Archives

http://priuschat.com/My-Prius-needs-a-battery-Toyota-denies-warranty-due-to-EV-button-t36277.html

Long story short, it took this poor guy two months to get his failed battery fixed under warranty on account of his EV button. Apparently it was Toyota Corporate who wanted to deny the claim. It's a good read, and he did win.

And no, I'm not disconnecting my EV button.

"The District Tech asked the Dealer tech to check for one, then declared the warranty void, then flagged my VIN so I couldn't take it to another dealer."

It's mentioned later in the thread, but it seems less likely they would check for the Coastal Tech EV switch. But maybe they are savvy. Maybe they invoke consumption screen, hold the CC, and look for flip to energy screen.

Of course, you can also install an EV switch via the high beams I believe. I know there is a third way other than button or CC stalk. They'd have to be up to date on a number of ways to do it.

Here's what I don't understand... I would NEVER go to a dealer for a warranty claim with a mod on my car and expect him/her not to balk. Why not just remove/hide the mod before you go. I don't care if the button exist on over-seas models, you don't have an over-seas warranty and would have to appeal to the US courts if it got ugly.

I'm glad this guy got his battery replaced because it does sound like it was not caused by a mod but he's lucky in my opinion.

I also wouldn't drive at triple digit speeds when I had drugs in my car either... :)

To have a EV button on a a car is like a ricer taking his NOZ tank Si to Honda and asking for the warped trunk limers to be be replaced. In the USA we have good laws to protect us. But take a system that will push EV far and above anything yota wants to admit then want warranty. Thats like taking a 100 hp Honda nad making it get 400 hp and claiming the tie rod broke under warranty...

But that's just the thing, Psy. The EV button activates programming that Toyota put there in the first place. It doesn't push anything far and above Toyota's limits because they designed it. If you try to activate it and anything is out of spec (battery too warm or too cold, moving too fast, etc.) it just beeps at you and denies your request. It even pops out of EV if you floor the accelerator. It is only a modification in the sense that it comes that way from the factory for the rest of the world but in North America we have to add $5 worth of wires to the ev button terminal on the ECU. It absolutely can not be compared to something like a nitrous tank.

It's still a modification and Toyota should not have to warranty in the US unless installed by their (or some other approved) technicians. How else can they be sure the the wiring and other parts are installed correctly.

I haven't read up on this mod or it's application but I'm sure it would have taken much less than two months to remove this mod before going to the dealer. By being lazy or not having the foresight, this guy caused his own delay and Toyota was right to question the non-dealer approved installed modification.

Since you didn't like the Honda NOS example:
My car will have more power if I advance the base timing but too much and I get detonation that can cause engine failure. I wouldn't expect the manufacturer to warranty the engine if I went too far and broke it. The provision to change the timing is there but they have programmed the computer to work off whatever the base timing is set at the factory. I can advance it if I want at my own risk!

Now what would I do if I broke in such a situation? Return to stock timing before trying to make any warranty claim! Call me ethically challenged in this scenario if you want but I bet I wouldn't have to wait two months for an answer.

Wasn't there another issue posted here a while back where someone blew up a Ford SuperDuty while using unapproved BioDiesel? I think the same thing applies to him. He got a free replacement engine as Ford eventually sited an injector malfunction. This is yet another case of someone getting lucky when they could easily have caused or at the least exacerbated the issue. You break it, you bought it!

(Disclaimer: No timing was actually advanced or engines hurt in the making of this post.)

In the case of advancing the ignition timing and melting a piston there is a clear cause and effect. That is not the case with the EV switch in question. According to the updates in that thread, the owner is now driving around with a new battery, no EV switch, and it is still behaving abnormally. The new battery is dropping down to very low charge levels for no apparent reason.

I don't disagree with you that a consumer **could** do something (e.g. screw up the wiring) that would result in a genuine violation of the warranty. Connecting the EV switch in such a way that it put power across the wrong terminals of an expensive computer would be a very good analog to your ignition timing example. So there is risk.