I would be interested in whether anyone else has had an issue with a total system failure light coming on in a 2013 PriusC 2. I am finding some things on other sites for different Prius models that are closely aligned with what happened but would like a better understanding of it in the PriusC because I think the dealership is running me around.
Some background on my car:
* It has been serviced exclusively at one Toyota dealership
* I had it serviced most recently on June 9, 2015 and before that on March 2, 2015
* All servicing has been done timely - by miles or months, as appropriate
* In accordance with the owner's manual, I check the oil level monthly and it has never been an issue; this is the ONLY maintenance thing not done by the dealer and I read the manual instructions on it five times and reviewed YouTube videos about it before ever trying
* It has about 35,000 miles on it; I forgot to check the exact mileage when I dropped it off because it was towed in
* The last time I filled the gas tank up was July 5, 2015 and I filled it completely - it holds 9.5 gallons
* It is a one owner/one driver car; I bought it new (knowing that would mean an end-game financial loss) and have been very exacting in its care because I wanted a car that would be safe and last me a decade
Last night I was headed home when all of the emergency lights turned on and my car started making a warning noise. The main screen read "CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM / STOP VEHICLE IN A / SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY". Where I was there was no safe place to stop; I was on a one way street at 11pm near downtown on a Friday with no parking. Luckily, I was reasonably close to home and managed to get it onto my street before it stopped altogether. Even that left it too close to a blind turn so I put my car in neutral and pushed it to a safe part of the street. (Made for a particularly fun night because I have a physical condition that causes considerable joint damage/pain and having to move my car manually down the street for safety reasons definitely goes against the money I spent getting the car new in order to avoid problems.)
After getting my car safe, I explored the issue in the Owner's Manual and online. Page 444 of the Owner's Manual states that on receiving this warning one should "stop the vehicle immediately." It goes on to say "The following warning indicates the possibility of damage to the vehicle that may lead to an accident. Immediately stop the vehicle in a safe place and contact your Toyota dealer." Online I found recalls of other Prius models built in the same time period for a software issue that could result in this warning and a failure of the hybrid system if not corrected. I confirmed my car was not part of the related recalls on the site Toyota has setup to check VINs for recalls. (Over 1.9 million vehicles world wide were recalled for that issue.)
The local dealership where I service my car opened at 9am this morning. I called at 8:59 to ensure I would be the first call answered. I explained the issue and asked to be transferred to the appropriate, higher-level person for warranty issues. At this point, I believed the issue to be with the hybrid system since that is what my car was telling me; the warranty for the hybrid system is 96 months/100,000 miles. The warranty information on the main Toyota website and in the warranty manual indicated the dealer would tow my car in for a warranty-based disablement. I asked the individual I spoke to about getting my car towed in immediately. I was told that they wouldn't be able to do much with it until Monday so maybe I wanted to wait. I was also told I'd have to coordinate the towing and I'd get reimbursed if it proved a warranty issue. I stated that I could not go an entire weekend without a car especially since however long it takes them to fix it would be added on top of that. Warranty coverage states transportation will be provided if it will take more than a day to fix. I spent just under 2.5 hours coordinating getting my car towed and arrived with it at the dealership at 11:27am. At this point, I was fairly irritated, in a lot of physical pain, and a bit short.
I was told it would be 2 hours before they could give me a real update. I asked about an alternative vehicle and was told they could not provide that until they determined it would take more than a day to fix. I was also informed only the time it was actually at the dealership would count; the 2.5 hours I spent coordinating the tow, that the website and manual indicated they should have done, would not officially count. (I have subsequently been given what will hopefully end up being a loaner car so they did, ultimately, honor that time.)
At 1:27pm, I still had not received an update about my car. I called in at 1:28pm and asked for the individual assigned to it; he informed me that the mechanics had just begun to look at my car and he had no update yet. I was told they only had three guys certified to look at hybrids in the shop and there were a lot of appointments. Knowing the guy I was speaking with had no control over the situation, I didn't respond the way part of me wanted to; instead, I asked for a new time I could expect an update. I was told by 2:30pm. At 2:50pm, I still had not heard. I called at 2:54pm and asked to speak with the guy assigned to my car. I was put on hold for two minutes (static-filled hold music will never be helpful) before being told he was not answering and asked if I wanted to leave a message. Fairly infuriated at this point, I stated I did not want to leave a message, instead, I would like to speak to the supervisor I met earlier and outlined why. Instead of transferring my call, they dropped me.I called back and was transferred through to the supervisor.
The supervisor stated the issue was not with the hybrid system - battery was reading in the 14V range, everything else in that system looked good. He asked when I last put gas in the car. I couldn't remember offhand but was able to say it definitely was not in the last few days and that, yes, I had done a fair bit of driving since last stopping by a station. He indicated they thought it might be bad fuel, not under warranty, since the only issue they could find was the engine wouldn't turn over/start and my tank had 8.6 gallons in it. I only fill up using a credit card because I get cash back. Looking through the statements, I can confirm I filled up just under 2 weeks ago. I have done a lot of driving in that time and research indicates that bad fuel is unlikely to be the cause with that much driving between filling the tank and the issue; it would generally kill the engine faster. I also check the fuel I use every time and won't use a fuel marked as more than 10% ethanol, as directed in the manual. The place I last filled up (and fill up most often) does not even sell gasoline with more than 10% in it which is why I go there! (I'm the guy who reads the state-issued driver's manual every year because, as a licensed driver, I am supposed to even though no one enforces that.) Additionally, the fuel door on my car is flush with the car body, there were no signs of anyone prying it open, and I always lock my car when not with it so there is no feasible way someone else could have gotten into the gas tank to mess with it. The general sale of fuel bad enough to cause an engine failure is extremely uncommon; this level problem generally leads to fuel recalls because of the number of cars it will ruin and those are essentially unheard of. Since the dealer has not been holding up their end generally and have already given me some false information, I am now concerned they might contaminate the fuel to avoid responsibility for the repair costs.
After the phone conversation, I was told they did have a car available for me to use for the weekend. If they find it to not be a warranty issue, I will owe them $25/day for that. I received a lift to the dealer to get the car. While there, I requested they hold onto EVERYTHING associated with my car while they work so I can get their conclusions independently tested in the event the issue is concluded to be outside warranty.
So, right now, I have been given the runaround all day, I know my engine is completely shot (this should be under warranty until 60,000 miles or 60 months), and I have not been given a timeline for when I will have a real answer. Anyone else have a similar experience? Any other PriusC owners out there with inexplicably shot engines? If yes, what was the conclusion reached?
Right now, I'm very unimpressed with Toyota 's product and service.
I would be interested in whether anyone else has had an issue with a total system failure light coming on in a 2013 PriusC 2. I am finding some things on other sites for different Prius models that are closely aligned with what happened but would like a better understanding of it in the PriusC because I think the dealership is running me around.
Some background on my car:
* It has been serviced exclusively at one Toyota dealership * I had it serviced most recently on June 9, 2015 and before that on March 2, 2015 * All servicing has been done timely - by miles or months, as appropriate * In accordance with the owner's manual, I check the oil level monthly and it has never been an issue; this is the ONLY maintenance thing not done by the dealer and I read the manual instructions on it five times and reviewed YouTube videos about it before ever trying * It has about 35,000 miles on it; I forgot to check the exact mileage when I dropped it off because it was towed in * The last time I filled the gas tank up was July 5, 2015 and I filled it completely - it holds 9.5 gallons * It is a one owner/one driver car; I bought it new (knowing that would mean an end-game financial loss) and have been very exacting in its care because I wanted a car that would be safe and last me a decade
Last night I was headed home when all of the emergency lights turned on and my car started making a warning noise. The main screen read "CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM / STOP VEHICLE IN A / SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY". Where I was there was no safe place to stop; I was on a one way street at 11pm near downtown on a Friday with no parking. Luckily, I was reasonably close to home and managed to get it onto my street before it stopped altogether. Even that left it too close to a blind turn so I put my car in neutral and pushed it to a safe part of the street. (Made for a particularly fun night because I have a physical condition that causes considerable joint damage/pain and having to move my car manually down the street for safety reasons definitely goes against the money I spent getting the car new in order to avoid problems.)
After getting my car safe, I explored the issue in the Owner's Manual and online. Page 444 of the Owner's Manual states that on receiving this warning one should "stop the vehicle immediately." It goes on to say "The following warning indicates the possibility of damage to the vehicle that may lead to an accident. Immediately stop the vehicle in a safe place and contact your Toyota dealer." Online I found recalls of other Prius models built in the same time period for a software issue that could result in this warning and a failure of the hybrid system if not corrected. I confirmed my car was not part of the related recalls on the site Toyota has setup to check VINs for recalls. (Over 1.9 million vehicles world wide were recalled for that issue.)
The local dealership where I service my car opened at 9am this morning. I called at 8:59 to ensure I would be the first call answered. I explained the issue and asked to be transferred to the appropriate, higher-level person for warranty issues. At this point, I believed the issue to be with the hybrid system since that is what my car was telling me; the warranty for the hybrid system is 96 months/100,000 miles. The warranty information on the main Toyota website and in the warranty manual indicated the dealer would tow my car in for a warranty-based disablement. I asked the individual I spoke to about getting my car towed in immediately. I was told that they wouldn't be able to do much with it until Monday so maybe I wanted to wait. I was also told I'd have to coordinate the towing and I'd get reimbursed if it proved a warranty issue. I stated that I could not go an entire weekend without a car especially since however long it takes them to fix it would be added on top of that. Warranty coverage states transportation will be provided if it will take more than a day to fix. I spent just under 2.5 hours coordinating getting my car towed and arrived with it at the dealership at 11:27am. At this point, I was fairly irritated, in a lot of physical pain, and a bit short.
I was told it would be 2 hours before they could give me a real update. I asked about an alternative vehicle and was told they could not provide that until they determined it would take more than a day to fix. I was also informed only the time it was actually at the dealership would count; the 2.5 hours I spent coordinating the tow, that the website and manual indicated they should have done, would not officially count. (I have subsequently been given what will hopefully end up being a loaner car so they did, ultimately, honor that time.)
At 1:27pm, I still had not received an update about my car. I called in at 1:28pm and asked for the individual assigned to it; he informed me that the mechanics had just begun to look at my car and he had no update yet. I was told they only had three guys certified to look at hybrids in the shop and there were a lot of appointments. Knowing the guy I was speaking with had no control over the situation, I didn't respond the way part of me wanted to; instead, I asked for a new time I could expect an update. I was told by 2:30pm. At 2:50pm, I still had not heard. I called at 2:54pm and asked to speak with the guy assigned to my car. I was put on hold for two minutes (static-filled hold music will never be helpful) before being told he was not answering and asked if I wanted to leave a message. Fairly infuriated at this point, I stated I did not want to leave a message, instead, I would like to speak to the supervisor I met earlier and outlined why. Instead of transferring my call, they dropped me.I called back and was transferred through to the supervisor.
The supervisor stated the issue was not with the hybrid system - battery was reading in the 14V range, everything else in that system looked good. He asked when I last put gas in the car. I couldn't remember offhand but was able to say it definitely was not in the last few days and that, yes, I had done a fair bit of driving since last stopping by a station. He indicated they thought it might be bad fuel, not under warranty, since the only issue they could find was the engine wouldn't turn over/start and my tank had 8.6 gallons in it. I only fill up using a credit card because I get cash back. Looking through the statements, I can confirm I filled up just under 2 weeks ago. I have done a lot of driving in that time and research indicates that bad fuel is unlikely to be the cause with that much driving between filling the tank and the issue; it would generally kill the engine faster. I also check the fuel I use every time and won't use a fuel marked as more than 10% ethanol, as directed in the manual. The place I last filled up (and fill up most often) does not even sell gasoline with more than 10% in it which is why I go there! (I'm the guy who reads the state-issued driver's manual every year because, as a licensed driver, I am supposed to even though no one enforces that.) Additionally, the fuel door on my car is flush with the car body, there were no signs of anyone prying it open, and I always lock my car when not with it so there is no feasible way someone else could have gotten into the gas tank to mess with it. The general sale of fuel bad enough to cause an engine failure is extremely uncommon; this level problem generally leads to fuel recalls because of the number of cars it will ruin and those are essentially unheard of. Since the dealer has not been holding up their end generally and have already given me some false information, I am now concerned they might contaminate the fuel to avoid responsibility for the repair costs.
After the phone conversation, I was told they did have a car available for me to use for the weekend. If they find it to not be a warranty issue, I will owe them $25/day for that. I received a lift to the dealer to get the car. While there, I requested they hold onto EVERYTHING associated with my car while they work so I can get their conclusions independently tested in the event the issue is concluded to be outside warranty.
So, right now, I have been given the runaround all day, I know my engine is completely shot (this should be under warranty until 60,000 miles or 60 months), and I have not been given a timeline for when I will have a real answer. Anyone else have a similar experience? Any other PriusC owners out there with inexplicably shot engines? If yes, what was the conclusion reached?
Right now, I'm very unimpressed with Toyota 's product and service.
- taftnc, Greensboro, NC, US