Who knows... I was the last one in there messing around so it stands to reason that I did it.

I've been in that business before and I could see that these guys are very aggressively trained to extract money from folks whenever possible. The poster below you mentioned the charge as probably coming from the code pull. Eh... maybe... but I own a CAN-BUS scanner, it takes thirty seconds to hook up and dump fault codes.

For $98 bucks... with a reasonable probability that I had something to do with it... meh, I'll take it like a man.

But I will tell you that this dealerships hardball tactics will come back to haunt them at trade-in time. I'll remember!

 

I applaud you for your attitude. It is an easy mistake that any of us could have made, OR you may not have made. In any case, at least it was an easy fix, but a warning to others as to how sensitive the MAF can be in this car.

Our local dealer charges a minimum $90 fee for pulling codes, hence my comment.

 

Thanks for clarifying what the AMM is.

It is all so weird. I guess I must have put everything back together without a problem. It just sounds too simple to be true.

When I took the stuff apart, I forgot to plug the MAF sensor in, the car didn't nearly blow up. It ran just fine (more or less) but had the check engine light on. I just don't understand how a screw loose could have caused such trouble...it isn't like there is a vacuum seal there or anything.

I only harp on it because I don't want to make this mistake myself.

 

It happened to me one week ago. I got on my TCH and drove home. About one minute later, I heard some noise from the engine and the "Check Hybrid System" showed on the panel. I stoped and turned off the power and turned it on again. The "Check Hybrid System" disappeared, but the "check" light is on(check engine). I drove for a few feet, stoped again and turned off the power and tried to call Toyota to check if it's O.K. to drive. I can't find anybody in the dealership and the 800 service number in the Sunday evening. Nothing I can do and I just turned the power on. It looks normal and I drove home.
I sent my car to the dealer to check in the Monday morning. Luckily the "Check Hybrid System" showed up when they did the diagnosis. They replaced the throttle motor at no charge because it's still under warranty. They told me that don't drive the car and just tow the car to dealer if the "Check Hybrid System" showed up again!! It has been one week and my TCH runs good.

 

My question is - what specifically would the $98 charge be for? If you're in the US and your vehicle is under the full warranty, shouldn't you be able to take it in for code dumps or a check without any cost?

 

As a straight technicality, they have asserted that I caused the problem, then I brought it to them to fix the problem. The minimum charge is one hour labor in those circumstances.

Could they or should they have perhaps waived that charge in light of all the money they made off me... in the name of customer retention? Perhaps.

The unwritten issue here is that I do my own service. Dealership service departments ~HATE~ guys like me. They will never get the 'gravy' service jobs that they bill 5.5 hours for... and knock out in 90 minutes or less. They will only see me for really outrageous blown up stuff under warranty... and the warranty repairs.... they ALWAYS get screwed anyway.

So if they've got a chance to stick it to me, they will and they did.

It's OK, I'm not mad. Standard practice. But my long-term memory is phenomenal. It might be the last time I bring good business to some retired football guy. (I'm looking at you Mr. Elway. hehe)