Extended Warranty

[NxJohn]

In cold weather, I get some condensation in the forward looking camera, so auto headlight dipping doesn't work.  I asked my dealer if this is covered by the extended warranty, and their reply staggered me.

They will only look at it if I agree to pay £120 if it's *not* a warranty issue.  I have two problems with this:

- It's got water in it, how can it NOT be a fault? But am I willing to bet £120 they won't try and worm out of it somehow?  (Their answer: "your windscreen may be cracked"... Sheesh, credit me with some sense!)

- You can remove the cowling to look at it in about 30 seconds.  How long do they need to diagnose a failed seal that they've seen a hundred times before?  That's a hell of an hourly rate.

I had a couple of add-on Toyota policies, but I'm not willing to be treated that way on every potential claim, so I've cancelled them.

I'm really annoyed that this opportunistic deterrent to claims is such a transparent scam.  Is this a usual procedure with other dealers?

[AndrueC]

9 minutes ago, NxJohn said:

Is this a usual procedure with other dealers?

Probably, yes, and not just Toyota. I had a few issues with my Jazz and had a similar experience. When I reported that the door mirrors sometimes randomly open and close as I drove I was told they couldn't do anything until it actually failed completely.

I was later told that it was because retailers have to prove their case to Honda in order to get the cost of parts refunded. This makes them reluctant to undertake warranty work unless they are sure that it's due to a fault. Whether Toyota has the same arrangement with their dealers or not I don't know.

[sportse]

The diagnosis charge is a standard feature unfortunately with many dealers now, however if you have a good relationship with them they might not charge you even if it’s not a warranty issue. 
 

condensation can happen if you park outside, I used to get it on a 2021 jazz but it cleared within maybe 10/20 minutes once the car was running and defrosting/heating up . Until it did, I had a big warning message in the dash saying that certain safety systems aren’t working. 

[flash22]

Unfortunately, companies do this to stop claims, BT will charge £120 if they find an internal house fault or damage cause on purpose

[Big_D]

29 minutes ago, NxJohn said:

They will only look at it if I agree to pay £120 if it's *not* a warranty issue.  I have two problems with this:

I had a heated discussion with a Toyota Dealer about this very issue today. Told them very politely to go away, as I would never deal with them until they changed their attitude.

My current dealer doesn't charge me a diagnostic fee. As a result, they get to service all the Toyotas in the family (my C-H, the Wife's Yaris, and my son's Aygo). They also get all my business when we replace our cars. Something the other dealer lost out on due to wanting me to pay a diagnostic fee.

Which dealer is better off??

[Niky]

I am loking after 2  Nissan NV400 at work - still under warranty. Being commercial vehicles dealers charges £210 per hour for investigation, should the issue not being covered by the warranty.  

Very negative experience with Nissan Glyn Hopkin in east London. Every time I go for a service they will try to rip me off, and I have to argue and complain to get anything done at all. I also belive they didn't service our vans at all.Once they charge me for an aircon service which doesn't even exist in the van. How arrogant is this?

Changed the dealer now and I am 99% sure the new one also didn't service my van, but only topped a bit of oil up - wasn't even on the max line on dipstick They only changed the fuel filter as its on a very obvious place. But haw can I proof anything....

Toyota also have similar investigation fee, and they will always tell me its there if the issue isn't covered by the warranty, but so far I've never been charged this. Been couple of times for an investigation of odd bits with my Corolla. 

Much happier with Toyota dealer compared to Nissan

[Dylanfan]

On 3/19/2024 at 8:21 PM, sportse said:

The diagnosis charge is a standard feature unfortunately with many dealers now, however if you have a good relationship with them they might not charge you even if it’s not a warranty issue. 
 

condensation can happen if you park outside, I used to get it on a 2021 jazz but it cleared within maybe 10/20 minutes once the car was running and defrosting/heating up . Until it did, I had a big warning message in the dash saying that certain safety systems aren’t working. 

“Condensation can happen if you park outside” really, between the screen and the camera. My 2019 car has never been parked inside and I’ve never had that problem. A seal must have failed.

[sportse]

24 minutes ago, Dylanfan said:

“Condensation can happen if you park outside” really, between the screen and the camera. My 2019 car has never been parked inside and I’ve never had that problem. A seal must have failed.

I park outside North facing, the ice is so thick you can't scrape it off and sometimes also forms on the inside of the windscreen as well 😞

The only way I can remove it is with deicer spray, a thick coating that costs me £1-£2 every time I have to defrost the car.

Except, now with remote start I don't have to do that.

[Swanthecat]

I brought this issue about condensation stopping various safety features working when I noticed it on mine some time ago. One of the responses on here was that there is some sort of heater element in the unit to remove this and a recall a schematic was provided. I don’t know if this is true or not but if true then it can’t be a sealed unit. I think this problem is quite common. 

[Cyker]

2 hours ago, sportse said:

I park outside North facing, the ice is so thick you can't scrape it off and sometimes also forms on the inside of the windscreen as well 😞

The only way I can remove it is with deicer spray, a thick coating that costs me £1-£2 every time I have to defrost the car.

Except, now with remote start I don't have to do that.

That's one thing I love about my PIAA silicone wipers - They lay down a hydrophobic coating over time, and once they've been used enough to lay a thick enough layer, even ice becomes much easier to scrape off as it doesn't stick to the screen as strongly as it does with raw glass  

 

[sportse]

The Corolla is much better than vw golf’s I’ve driven - in those many owners resort to having big bags of silica gel in the car to try and absorb the moisture but you still have issues with internal condensation making the car undriveable until you can warm it up. 

[sportse]

4 hours ago, Swanthecat said:

I brought this issue about condensation stopping various safety features working when I noticed it on mine some time ago. One of the responses on here was that there is some sort of heater element in the unit to remove this and a recall a schematic was provided. I don’t know if this is true or not but if true then it can’t be a sealed unit. I think this problem is quite common. 

I’ve noticed there are lines on mine, they do look like heating elements similar to the rear window 

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Early in the life of the Toyota Safety System, Toyota fitted heater elements to the windscreen in front of the camera on some models to help alleviate condensation affecting the camera. Depending on the level of condensation though, the elements may not be sufficient to prevent heavy condensation build up affecting the camera.