AA missed Basic issue

[Ann Goddard]

Hì all. Recently had an error message; hybrid malfunction. Fortunately, Toyota gave me an AA membership. So, I waited patiently. On arrival he plugged a gadget into the car. Having established it was drivable, he sent me on my way, telling me to go into the dealers. They had no courtesy cars, they said, so I expected to wait a week for collection. Meanwhile, on 3 occasions the brakes refused to disconnect. I took it up there. They found a courtesy car. Two days later I was told there was a loose connection to the Battery. Surely the AA should have spotted this originally?? Anyone else had this problem? The car is nearly 3 years old. 

[hind]

Just now, Ann Goddard said:

Surely the AA should have spotted this originally??

I don't think AA looks under your rear seat. And that's where the Battery is located in every hybrid Yaris IV.

They are not mechanics, they might just follow simple troubleshooting (to check if the car is actually broken and requires servicing or is it a minor issue like discharged Battery, flat tyre or the lack of petrol).

[Mojo1010]

As above. The 12v Battery probably on its way out. 

Interesting enough someone who just bought a 21 plate design spec asked me about the car this afternoon. He said sometimes the car has the hybrid malfunction displayed when starting the car, then somehow proceeded to mentioned it has a dash cam which are hardwired to parking mode. Told him to take off the parking mode cable as that was probably the reason. 

He paid Toyota £49 to have the hybrid Battery checked, clean bill of health. So another recent owner who easily could be cursing today mk4 hybrid for unreliability! 

[Cyker]

There've been a few reports on here of loose Battery terminals from the very earliest batch of cars; That's french attention to detail for you  

(Actually I probably shouldn't automatically blame them, as it could be the terminals were undone when the cars were in storage/transit and not put back on properly by whoever, but it does seem like vehicles from the Valenciennes factory has a higher incidence of such silly minor errors than any of the other ones...)

[TonyHSD]

These days with everything rushed I am not surprised that pretty much every product from a toothbrush to an airplane is with reduced quality. 
It’s just peoples mentality, values and understanding of life. 
Those days where car manufacturers paid attention to details are long gone. 
No matter if you buy Dacia or Bentley, the story is absolutely the same. 😅

[Cyker]

I think that's a little unfair as I've not come across this sort of thing from the Czech and UK factories so much, it always seems to be the French one!!

(Then again I don't think we've had a car from those so I may be corrected!)

And Toyota do design their cars with assembly and maintenance in mind to make it easier for assembly workers and mechanics to get at the most likely things. (Whereas the Germans very noticeably design the cars with ONLY assembly in mind in most of their current cars...!)

 

[hind]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

And Toyota do design their cars with assembly and maintenance in mind to make it easier for assembly workers and mechanics to get at the most likely things

Easy test for every car - how long does it take to change the headlights bulb 🙂

My personal winner is Ford Focus mk2 where you can use a coin to detach the whole headlight unit and just twist and pull the desired bulb 🙂 replacement done in 5 minutes on the side of the road at night. 

That's the maintenance job you want to be quick and easy 🙂

[Cyker]

Mines's not replaceable!  

[TonyHSD]

3 hours ago, hind said:

Easy test for every car - how long does it take to change the headlights bulb 🙂

My personal winner is Ford Focus mk2 where you can use a coin to detach the whole headlight unit and just twist and pull the desired bulb 🙂 replacement done in 5 minutes on the side of the road at night. 

That's the maintenance job you want to be quick and easy 🙂

Auris hybrid from 2010, headlights bulbs in less than 5 min for both sides. 
These are just unplug wire, turn 30° and pull out. 👌