Collision Avoidance System Failure due to a Collision

[leafsfan_28]

I have a 2018 RAV4 LTD Hybrid and was in a head on collision in February.  The other car ran a red light as I was trying to clear the intersection turning left.  I wasn't injured, and the other driver was fine too.  There was a decent amount of damage, which was repaired, albeit too long of a wait due to supply chain challenges.  The collision center fixed everything but found that the Collision Avoidance Malfunction error wouldn't reset and they determined that I needed to replace the brake booster, which is in the neighborhood of $5000 to fix.

The problem I am facing is that my insurance company has declared that the brake booster malfunction was "NOT" due to the collision and was a malfunction.  They claim it is not because of the collision, even though they admitted the failure happened at the time of the collision.  

Is there any way to prove that this was collision related?

Edited August 2, 2022 by leafsfan_28
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[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Rav4 forum.

Any codes displayed?

[Hybrid21]

16 hours ago, leafsfan_28 said:

 

Is there any way to prove that this was collision related?

I would have thought that it would be more difficult to prove that it was not collision related Stuart. What is the insurance company's reasoning that it is not collision related ?

[flash22]

Has it been to a main stealer for diagnostics and system calibration/initialization ?

[leafsfan_28]

17 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Moved to the Rav4 forum.

Any codes displayed?

I have an old AutoLink AL419 code reader and it comes up with no codes, unfortunately.  But this is what I see in the car.

[leafsfan_28]

30 minutes ago, flash22 said:

Has it been to a main stealer for diagnostics and system calibration/initialization ?

The brake booster only arrived this morning.  I will be taking it to the dealer when I can

 

[flash22]

It's the vacuum pump for the booster iirc there was a recall in the USA, not sure if yours had that issue

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=19V544000

worth a call to Toyota customer services

edit.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2019/RCRIT-19V544-9054.pdf

 

[philip42h]

The recall was pretty much global but it applied to 2019 4.5 hybrids - the OPs car is a 2018 RAV4 LTD Hybrid (i.e. a 4.4 as evident in the picture). The recall related to "a possibility the brake booster pump may have been manufactured improperly, and in some cases, it may stop operating".

There is some evidence out there of similar "brake booster" issues affecting other Toyota hybrids - e.g. 

and corresponding suggestions that not all the cars affected were subject to recall ...

It's very unlikely that the "brake booster" was damaged by the collision - it is located well clear of the area of accident damage shown in the OP's picture. So to that extent the OP's insurer is probably correct.

It sounds like a situation where the OP's dealer needs to get involved and seek some recompense from Toyota if it can be shown that the failure is more to do with 'manufacturing defect' than 'simple wear and tear'.

[flash22]

On the silly off chance, i take it the fuse to the brake booster pump has been checked

 

it may be labelled ABS No.2 30 or 50 amp and abs No.1 50 amp