My 2008 xB took a crap this weekend. First the BRAKE, ABS and VSC lights all lit up. (Resulted in no ABS and traction control.) Then the power steering went out. Brought the POS to the dealer this morning and found out that it needs a new power steering control module $800 and a wheel speed sensor $700. Neither are covered under the 5 year 60,000 mile powertrain warranty. My car has 39,000 miles on it and I've owned it for 2 years and 7 months. This really ticks me off. On top of all this, the parts won't be in for 3 days and the car is unsafe to drive. No way I'll ever buy a Toyota again. I never had these issues with the six Honda's that I've owned.

 

I think that's just crappy timing - or you should have bought the extended warranty. They're not part of the "powertrain" so ya, not covered under that. But would have been covered under the bumper to bumper (36k) or extended.

 

so sell it and go back to honda

 

Here's what I would do. I would go to the service manager and tell him your story. He's gonna blow you off and tell you to fork over the cash and that you are SOL. After giving him an earful, tell him you want to talk to the service director (his boss). When he says he's not there, ask when he will be back.

Return on that date to talk to the service director, explain your situation, and see if he can help you out since you are only out of warranty by a little bit. He will have to clear it with corporate Toyota to see if they will warranty it. He should go to bat for you with Toyota.

If that doesn't work, call corporate Toyota and see if they can help you directly. Explain your situation nicely. Toyota is pretty lenient with this kind of thing. 1500 bucks is a small price to pay to keep a loyal customer imo. If they aren't willing to do that, maybe you should stick with Honda.

No one ever gets what they deserve, only what they negotiate for. You gotta fight for your rights man!

 

OK, is this just me, or is something for real here ! This kind of problem has never materialized on any auto I've owned since 1967. Is this basically the introduction of wall-to-wall digital electronics having reduced all vehicles to a crap shoot, or is Toyota a particular offender? Power steering failure is an absurd problem and should absolutely not happen unless the implementation is flawed -- let's just say digital ! Is there really any reason at this point to buy Toyota over any other brand? I'm becoming seriously suspicious of the digital take over of all our cars !

 

I've BEEN concerned about the price and longevity of the electric steering crap.

 

As an independant service center, we work on all kinds of vehicles. LISTEN TO ME HERE PLEASE.... Just because your car is there DOES NOT mean you have to have it repaired there. Call around to your local ASA, ASE, AAA shops. Call some parts stores and ask them who they think is the top shop in the area. Once you find them, call them and have a very specific list (one that you will have to get from the dealer's service writer) of what they are wanting to replace. Now ask the independant shop what they would charge for the same work. You will still need to pay for the diagnostic fee at the dealer, then have it towed to another shop, but the final cost may be less or maybe much less then at the dealer. Ask about the warranty coverage at the dealer and at the independants. Ask if they offer financing. Most anyone can offer CAR CARE ONE which would give you 6 months no interest. Don't just bend over and take it, breath..... now ask around and see what you can come up with. Good luck man. Sorry for the troubles.

Search your local area for NAPA autocare centers, or AAA shops. That is a great place to start.

 

Sorry to quote the whole thing... but I agree with how you put it.
And couldn't agree more. No car on the planet is perfect, if there was one, then that's what everyone would buy. But since we're in reality.... Toyota is one that has a pretty damn decent track record, minus this last crap with gas pedals and the like. Over the years, I have put hundreds of thousands of miles on my Toyotas and overall I have had far fewer problems then any other make I've owned. What ^^ said above I think is a good course of action to follow to see if you can get at least some of the cost covered if not all of it. Being a long time Toyota owner myself, I've seen the company pick up minor costs they didnt have to in order to keep a faithful long time customer.

 

I think all new cars will run into these type of issues with all the electronic crap they put into them these days. Also, its funny how the manufacturer knows exactly when something will go bad, especially after the bumper to bumper time frame they promise. A-holes. Sorry you had to dish out so much money.....

 

Screw talking to the service manager or director. Go straight to corporate.

 

I'm seriously wanting to believe in Toyota at this point, but my faith in digital electronics has never been especially strong. It's all very well to talk about multiple backups for any given function (like in the space shuttle where there were three computers for any given directive -- if one disagreed, the other two overode it. That level of redundancy costs money, and so I wouldn't presume it's present on economy automobiles. However, this question isn't specific to Toyota, any car manufacturer is facing the same issue. Yes, vehicle emissions are highly improved over the 1990 plus performance, but how about everything else?

 

I agree with the posts pointing out issues with all of the electronics in them. It's just that with any newer technology there are generally a number of bugs to deal with. The technology is a big leap forward which is a good thing... however, the ever growing number of these parts/controls it leaves the door wide open for the gremlins to attack. which can turn into a real pain in the butt to track down issues and fix them.

 

Well thanks for all the advice guys. I plan to follow it. I certainly know that this could happen with any car because these days they all have issues with new technology. I guess with all of the electronics in cars these days an extended warranty is a must, it doesn't matter who it is - Toyota, Honda, Nissan .... etc. $1500 is a tough amount to swallow on such a new car. Let me just say that I do love my xB, it's my favorite car in a long time except for this problem.

 

**Update**
I brought the car in on Monday at 7:15 am. The dealer called me today and said that the parts probably won arrive until Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Good thing they comped me a 2010 Corolla to use while my car sits and waits for parts. Still working on getting Toyota to cover the repairs.

 

Now I'm seriously starting to worry about my xB.... I have seen a few posts like this now and the cars have both had about 39,000 miles on them and I'm getting pretty close to that now... only about another 1,500 miles.... and the way I rack up miles, that will be done in a few months.....

Hope I don't have the same fate as you

 

I think this is something that is happening quite frequently with the 2nd genereation xB's!

 

...really not makin me feel any better.....

 

Well it took 10 days because of the wait for parts but my car is now fixed. In the end Scion paid for half the repair cost and the dealer let me drive a 2010 Corolla for 10 days for no charge. Can't really say I'm too dissatisfied with the outcome. Spending $750 wasn't planned on but it's sure better than $1500.

 

nice to hear that man.

 

Glad to hear everything is fixed