Still, I think you are misreading the emissions warranty as it regards to states without inspection programs. Just means that if the inspection fails, they’ll take care of it. The emissions warranty is a federal mandate not a state one except for special circumstances in California where they go up to 150K or so. It should cover anything that is causing the malfunction to the fuel system. My cat was replaced under this warranty at about 69K. No questions asked, no charge, and next day.
Maybe someone who knows a little more about it will chime in but you might want to just give the EPA a call to clarify it. Not to beat a dead horse but the purpose of the emissions warranty was to make sure the cars met standards for the 70-80K mileage period. Acura even replaced the computer, did a tune up etc. on my sons 10 year old car under this provision-of course after the EPA worked on them a little as a class action. I reallly don’t know though and am just shooting the breeze with my experiences and understanding, but I think you might want to at least make a call or try another dealer.
Thanks @VDCdriver for clarifying the difference between recalls and TSB’s. You are right of course, if a TSB is really more like an amendment to the manufacturer’s repair manual for the make/model, such a thing wouldn’t be covered if outside of warranty. For example if it was discovered a loose sparkplug wire causes the engine computer to output a code for mass airflow sensor problem, then that would be useful info to the repair mechanic, but wouldn’t indicate a problem with the manufacture of the car or the quality of the parts installed. A spark plug wire can come loose when someone is leaning over to check the oil and accidentally knocks it loose for example. Or someone fixing something else might remove the wire for access and not put it back on right. That’s not a warranty issue.
However in this case I’d say the OP’er has a point of complaint at least. It is very unusual to require that to fix a problem you have to replace the entire $1000 wiring harness. If it was simply that a connector was known to be problematic and should be replaced if the customer notices a problem, that would be one thing. But the entire wiring harness? That seems more like a manufacturing defect than a typical service alert. I realize there are two sides to the issue. The manufacturer can’t be responsible for every thing that can go wrong with a car part indefinitely, but I think if the manufacturer is aware that a part installed in the car doesn’t meet their new car quality standards, they should cut the customer some slack on the dealership repair bill if that part fails. Just an opinion.
I just got off the phone with Scion Customer Care. They’re offering to repair it for approx. $500 instead of full price. I appreciate the discount, but my car has been out of commission for about a month while I waited for the part and it is a known issue with this vehicle. I’m not a happy camper at this point.
Unless you want to continue the discussion, you can either accept the offer or take it to court. While you are unhappy, taking to $500 repair might make sense in light of the alternatives. If it bothers you enough, just don’t buy a Toyota product again.
Hi, have a scion with all the same problems listed above. The dealership told me there is a bad wiring harness. I can’t find a wiring harness to buy. The dealership now can’t tell me if its the main engine wiring harness or another harness. I want to find a part number if possible. Toyota is saying it would be a thousand or 1500 dollars depending on the harness.
Hey, thanks for the reply. My car is a 2009. The dealership was a little
confused and said there’s two different engine wiring harnesses I’m
assuming it would be the main engine harness.
It’s never good when the dealership is confused
I only saw one “engine wiring harness” but now that you cleared up the year, I will look closer to see if I can help clarify…
Hi, I am wondering if you can help with a part number for this issue.
There are a few options. Blogs and Toyota is saying that the engine wiring
harness has had problems but I can’t figure out which harness needs
replacement. Again I have the same problems and error codes and noted in
the original question which is referenced.
