Rodent damaged new car.

[Tweek]

I would at minimum bring it to another toyota dealer to get a second quote, even if insurance is paying for it.

 

[wcweir3]

Everyone is saying just change that one wire but you would need to run it back to the buss and the wire would need to be the gage and length and it MAY! Need to be shielded (RF emissions).
If you do anything to induce a change in the résistance of the wire the system will note it and try to adjust itself and it will not be in spec.

 

[tbone]

Everyone is saying just change that one wire but you would need to run it back to the buss and the wire would need to be the gage and length and it MAY! Need to be shielded (RF emissions).
If you do anything to induce a change in the résistance of the wire the system will note it and try to adjust itself and it will not be in spec.

That could be the case. No one at the dealer has said that yet but, I didn't really question them and since the insurance company has agreed to pay I probably won't question them. If it is the case, I wonder why on earth an auto manufacturer would put such a sensitive system into a car likely to be driven by the average consumer. Can you imagine poor people that have this car down the road and can't afford full coverage and are faced with this kind of bill for a repair? There's no way the average person can afford an $8,000 bill on a used car.

 

[tbone]

I would at minimum bring it to another toyota dealer to get a second quote, even if insurance is paying for it.

It's too late and I always go to the dealer where I bought a vehicle unless there are extremely extenuating circumstances. Besides, the other Toyota dealers are 2 hours in all directions from where I live. This one was an hour away.
That's the price you pay to live where there is no traffic or daily murders.

 

[Gator 45/70]

So, What do you plan to do with the rats?

Get a cat, Traps Poison?

 

[tbone]

So, What do you plan to do with the rats?

Get a cat, Traps Poison?

Well. I plan to use the poison that only rats and mice can access along with some glue boards and traps. Plus taking out a few more under the bird feeders with the .22 rifle until the new neighbor gets a place built. Then I will have to wait until they are not home. I am going to see if the plastic cover over the engine serves a purpose or is simply for cosmetic purposes. It is is cosmetic, I will remove it so the top of the engine is not covered. That's where the nest was located.
I have seen a few wild cats off and on but they don't seem to last very long. I suppose that is due to the bobcats and foxes that I have seen.
The land across the street is a jungle. One lot next door was a jungle until recently and could have driven numerous rodents out of their homes. Plus, I live on the waterfront of a lake. It is an I-10 for rice rats and hispid cotton rats as well as field mice and others. That's why I don't kill rat snakes but my neighbor brings them to me like clockwork asking to identify the dead snake that he just killed. I fuss at him every time but it doesn't have any effect.
Hopefully, this is a result of the very cold weather we had and is not a common thing. And, my old 2008 Chevy truck has been parked in the same driveway for 4 years and has had no nests or wiring problems.

 

[jcm055]

That could be the case. No one at the dealer has said that yet but, I didn't really question them and since the insurance company has agreed to pay I probably won't question them. If it is the case, I wonder why on earth an auto manufacturer would put such a sensitive system into a car likely to be driven by the average consumer. Can you imagine poor people that have this car down the road and can't afford full coverage and are faced with this kind of bill for a repair? There's no way the average person can afford an $8,000 bill on a used car.

I wouldn't call it a sensitive system, any car with the properly chewed wire won't start, even old school stuff. Just happened they nicked a wire that the car uses for starting purposes. I agree the wire could have been fixed , proper solder and heatshrink would be solved the problem and that won't cause enough impedance to change sensor feedback.

 

[tbone]

I wouldn't call it a sensitive system, any car with the properly chewed wire won't start, even old school stuff. Just happened they nicked a wire that the car uses for starting purposes. I agree the wire could have been fixed , proper solder and heatshrink would be solved the problem and that won't cause enough impedance to change sensor feedback.

I was thinking about this since I posted and was remembering how many wires we repaired on the multi-million dollar electronics system that flew the A-6 Intruder to a target, deposited the bombs on target in any weather day or night and flew the plane back to a landing area. That was a pretty sophisticated system that was far in advance of any other systems of that time. I used to have a picture of the cockpit that was only about 1/3 of the total components in the system.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TGuVyVKi7...AIuQ/o3k8BVcTR4s/s1600/Early+A-6A+Cockpit.jpg

 

[dk.easterly]

Replace the entire harness. Will save a ton of headache down the road.

Corrosion can be a pita.

 

[Kraut]

So, What do you plan to do with the rats?

Get a cat, Traps Poison?

This thing is pretty cool...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqlwUXP-ubI

 

[bigtattoo79]

Everyone is saying just change that one wire but you would need to run it back to the buss and the wire would need to be the gage and length and it MAY! Need to be shielded (RF emissions).
If you do anything to induce a change in the résistance of the wire the system will note it and try to adjust itself and it will not be in spec.

It’s a camshaft position sensor wire. A repair would be fine. The dealer is making bank cause they know the car has full coverage and they can. Bad part is the OP is gonna have a big claim on his ins AND a hit on the car fax for that car. It’s really sad but he got hammered and doesn’t even know it.

I bet all the dealer techs were fighting over getting that car lol!!!!

 

[BRPCP]

Several manufacturers have had problems with rodent related destruction of wires, blamed mainly on the use of soy based insulation on the wiring. Pretty sure toyota has had several law suites over it. Any independent shop out there could have easily just fixed the damaged wires without replacing the entire wiring harness.

We had 3 incidents at our house similar to your but not as expensive with our Toyota Camry.

Long story short... we found out Toyota and BMW have SOY blended in the wire insulation for there “green initiative” this was at our old house which had a pecan tree near the car and an open carport. In a new house with no big trees and a garage.... problem solved ;-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tbone]

We had 3 incidents at our house similar to your but not as expensive with our Toyota Camry.

Long story short... we found out Toyota and BMW have SOY blended in the wire insulation for there *green initiative* this was at our old house which had a pecan tree near the car and an open carport. In a new house with no big trees and a garage.... problem solved ;-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Since our incident I have learned from a friend in Texas that a neighbor of his parked his brand new Ford F250 under his carport and the next day was at the dealership for an over $10,000 replacement of his entire wiring harness. And my wife's cousin in Virginia has a son that is a service manager at a Nissan dealership and he sent a picture of a work in progress of the replacement of an entire wiring harness on a Nissan car that was going to be over $8,000.
Apparently this is a trend in car engineering to design cars and trucks that require replacing entire wiring harnesses due to rodent damage to wiring on vehicles.

 

[bigtattoo79]

Since our incident I have learned from a friend in Texas that a neighbor of his parked his brand new Ford F250 under his carport and the next day was at the dealership for an over $10,000 replacement of his entire wiring harness. And my wife's cousin in Virginia has a son that is a service manager at a Nissan dealership and he sent a picture of a work in progress of the replacement of an entire wiring harness on a Nissan car that was going to be over $8,000.
Apparently this is a trend in car engineering to design cars and trucks that require replacing entire wiring harnesses due to rodent damage to wiring on vehicles.

Man you and people associated with you really should get to know independent service techs....the dealers are really hammering y’all.

 

[tbone]

Man you and people associated with you really should get to know independent service techs....the dealers are really hammering y’all.

I do know an independent mechanic. He does all my work that I am not able to do on any vehicle that is not still under warranty. Finding an independent that I can trust was very difficult. I can't speak for the other people that I noted as I don't know them except for the service manager at the Nissan dealer. I've watched him grow up into a fine young man.
I will not bring a vehicle that is still under warranty to an independent mechanic and risk losing a warranty.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

So that begs the question of "Why would the insurance company agree to pay over $8,000 to the dealership if it could have been fixed for a couple of hundred at an independent shop?"

Well let me ask you a question. If the dealership quoted a price for the harness and the insurance company said to take it to an independent and just get the wire replaced for a couple of hundred, would you raise a stink and insist on the whole harness being replaced as the dealer indicated??????......We have met the enemy and he is us.

 

[bigtattoo79]

I do know an independent mechanic. He does all my work that I am not able to do on any vehicle that is not still under warranty. Finding an independent that I can trust was very difficult. I can't speak for the other people that I noted as I don't know them except for the service manager at the Nissan dealer. I've watched him grow up into a fine young man.
I will not bring a vehicle that is still under warranty to an independent mechanic and risk losing a warranty.

Do you also bring that car to the dealer for oil changes?

That’s just a crazy amount of hrs billed for that repair. If it would have been under warranty the hrs would have been billed way less. Personally I will never pay the dealer to do a non warranty repair.

 

[bigtattoo79]

Well let me ask you a question. If the dealership quoted a price for the harness and the insurance company said to take it to an independent and just get the wire replaced for a couple of hundred, would you raise a stink and insist on the whole harness being replaced as the dealer indicated??????......We have met the enemy and he is us.

That repair at a independent shop would have been less than most deductibles (no carfax ping and no insurance claim).

 

[VeedUp]

If it was my car with 17k miles and still under factory warranty I would want it fixed correctly. If that meant a new harness for car, well so be it.

 

[340six]

Do you also bring that car to the dealer for oil changes?

That’s just a crazy amount of hrs billed for that repair. If it would have been under warranty the hrs would have been billed way less. Personally I will never pay the dealer to do a non warranty repair.

Back when my car was still under the extended warranty {insurance} The A/C comssor bearing went out. The Deaker wanted to swap all the parts 100% Everything new. Was $100.00 for us.
They swapped everything "everything"
We used to bring ours to the dealer. As it was just 5 bucks more for them to do it. And they signed the warranty book. Before that ran out, we got a lifetime warranty letter in the mail. Saying there was a class action suit and now had life tome on the motor. So she brings it to a large independent.
Who does the same thing? And the cost is about the same as the dealer but gets done ASAP.