It's a bizarre case they said... Updated: here we go again.

So are you a mouse or a lawyer?

 

Come on OP, I need an update
Suffering withdrawal over here, I need my fix...

 

Last call from them was to say they ordered a new wiring harness, and that it was out in Oregon. They should have it in this week and I'll have a better update.
After the second call suggesting that I put this as a claim on my insurance, or put it on the stereo guys, I tooled on down to the dealership. I told them I shouldn't be paying a penny for this and no way was I putting in a claim for it. Technician said he ohmed-out a wire that had a dead short, but the actual short was not yet identified, so I broke their balls over how can they put this on stereo guys before they even know the exact cause.

I did email one of the key figures at the dealership and dropped the Magnuson-Moss warranty act on them, said they certainly could deny warranty coverage on me, but the caveat is that they have to prove it was on stereo guys and an allegation alone that it must be them won't cut it...and so I wait...and the Toyota satisfaction survey remains parked in my inbox.

I'll say this, the stereo/remote start was put in back in October and functioned flawlessly since that time. Everything going to hell happened on a Friday night, and Saturday I used the remote start and listened to tunes on the way to the dealership...stereo-guys stuff was still working just fine.

 

Props to you for being unreasonably reasonable. And good on your dealership for showing a level of competence that is also rare.

 

It was mentioned for no other reason than to let them know that I know such a thing exists, I didn't want them to try and bully me with warranty denial for no other reason than I had a stereo put in. I actually agreed with them that they can deny warranty, but that the onus was an them to prove out that it was either the equipment installed, or the installation itself, that was the cause of the problem. They brought my response on themselves by not once, but twice, intimating to me that they weren't going to cover it, before they even knew what actually happened.
My thing, and I said it as I was in the truck looking at wiring spaghetti with them, was that they had to be able to point to the short and say "here it is, right here, and it came to be this way because (insert underlying reason here)". The dealership knew only 2 thing:
1) there is a short
2) an aftermarket stereo and remote starter were put in nearly 3 months prior.
They came across as summarily dismissing outright any possibility, no matter how remote, that some bizarro one-off failure not related to the stereo install might be at play.
All I want is a root cause analysis to be done, precisely lay out what the deal is and then it can be rightfully put on one party or the other.

 

Had to stop the above reply to go answer the phone, it was the dealership. Wiring harness is in and they are working to get it in and the dash back in. We again talked about finding the actual culprit in all this, they said they also wanted to know, meaning they still aren't sure, but they are at least still plugging along on it.
They said they'll be calling tomorrow with what they found and where we are.

 

Thats what I needed

 

While I agree they should not be blaming the stereo installer until the cause is known, you should also not be saying you should not pay a penny until the cause is known. Sorry but if this was rodent damage it is on you and not the dealership nor the warranty. If it was rodent damage your insurance would take care of it subject to your deductible. Assuming you carry coverage for this type of loss.

 

No doubt there are possible scenarios that would put the burden on me, but fortunately, the truck has been at the dealership long enough now that the rodent angle has been ruled out. Even I can't say for certain anything until the actual cause is found.

We'll know more soon enough.

 

So how long should we estimate until they find the one SMT PNP transistor on the single IC that failed? OP are you setting a time limit, or is there a precedent?

 

I did jokingly say that it would be nice to get my truck back by March, my fingers are crossed that they'll throw enough parts at it to get it squared away this week, but my impression is this isn't as easy to track down as they'd like. No doubt the bay it's sitting in isn't earning much money and they'd like this done and gone as much as I'd like to be in my own truck again.

 

Seems if your a reasonable person with a legitimate issue, toyota has always tried to remedy the problem before having to sig a lawyer on them. If you have to, there's always the lemon law...if you qualify.

 

Just called the dealership to see what's up, they said the truck was done but that they were giving it the once over with a fine tooth comb to be sure.
The gentleman I talked to needed to interface with the others involved and will be shooting me a text in a bit with what the actual problem was, and whether it is covered or not, but he thought it was going to be covered and told me not to lose any sleep over it.

My 12-hour night shift is calling my name, so I'll be making my way shortly, hope to have a more complete update in a while.
Guy I was talking with said this was the strangest issue he's seen in his 23 years doing this.

 

One in a million, just like the number of 3rd Gen roaming around out there.

 

Thanks for the good follow ups!

 

Well, I won't get my curiosity taken care of today. I did get the text just now, but it merely said that they want to keep it till Monday to put a few miles on it just to be sure everything is good to go, and on Monday I'll get the full lowdown on what was what.
I'll let you guys know as soon as I know.

 

Udabes fren!

 

Guess I'll never know the precise cause, they still don't know themselves. The wiring harness did the trick though.
The truck is ready, but they didn't have the paperwork package ready and asked for a couple of more hours, I have a shift to go to, so told them I'd just get it tomorrow. It snowed and the service department is slammed.

 

They did make it a point to say that if I get the stereo put back in and the issue crops up again....no warranty for me!
The damage to the wiring harness was behind where the speedometer is, and it was underneath the factory tape wrapping the harness at that point, there was no damage to the tape....go figure.
I get the truck tomorrow, drop it off right away at stereo place, pick it up from them Wednesday, and hope for the best.

 

The speedo is low voltage, but the harness passes through the firewall is right there also where the wires are not sleeved. Some higher current wires there.