Question for My Sister

Take it to the dealer! It may be a very simple fix. Also, is it still under warranty? Even if it isn't, and it needs fixing, I'd push for it to be fixed.

I do have a thought though. My car won't let you lock the doors with the automatic key if the car is on and a key is in the ingnition. I think this is the scenario.....ANYWAY, whatever the combonation of events, it's designed so I won't lock the keys in the car. Sounds like this car has a similar setup that has either gone wonky or needs to be set differently, or you need to know how to use it.

This also maybe something you can google and get some information. ETA - WildOne is on the ball and gave you the info:

Any dealership that cares about its customers and wants them to come back will take care of this. It is a huge safety concern. It is something they should have noticed.

I wouldn't assume the dealership won't fix it, customer retention is important to them. She just bought the car, they might just fix the locks. Also, could this be a mechanism that trips to prevent from locking yourself out of the car?

She should absolutely take it back to the dealer. Even if the car was sold "as is" they should try to make it right. I would be surprised if they gave her a hard time, Toyota has always provided great customer service, in my experience.

First, make sure she isn't missing some tiny detail in the manual (or she can search Toyota's web site) where the car is not supposed to lock under certain circumstances. There may be a switch somewhere that prevents all locking until it's flipped.

If that's not the case: She should check the warranty. The car is so new that it should be under warranty. She should not wait -- she needs to get to the dealership that sold her the car and nicely (at first, at least) DEMAND they fix it for nothing.

If they are jerks or claim it's not covered by the warranty, she can do what my friend did with a different major purchase: She turned up at the shop with addressed, stamped complaint letters in her hand addressed to the local Better Business Bureau and the state consumer commission. She had copies for the business. She told them that if they didn't make things right, now, free, she would be mailing those letters the minute she walked out the door. That got very prompt action in her case. Your sister could also say she plans to turn them in to Toyota as a poorly run franchise and is considering taking them to small claims court too, if she needs to get nasty with them. There are "lemon laws" in many states to prevent car dealers from selling "lemons" -- the laws might not apply to this fix but it'll get them nervous if she throws the term "lemon law" around and says she's investigating whether her lawyer should look into that.....All this is ONLY if they're bad about it, though!

But I'm betting they will fix it quickly, nicely and for free because they won't want an unhappy and very vocal customer. Still -- she needs to get in there right away and not wait any longer.

I would definitely take the car back to the dealership!! And she should act very nice about it (if they like her, they'll want to help her). Seriously, I don't think this is her fault. I don't think that is something I would've checked out when buying a car! I guess I would assume that it was all in working order (I'll try not to make those kinds of assumptions anymore after reading your post!)

Anyway, most dealership want their customers to be happy. I highly doubt they'll say, "sorry, you bought the car. It's not our problem." If they do, I would recommend that your sister bad mouth them to every one she can think of! (kidding. well, a little bit)

If the car still has the sales warranty on it, take it back to the dealership from which she bought it and demand that they fix it.

She can make a stink in the show room which might bring their business down....that is one way...

or she can do what I just did and google "locking mechanism -Yaris"
http://www.fixya.com/tags/yaris_door

got over 500 hits...apparently - common issue with the Yaris. Take it she didn't research with Consumerreports.org before she bought the car?

Not your problem if she bought a car she couldn't afford. Not your problem if she can't afford to fix it either. Unless you've won the lottery and have the money to spare. It's great that you are trying to help her get it fixed. What a sweet sister you are.

How long has she had the car? Less than 3 days... she can claim buyer's remorse and the dealer HAS to take it back.

I would hope the dealer would be kind enough to make this repair in good faith for her. There could very well be some switch somewhere which activates the locks. The dealer might know where this is. Was it a large dealership corporation or a random car lot that is known for fast loan approvals and quick sales?

BIG lesson learned for her regarding making a large purchase and not folllowing through with a thorough inspection, preferably by a third party not involved in the transaction.

Hopefully she will get this resolved at no extra cost since she already blew her budget by taking on a responsiblilty for more than she can afford.

Good luck.

We sold our new cars and bought used cars to get out of our car payments. We don't want to have any debt. However, that leaves us with older cars that have issues. My car is having an issue where sometimes the doors will lock/unlock, sometimes not. I didn't want to pay to have the electric problem fixed so I took it to an alarm place and they said they could put a keyless alarm on it for $150 that will autmatically lock, unlock all doors. WAY less than having the other issue fixed. So maybe have her check into that if the dealer won't fix it. Good luck.

If it's within that window of time they might fix it for her. I think it depends on the dealership.

We bought a van from a friend and the only door that doesn't lock with the button is the drivers door. So when we get out we use the button then manually push the drivers door lock down before closing the door.

I suggest that if they won't fix it that she just leave the doors locked except when she's getting in or out.

Dealer.

The Prius I rented had an 'idiot mode' (loved it) that preprograms the locks you CAN'T lick you keys inside / doors won't lock when keys are in car UNTIL it reaches whatever you've programmed.

- Reverse
- 10/20/30 mph
- manual override (turns off idiot mode, or not, depending).
- etc.

It sounds like the presets stents set right, or that there's an electrical error.

If she got the car from a dealership they may help her out. It sounds like an electrical issue. I have a feeling they already know about the locking issue but maybe not.

If the dealer won't fix it contact Toyota. I did that once with a car and they gave me a voucher to get it repaired. (It wasn't Toyota, but I'm sure others would help)

If she just bought it, it has a limited warranty, unless it said "AS IS" on the papers. (At that price, I doubt that it says "AS IS". ) Tell her to take it back to the dealership and tell them that the doors don't lock and that they need to fix it for her without charging her.

Dawn

It may be one that requires you to lock the doors from the driver's side (so passengers can't accidently lock her out.

I would have her take it back to the dealership for them to fix.

I would physically drive the car straight back to the dealership (it honestly helps to dress up nicely) and go straight to the service department and ask them to assess the problem and kindly ask if the warranty covers this type of problem. And have her ask exactly what the problem is, not just for a quote on the fix. That way she can take the information and go elsewhere for another quote.

There are a lot of shady deals in the car market. But if she shows up, they are more likely to take her seriously, rather than just calling in. They don't like women making a fuss in the lobby. If they don't cover it, she could at least bargain with them to cover half of the repair.

I wonder if their is a locking trick that needs to explained to her. Sometimes the remotes needs to be pushed twice in a limited amount of time to unlock all the locks and they re-lock on their own, or not in another certain amount of time. My windows go down if I hold my remote button down, but that is a common Phoenix addition to help combat the heat build up.

GL!

I have a bunch of questions that will help me answer your question better:

What year Yaris?
How many miles on it?
Did she buy it from a Toyota dealer or was it a dealer for a different make of car?
If it was a Toyota dealer, was it a "certified" used car?
You said it would cost $1500 to fix. So what does the estimate include?

Best to PM me with the answers.