My wife got up to go to work and our new Toyota Camry (17,000 miles) didn't want to start. It required a few attempts before it finally started and the Check Engineer Light was displayed. She took the car by O'Reilly's auto parts and they said the error code indicated that the camshaft position sensor was in error. It ran fine after that for a couple of days over the weekend and repeated the same incident when I tried to start it to take it to the dealer for what I assumed would be a warranty repair.
The service manager at the dealer invited me out to the service area to show me the nest built under the top engine cover and the wire cut right at the plug on the camshaft position sensor.
Then he informs me that this is not covered under warranty as it is animal damage and not a covered malfunction. He also said that the ENTIRE wiring harness would have to be replaced and it would probably run about $8,000 and suggested that I contact my insurer.
I called my agent and was transferred to some office a thousand miles away from here and he filed a claim and said they would be sending an adjuster to the dealer to check that they weren't trying to pull a fast one. Meanwhile, I got a copy of the estimate and the total cost would be $8,139.09 for the repair of which I would be responsible for $100.00 deductible. The insurance company approved the repair and is sending a check for $8,039.09.
I am in awe of how car manufacturers have designed cars to be so expensive to repair. I am now thinking. What if this had happened to some poor person that had dropped their insurance coverage to the minimum liability in order to save a few dollars a month? How many people have $8,000 lying around to repair one little old wire on a car that requires replacing the entire wiring harness?
The service manager at the dealer invited me out to the service area to show me the nest built under the top engine cover and the wire cut right at the plug on the camshaft position sensor.
Then he informs me that this is not covered under warranty as it is animal damage and not a covered malfunction. He also said that the ENTIRE wiring harness would have to be replaced and it would probably run about $8,000 and suggested that I contact my insurer.
I called my agent and was transferred to some office a thousand miles away from here and he filed a claim and said they would be sending an adjuster to the dealer to check that they weren't trying to pull a fast one. Meanwhile, I got a copy of the estimate and the total cost would be $8,139.09 for the repair of which I would be responsible for $100.00 deductible. The insurance company approved the repair and is sending a check for $8,039.09.
I am in awe of how car manufacturers have designed cars to be so expensive to repair. I am now thinking. What if this had happened to some poor person that had dropped their insurance coverage to the minimum liability in order to save a few dollars a month? How many people have $8,000 lying around to repair one little old wire on a car that requires replacing the entire wiring harness?