The CV Story - UPDATE - See Last post! (1 Viewer)

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Oriental, NC
Ok, I took the 100 in to have the CVs checked out. The tech said, yep they are leaking. I was thinking to myself, ok, luckily I have a Toyota certified vehicle and it clearly states the cv's are covered. So the tech calls the warranty company and he explains they are leaking and the person on the other end says we do not cover the boots. WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is the third repair that the Toyota certified warranty has not covered.

Here are my options

1) Replace boots at $395 per side

2) Drive the SOB and replace axles when the grease finally gives out at $405 per axle plus labor

3) Call the warranty company back and bitch and moan and explain what the fawk a cv does and that the boot is part of the mechanism and that it should be covered under the warranty and continue to push my complaint up the chain. However there is a risk because I do have the front end lifted with aftermarket t-bars and the cv's are at a greater angle than stock.

What do you think I should do? Any insight would be greatly appreaciated.

uzj100
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Well I guess go with option 3, but do it politely; keep in mind that they already think that you are not entitled to this repair for whatever reason, so rant with logic and remember "cool, calm, collected at all times." It might work? But, this is probably handled like a claim and if that is so, then it is probably screened for several prerequisites for making a claim. One of those is probably a stock vehicle, or at least stock in the area of the problem which in this case, it is not. Also, I'm wondering why the boots failed, it seems early, so if the lift did do it, then I think you are stuck with repairing these things on your own nickle :(
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Isn't the rig lifted? Did you reduce the stress on the CVs or just crank up the torsion bars and call it good? I'd be surprised if they covered them if they are out of stock position.
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

LIfted. Removed stock t-bars and replaced with sway away bars. Raised probably 1.5 inches at the most.

I am thinking this is my dime and need to lower the diff has reported by Doron.

uzj100
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Ahhh yes, I remember this well - replacing CV boots on my Toyota every year due to cold (very cold) weather damage...I finaly bought a TLC to fix the problem! Now you can also see why extended warranties are so wildly profitable for companies!

Cheers, Hugh
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Isn't the warranty through Toyota since it's certified? I would argue with them, but take turbocruisers advise about being cool about it. Find out what exactly is covered regarding the CV. Maybe you need some other parts of the CV that need to be damaged for the warranty to cover it ;) :-X
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Just my thoughts,

You say this is the third repair that has been denied under you warrantee. What are the other two. I am thinking it may be benificial for you to closely review the language of your service agreement and see if those items are specifically excluded. If they are not, read the agreement for any choice of forum clauses (i.e. if you sue them or file an arbitration demand, you must do so in Nome Alaska), or grievance procedures. Assuming there are not, write a letter to them demanding repayment for the 3 repairs within 14 days, and attach copies of the invoice. If they do not pay, file an action in your local small claims court. BTW, what state are you located in?

Second, if you bought this through a toyota dealer, you should be down there reading the manager of the dealer the riot act (in a calm polite way). Essentially, you should be telling him how mistreated you feel because you paid extra for a car with a bogus warrantee, how if this how they do business (selling warrantees that don't cover anything) you will not purchase any further cars from them, and finally, how you often guide friends in their auto purchases and are seriously considering pointing them to other dealers that take better care of their customers.

Cary
 
Re:The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Buy the boots from CDan and have your local mechanic install. Go to the Toyota dealership and ask for the money back for the warranty.
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

You stated that they cover the CV Joints... then # 2 does not apply. Drive the axles until all the grease leaks out and the CV fails. Then you are covered... am I missing something?
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Update

I called the warranty company (called Fidelity Warranty) again, this is the company that administers the warranty for Toyota certified vehicles in the Southeast and the guy told me point blank the boots are like belts, they wear out, and are not covered.

So then I went back to the toyota.com website and guess what, it clearly states the boots are covered. See link below. Now I called Toyota directly and was put through to the customer care line and I was the nicest victim I could be and the lady said, yes the boots are covered and I will get in touch with your dealership to get this straigtened out. I am suppose to here from my dealership in 3 business days or less.

So we will see what happens.

http://www.toyota.com/html/tcuv/warranty.html

Answer to bjowett - I was thinking the same thing however my extended warranty is up in August and the cv's would not have given out by then.
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Yea, but if the refusal for repair came from the fact that the torsion bars are not stock and that the ride height is not stock, there is a good chance that whenever those CV's sieze up, he'll still have to pay for the repair! I do not really read this as them letting him down with the warranty as this area of the vehicle is not stock. Dont get me wrong, I feel for him, but i dont think they are letting him down per the terms that the warranty stipulates, and I think it is a mistake to vent anger or make threats against the dealer; the dealer has a business to look after and the dealer also has other customers to look after. In other words, if they blindly accepted any claim against any part that was modified, they would be a big bankrupt business real fast. Also, if they did this then the other customers with completely stock vehicles would pay a price for covering those other customes with modified vehicles. This is something to think about when modifying any area of the vehicle. We modify things because for whatever reason the stock setup situation was less than we wanted. With that decision comes the freedom to improve things and the responsibility to repair those things on our own forever on. Anyway, like i wrote, I feel for him, but his nickle is paid for the modification, and likely for the repairs possibly associated after the mod was made!
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

The dealer never mentioned the mods. That is the only reason I am moving forward with this. If the tech would have said, it would be covered if you had not lifted the vehicle. That would be one thing and I would not ask anymore questions. However, that is not what he said at all. He said let me call and see if the boots are covered and the warranty company said no and toyota said yes. Now the question is this, will my dealership care if the vehicle is modded or not since toyota is picking up the bill.

Thanks for all the advice,

uzj100
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

They may "look past" the lift. If so, good for you.

Axle boot failure is still somewhat un-common in the 100 series, at least in my neck of the woods. I have sold only 2 sets (one side each time) in the last 12 months. That leads me to think that the increased angle may have contributed to the failure. You will need to monitor the new ones regularly for signs of failure.
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

Umm, last I checked the Magnison Moss Warrantee Act put the burden on the person providing a warrantee that an modification to a product caused the failure, not the other way around. Here, arguably the dealer could say that the lift caused the problem, but they need to show that it in fact did. If this were not the case, you would see warrantee claims denying repairs for blown headgaskets when someone replaced the rims with non stock rims, or upgrade the stereo.

Cary
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

I may lower the front diff but I wanted to wait until august when all my warranty coverage had expired. A couple of guys out west have done this mod, Doron Strassman and John Schotts.

uzj100
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

I've got a stock suspension setup and my boots are leaking at 90k miles :( . I've also talked with 2 other guys with 100's and their boots have had to be changed too. I was quoted around $500 by Mr. T parts and labor. I'll get it done here shortly but I just got off the wallet for the t-belt service not too long ago. :'( I wish I were a better DIY'er. The only thing I do on the vehicle is change my own oil at the moment.


Tad
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

IMO it would not be a technically challenging repair, and most of the charge is labor. Sounds like a good opportunity to learn how to change CV boots.
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

The boot kits are not expensive. They list for $31.96 per axle and include clamps and grease. (04438-60021)
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

It is a moderately easy repair to replace cv half shafts, if either of you guys are in Colorado i would be more than happy to come over and help you do the replacement yourself, check with carquest on a remaned part, after the core charge it's sometimes cheaper to go the route of a whole new shaft, Brad.
 
The CV Story - Unbelievable - Any Advice?

[quote author=uzj100 link=board=2;threadid=12589;start=msg115740#msg115740 date=1078511308]
The dealer never mentioned the mods. That is the only reason I am moving forward with this. If the tech would have said, it would be covered if you had not lifted the vehicle. That would be one thing and I would not ask anymore questions. However, that is not what he said at all. He said let me call and see if the boots are covered and the warranty company said no and toyota said yes. Now the question is this, will my dealership care if the vehicle is modded or not since toyota is picking up the bill.

Thanks for all the advice,

uzj100
[/quote]

Even though the tech didn't mention anything to you he may have said something to the warranty company about the modification of the Tbars.

You might want to have a case of the tech's favorite cold beverage handy incase he has to make another call with a parched throat.
 

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