the car before it melted down.
Estimated cost for repairs to get the car into diagnostic capacity 18,000 dollars. Bluebook before meltdown 10,000 dollars. Balance owed on car loan to credit union 6,000 dollars. Aaargh!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
On Saturday Aug.1 2015 I took our vehicle into a Toyota dealer service department for a low beam headlamp replacement. Later that day after dark I started the vehicle, turned on the headlights, and began driving home from a gathering. Within a minute or two I started to smell what seemed to be burning plastic coming from under the dash area. I immediately thought it was the headlamp malfunctioning. The car seemed to be driving OK so I proceeded to continue towards home. After another minute several Warning icons started to pop up on the display screen. The car limped home and was parked till Monday August 3 2015 when I had it towed to the same dealer shop. After three weeks of "diagnostics and trouble shooting" it was determined by the dealer techs to be our responsibility because of an oversize fuse, non-Toyota rear marker bulb and my operating the high and low beams while limping the car home that led to a massive harness and wiring meltdown under the hood and the dashboard.The dealer denied any liability for any part of this mess despite the fact that they were the last ones to touch the car before it melted down.
Estimated cost for repairs to get the car into diagnostic capacity 18,000 dollars. Bluebook before meltdown 10,000 dollars. Balance owed on car loan to credit union 6,000 dollars. Aaargh!!
- Ron J., Santa Rosa, CA, US