Consumer Law for 2007 Toyota Prius Recall For Brake Actuator

inherentchoice on 21/06/2021 - 18:51
Last edited 21/06/2021 - 18:54

Car brakes are malfunctioning and have ABS and other lights on.

Searching the VIN on the Toyota website yields this service bulletin BHG15 which says there's a recall which provides an extended warranty on the brakes.

However, it says it's only good for 10 years from date of first registration, and the car is now 14. But it is still under the kms threshold at 170,000.

I called the dealer but they seem to be avoiding me so far, but hopefully they will contact me tomorrow.

What are my chances that they will fix it under this "recall"? Will the consumer law help me in this situation? Was this some kind of voluntary recall rather than something officially registered with the government?

Does anyone know what this repair might cost me otherwise?

In the meantime I believe the vehicle is dangerous to drive and could cause an accident.

PS I initially thought to check for a recall after watching this video… https://youtu.be/kRtqxmodKi0

Automotive

Comments

  • SF3 on 21/06/2021 - 18:52
    +3

    Maybe call Toyota directly? not a dealership.

    • inherentchoice on 21/06/2021 - 18:55
      +1

      Yes I did but they will follow up with the dealership.

  • brokenglish on 21/06/2021 - 18:55
    +2

    It says on your link

    10 years or 240,000 km whichever comes first.

    Just cop the cost and get it fixed. You’re lucky the brake indicator shows the error instead of you getting into an accident.

    • inherentchoice on 21/06/2021 - 18:58
      -8

      Am worried it will be over $2500 and could potentially have some consumer rights here given their official service bulletin and extended warranty for this specific problem.

      • brendanm on 21/06/2021 - 19:45
        +1

        Yep, they already extended the warranty a mile beyond what was initially offered. You now want it extended even more, on a 14 year old car? Good luck.

        You can probably get a used part from the wrecker for under $500.

        • inherentchoice on 21/06/2021 - 20:12
          -3

          Hmm this is tempting me to try exercise 'rights'. Not because I believe in that or want to be entitled. But I just feel I have a case if I went down a legal avenue.

          • Hybroid on 21/06/2021 - 20:19
            +1

            @inherentchoice: What 'right' and what's your case?

            10 years or 240,000 km whichever comes first.

            It's 14 years old. Does not apply.

          • brendanm on 21/06/2021 - 20:57

            @inherentchoice: What are you going to do with your car while attempting to so this?

            • inherentchoice on 21/06/2021 - 22:16
              -1

              @brendanm: Get it repaired elsewhere and claim back.

              • Alexander420 on 21/06/2021 - 22:58

                @inherentchoice: Give them a letter of demand and tell them you are going to take this to xCAT/ Fair Trading/ACCC. You paid $37.400 14 years ago, they should give us 20 years warranty unlimited km.

              • brendanm on 22/06/2021 - 06:37

                @inherentchoice: As someone else mentioned, and I completely overlooked, your car was made and sold prior to the 2011 ACL. ACL doesn't apply to your car, it already had an extended warranty, and you are now shit out of luck.

  • tsunamisurfer on 21/06/2021 - 19:08
    +6

    Toyota have already extended it to 10 years.

    Yours is almost half a decade more.

    Toyota are well within their rights to say No.

  • holdenmg on 21/06/2021 - 19:35
    +2

    https://www.productsafety.gov.au/site-search/toyota%20prius%… for NHW20
    and
    https://www.productsafety.gov.au/site-search/toyota%20prius%… for AHV40
    reveals a number of Faults that Toyota should have rectified.

    Toyota should have written to you (assuming your address was current) and Toyota Dealer Servicing may have already attended to some on regular servicing.

    Otherwise call: Toyota Recall Assist helpline on 1800 987 366

    • inherentchoice on 21/06/2021 - 20:17

      Don't think any of these correspond to this particular Toyota bulletin?

      Called that number and looked at these already, but thank you though.

  • bloom on 21/06/2021 - 20:08

    Toyota website yields

    Ain’t that the truth.

  • Euphemistic on 21/06/2021 - 20:15

    Does anyone know what this repair might cost me otherwise?

    That will depend what’s wrong with it. If Toyota don’t play ball it’s probably worth getting a 2nd opinion for the cost. It could be a computer thing easily fixed with a 2nd hand part. May need a brake actuator, which you’d be better to buy new.

  • AndyC1 on 21/06/2021 - 20:23

    Check when you bought the car and at that time did you register the car with toyota that you were the new owner? If you did and Toyota did not send you any notification then call Toyota with the dates you bought the car and when you may have registered the car with Toyota and check that Toyota have you as the owner since the date you bought the car and if they do then start asking about when they sent out the notices as you did not receive any if this is correct, unless you have moved around and forgot to update Toyota then you are up the road without brakes.

    I suspect Toyota did not notify you.

    • brendanm on 21/06/2021 - 21:00

      I suspect Toyota did not notify you.

      I suspect op hasn't owned the car since new. Could be wrong.

      • pegaxs on 21/06/2021 - 21:34
        +1

        They usually don’t notify owners for service actions/bulletins. These are only checked off if the car comes in and it is flagged. A service action is very different to a recall.

  • KMeister on 21/06/2021 - 21:43
    +5

    ACL does not apply to your car as it came into effect on 1 January 2011 (ACL is not retrospectively applied). Your vehicle is 14 years old, it's not 'reasonable' to expect warranty assistance from the manufacturer unless there's a safety recall, which your vehicle is not affected with.

  • JDMcarfan on 21/06/2021 - 22:59

    No you don't have a leg to stand on, simple as that! Most ACL guarantee's for a car are 10 years. That's the usual timeframe that you can expect a car to run without major issues (agreed that's its not the lifespan of the car).

    Realistically, though most manufacturers do not even hold up to these standards whatsoever (I owned a brand new Jeep (got rid of it after 18 months, and you probably know why), and the only ones that have any sort of respect for their customers are generally the Jap/Korean crop with a couple outliers thrown in. In my opinion, Toyota has been more than reasonable with this issue, and by others' remarks, offered a warranty period well above industry standards.
    You haven't mentioned if the recall was actually completed on your car either, and if not then you're really in the deep end as you haven't done your due diligence, but if you have and the part was replaced (but didn't last 10 years), you might have a long shot, and I'd seriously recommend that you should cop the hit. The car is old and is excepted to have a variety of faults at this stage, and don't expect Toyota to try and find something to get out of it.
    On top of that, its probably been the most reliable car you've ever had, and you're likely to have saved way more on repairs (and fuel) in your ownership than many comparable cars. Can't really be nitpicking at this age.

    In the small chance that you're successful, and this likely becomes a class-wide recall, I see Toyota conducting a buy-back to settle the issue, and that they'd flat out deny to repair. This is what happened to a variety of Takata airbag afflicted Audi's and Honda's, given the cost of parts are high for such a car (in relation to their value as they'd buy new) and factoring in labour costs, the cost to them would be cheaper to buy-back the cars (at redbook/trade-in values) than repair (and potentially risk further complications). I have known people with such cars offered around 25-35% of true market value, based on their 'appraised trade-in value' and you'd be in for another fight to try and salvage a reasonable value for the car. Most owners just take the deal, so for them its usually the best approach.

    If you decide to turn down their offers they may offer you a small/nil cash settlement, on the terms of you signing an agreement acknowledging the issues with the car and relieving them of all responsibility, they wont repair it and you'll end up having to do it out of pocket and/or have a car that you can't consciously sell-on and will nonetheless be tainted at that point.

    I hope this is enough to convince you!

  • Drakesy on 21/06/2021 - 23:44

    If you had a crash i'd argue it would be negligent for Toyota to not rectify a known issue with their car no matter the mileage.
    It's like saying i've put you in a dangerous, flawed car but as soon as you've travelled 240,000k's it's not my problem.
    I don't think they'd like that on their conscience.

    However it depends if they've actively tried to contact you or the previous owner, if they have then it's not really on them

    • JDMcarfan on 22/06/2021 - 01:56

      From my experience (dad had an ‘07 Aurion) they sent recall letters for a minor recall (think it was a window switch circuit issue) for a about 5+ years on a quarterly basis. We sold the car about a year before the recall was announced (sold to a family member who was informed but decided not the act) and received a call at one point where we passed on the new owners details (family) and mentioned they didn’t care about the issue.

      Mailing stopped a few months after. During that time they sent letter addressed to his old (non-anglicised) and current name thinking that they may be different owners of the same car, so they did due diligence to the best of their abilities.

      Same brand, same manufacture year, bigger issue = definitely would’ve received a tonne of warning/recall letters. Someone decided not to act.

  • Euphemistic on 22/06/2021 - 07:12

    Is it a recall? Or just a safety bulletin advising the suitable remedy IF the problem appears. Looks to me like it’s only extending the warranty to cover a failure. It is not a recall meaning the vehicle must be inspected and possibly repaired.

    Your vehicle does not meet the criteria for the repair, it’s past the use by date.

  • Brian McGee on 22/06/2021 - 08:10

    Consumer guarantees only came into effect in January 2011, your car precedes any of these guarantees.

    Was it a recall issues to the ACCC register of vehicle recalls?

    your link points to a service campaign, these are carried out on suspect vehicle when at a Toyota dealer for regular servicing or when you complain of the fault described. The car is now 14 years old and you need to do some brake work. This is the cost of owning a motor vehicle, if you haven't had any issues in 14 years then it's time to spend some money.

    You can try Toyota head office but a dealer is not going to warrant your request due to time limits. Remember it is time or distance whichever comes first, not whatever one you choose.

  • Cheeper on 22/06/2021 - 11:29

    This has nothing to do with acl or warranty.
    There is another regulation where it states that any product sold in Australia must be safe to use for a minimum of 10 years.
    This was the regulation that obliged Toyota and other makers to replace deteriorating dashboards a few years ago. They were considered unsafe because it caused glare and omitted an offensive odour.
    Manufacturers stick to the 10yrs, not one day over, so you will miss out unless they offer repair under good will.
    The link to the info would be in the thread about dashboards cracking.

  • OzHunterNSW on 23/06/2021 - 10:20

    Seems to be a maintenance issue. What recall?
    Go and have your brakes checked immediately by a proper brake specialist

  • inherentchoice on 01/07/2021 - 04:46
    -1

    Update: bought part from Wrecker on eBay for $300 and local mechanic charged me $490 to install. After market part would be $1500.

    Am still interested to look at claiming back from Toyota, although it may be under superseded NSW law and I may not have proof of the original purchase.

    Thank you everyone for your replies.

    • mrea0979 on 15/10/2021 - 15:01

      Do you have the ebay details?
      I have the same issue and Toyota want $1600

      • inherentchoice on 15/10/2021 - 16:48

        Was a wrecker in Melbourne. Literally just searched eBay for prius ABS and sorted by price.

        • mrea0979 on 15/10/2021 - 19:26

          Thanks, did you need to know any other information besides that when looking on ebay and talking with the repairers?
          And sorry, i dum questions but Brake Actuator = ABS
          Thanks for the assistance!

          • inherentchoice on 15/10/2021 - 22:21

            @mrea0979: Mine needed ABS module but I merely searched ABS. But I don't know what yours needs.

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