(blue_j)
All it took to turn Bobby’s Toyota Highlander into a mess was a gust of wind. The incident damaged the door’s functions, but Toyota has determined that the vehicle isn’t covered under warranty because the damage was caused by outside forces.
Bobby writes:
I own a 09 Toyota Highlander. One day I opened my car door (here in Brooklyn, not Chicago) a gust of wind blew the door open which damaged the door checks. It took Toyota dealer three visits to figure this out. Then they decided to call the local Toyota Field Technical Specialist to inspect the car. Well he decide that the door check were not made to withstand a gust of wind therefore it is not under warranty.
Toyota’s response to Bobby:
On behalf of Toyota, I sincerely apologize for the concern and dissatisfaction you experienced with the door of your 2009 Highlander.I have thoroughly reviewed your concern. [redacted], Field Technical Specialist, responsible for Toyota inspected your vehicle and found that the door was excessively forced open due to a wind gust causing the door check to exceed its threshold. This caused the body of the door to become deformed as a result of the force.
The warranty on your vehicle will cover repairs and adjustments needed to correct defects in materials or workmanship of any part supplied by Toyota. The warranty will not cover damage or failures relating to outside forces.
The decision rendered by [redacted] was made on behalf of Toyota as the manufacturer. As [redacted] has been trained by Toyota and is an employee of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. and not the dealership, the decision rendered represents Toyota’s final position.
Toyota recommends contacting your insurance company to file a claim to see if they will assist with any needed repair costs.
I again apologize for this unfortunate situation.
Have you ever had a natural occurrence break your car and deny you warranty coverage?
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OK, so if a tornado picks up my vehicle and drops it on its roof, is that covered by warranty?
What a JA.
Toyota recommends contacting your insurance company to file a claim to see if they will assist with any needed repair costs.
Yep. Typical body damage shuffle.
Toyota knows the new car owner carries insurance. So they passed the buck. Rightfully so if there is real structural damage from wind not related to an actual design defect..
Unfortunately this is common practice when a claim can be (legitimately) passed unto another party.
Now, if everybody in the country had a problem with car doors and the wind then maybe, just maybe Toyota would be on the hook for the problem.
BTW, some dealerships will go way beyond the norm when trying to help a customer. My dad had a Mazda minivan with a bad engine. Engine went bad right outside the normal warranty period. The prior year’s model had a recal on the engine, but his year’s model did not. Mazda thought they had solved the known problem with the engine Dealership fought with Mazda for days/weeks to get the engine covered….. (known defect with other model years, maybe it is the same issue with this other year model). Mazda finally sent an inspector. Agreed it MIGHT be the same defect. MAYBE. More discussion. Mazda finally paid for the new motor.
And the next motor.
Yep, the replacement motor died. No problem. It be covered. The van was crushed in the clunker program last year. Still had that 3rd motor. That motor worked fine.
A good dealership is your friend.
How fast was the wind gust?
This past storm wind gust exceeded 60 mph. Even after the snow stopped and the sun came out.
Any car manufacturer’s door would have over extended.
File an insurance claim.
I had a tree fall on my Geo Tracker during a freak gale. It wasn’t covered under warranty.
How is this a manufacturing defect, that is what a warranty is for.
This is the equivalent of dropping your laptop then expecting the manufacturer to cover it under warranty.
In the minority here but, need to examine all sides and dig a little deeper into the issue. What is the wind gust velocity threshold limit Toyota uses to test the strength of open doors? And how strong was the wind gust? Could this be a design flaw?
Short of being in a tornado or hurricane, any car damaged by wind catching the door is defectively designed. This should be covered by the warranty. Cars should be designed to stand up to normal conditions.
I’ve only ever been suckered into one new car, but on all the old stuff I’ve driven, the fix was always just to close a small block of wood in the door and “spring” the hinge back the other way.
Something something Act of God something something.
Something something Act of God something something.
This isn’t a warranty concern it’s an insurance concern.
Rule of thumb:
Caused by factory defect or premature failure: Warranty
Caused by an outside influence like trash truck or wind: Insurance.
I’d have to ask what amount of force the door could withstand. I haven’t looked for other complaints so I’m going to guess that it can withstand a moderate amount of force. e.g. If a 20mph gust of wind swung the door that last foot of the way open and caused the damage then I would blame it on the manufacturer. If a 30mph gust took the door its full travel then I’d be looking at insurance.