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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Camry Hybrid Toyota Camry Hybrid Maintenance & Repair Toyota Camry Hybrid Battery Pack Questions
96 messages, Last post on Dec 15, 2008 at 3:44 PM
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I had decided to buy a 4-cyl Camry or 4-cyl Accord. Both had plenty of power. Then I heard about the TCH, so I drove the TCH and the Accord Hybrid. There was no comparison. The TCH is so much smoother, cheaper, and more fuel-efficient. The TCH is peppier than either 4-cyl, gets better mileage, and is really cool-looking. I got the Jasper Pearl (green), which is only available in the TCH. I just passed 600 miles, and am getting 33.4 mpg so far. joannps |
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I picked up a 2007 camry Hybrid last week, and was very excited. I am a long time car enthusiast and bought this car for my wife (incidentally, my wife and I have three very well maintained cars here in the USA including two collectables and the new camry, and we have two new daily-driver-toyotas in Panama - one, a dielsel pickup that gets 25 mpg - wake up please, congress and America) OK, I bought the Hybrid knowing that I could count it to be a reliable vehice for my wife, a "relatively new" driver, and that Toyota would back the car, in terms of service if we did have issues. Boy, was I dissappointed. Having owned the car for 4 days, we took it to NYC with 65 miles on the odometer, from Providence RI. We stayed in a Hotel on 45th St in Manhatttan. I showed the Garage worker hw to t operate the Hybrid car - turn it on, and how to turn it off, and he took the car to the garage. Two days later we called to have the car delivered to the hotel door man, and hot the bad news. It was "dead", I went to the garage and indeed, it was. The interior light BARELY lit wehn I opened the car door; no horn, and NO desplay wehn I pushed the start button. I follwed instructions the exactly in the manual for a jump start, and nothing. All of the dash lights and warning lights lit up (very encouraging) but nothing. The Hybrid battery pack display read almost "0" I called the National Toyota 800 Service number in the Hybrid service manual. The "hybrid woman" was very nice but knew nothing (admittedely), and had no helpful hints other than to "call the dealer". Now I must add: the car was wedged inside the underground floor of this Manhattan Parking Garage, and had been literally wedged between 2 pillars, by a skilled NYC garage attendant, and there was NO WAY that any tow truck driver would have touched this car - it needed a 12 point maneuver to get it out of the parking spot iit was in, so it was not easily towable. OK, the car is 5-6 days old; Toyota says call the dealer (IE: you'reon your own). So I called the Manhattan Dealer on 47th st - 4-6 blocks from where I was located, They put their service manager on, whose only question was, DID YOU BUY THE CAR FROM US ? - I was perturbed of course, then asked for his "hybrid" person. The NYC hybrid expert had no suggestions excecpt to get it towed. They refused to send a guy over because " "the union would kill us". according to the service manager. God Bless the Unions I thought, I was very unhappy. Subaru has an on call road service. My Bmw does, I buy a $30 k new technology Toyota and I am stranded 200 miles from home. I finally called Boch Toyota in Attleboro MA, where I bought the car; They put their young Hybrid Mechanic on the phone, Steve. He was not only sympathetic, he seemed content to stay with me on the phone until my problem ws resolved. Long Story Short: and one question for TOYOTA: 1) Steve, The Boch Toyota Mechanic and I, determined that when the car was parked, the garage employee must have left the headlights on or the ignition. 2) I charged the starting battery for 30 minutes using a car comandeered from the garage manager and went out for a coffee 3) we got back and the Camry "started " normally. I drove off in the mid day sun toward Rhode Island and watched the MAIN BATTERY level guage rise from 5% charge to 90% charge over the course of 90 minutes. My (largely rhetorical) questions: 1) Why on earth doesn't toyota install a simple electronic sensor that will cut off the main battery, if the car does not move for 2 hours ? This could prevent this type of episode and risk to the HYBRID BATTERY unit if headlights or ignition are left on ? 2) why doesn't Toyota have a) a knowledeable person on their hotline, and b) a roadside service assistance policy for owners of new cars like this one ? The dealer's service policy at Manhattan Toyota are not to my liking - shame on them - I was 4-6 blocks away and really stuck with an un towable car. They left me out in the cold !! I am sending this post in letter form to Toyota USA and Bock Toyota - ,maybe they'll have a suggestion for my next trio to a parking garage
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Replying to: ocean99999 (Sep 02, 2006 4:03 am) Tough story, but I don't plame the car or Toyota for dead batteries unless there is a short or something physically wrong. I believe I would have simply tried to jump the car before I called anyone. |
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Replying to: ocean99999 (Sep 02, 2006 4:03 am) When I returned, I opened the car door and the interior lights turned on. So I followed the usual starting procedure - put on seat belt, depress Brake, and press the START button. After the usual brief pause, the HSD said Ready and I backed the car out of the garage. I usually leave the headlights in the AUTO position, and note that the headlights remain on for a while after the HSD is shut down. All this leads me to suspect that in Ocean99999's case, the parking attendant probably did not shut down the HSD system, and that triggered his unfortunate experience. If there's any silver lining in his very dark cloud, it's that he could recharge the starting battery and eventually extricate his car. |
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| My guess is the parking attendant simply did not push the Start button to turn off. This is still an unknown elememt in the operation of these vehicles by those not in the know. | |
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Replying to: ocean99999 (Sep 02, 2006 4:03 am) |
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Replying to: flopshot (Sep 02, 2006 10:47 pm) Unable to do this, I did try to jump start the car, following the instructions in the owner's manual prior to calling anyone for service or support. My dissapointment is in two areas: 1) Toyota did not support its customer (me) adequately with this new techniology - if they say thay have a service line, they should have one...a real technical support line - with someone who would have TOLD me the simple solution to my problem (a 30 minute charge) 2) Toyota has no built in device in this car's electrical system to protect against total dischage of the batteries - this technology is available and inexpensive ....and this is a Hybrid, which has a power system COMPLETELY dependent upon having a working battery - in a regular car with a dead battery, its no big deal - a total (or 95% ) discharge. My suggestion: If the car doesn't move for 2-3 hours, the battery cuts out...and when the car is "started" again, it simply requires the owner to push the start button a second time, to reset the system
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Replying to: ocean99999 (Sep 03, 2006 11:30 am) I can't figure how your battery was drained unless the attendant left it in the ACC position. Instead, if it was left in the ON drive position, the motor would have started periodically, as the battery drained down. But the response from Toyota is appalling. At least your dealer tech acted appropriately. |
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Replying to: ocean99999 (Sep 02, 2006 4:03 am)  Perhaps a card to remind folks not familiar with hybrids would help. Shift to Park then Power Off
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Replying to: r_nash (Sep 06, 2006 6:22 am)
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