Ahmed Ibraheem (from Iraq) came out from the shop to talk with me before he started on my car. We had a long talk about several things but one of them was about spraying the exposed metal braid and connector with ACF-50. He advised against it stating that he wouldn't want to give Toyota any reason to deny a future claim on the cable. He mentioned the Class Action lawsuit in Canada and feels it's just a matter of time when the same thing happens in the US
[EDIT: A Class Action lawsuit was already filed in the US]. He feels Toyota will do the right thing eventually and replace these cables that are defective where there is a hybrid power train failure. In telling me this, he
DID NOT say that I couldn't do it and he
DID NOT refuse to do it (although I didn't push him hard) but he definitely was against spraying the ACF-50 on the exposed wiring for the reasons I listed above. He also told me that my 2022 RAV4 Prime has the new connector that won't trap moisture or salt water from road salt and feels spraying the area is unnecessary. After talking with him,
I decided not to spray the ACF-50. I could do this later if I change my mind which I don't think I will. Since he talked me out of doing it I don't know what he would have charged but I can't imagine it would be very much if anything. He did have me walk under the car to where the connector is and shining a flashlight had me feel for the exposed braided wire which I did.
As far as changing my oil, he showed me the sealed bottles of Toyota 0W16 oil and the OEM Toyota oil filter that he would use. He showed me the oil that was taken out of my engine and it was discolored with "sparkles" in it which he attributed to metal debris from my engine wearing in during the break-in period (also showed me the oil in the oil filter looking down at it and the same sparkles were in the visible oil there too). He put a sample in the bottle provided by the company (Titan Laboratories) which will analyze the oil. I will report later on what the analysis showed and whether there was metal debris in it. I plan to change my oil every 5000 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first. If people feel the 10,000 mile/12 month schedule is sufficient then by all means follow this schedule ; it is your car and your money and everyone has their own ideas about what regimen to follow.
I have NEVER had a mechanic come out an spend the time talking with me about my car and then inviting me into the shop to show me things and explain things while I stood under the car looking at the open door where the oil was drained and oil filter was changed. He also showed me the new 0W16 Toyota oil that was going to be put in my engine and it was honey colored and NOT clear in the cup of it he had. However, on the dip stick it does look clear.when you check the oil level. I seem to remember somewhere that the supplier of this oil is Mobil but I'm not really sure about this. His wife, Marcela, is the receptionist and is very nice too. While I waited for my car to go back into the shop we had a long talk about their business (opened in June 2022) and what dealer he worked for previously (over 10 years) among other things.
I did ask him how he makes the videos for YouTube and said it isn't hard. He has his assistant run the camera and has a computer program for the transition/title graphics. I don't know what topics he will cover in the future.
This IS NOT an infomercial for TCCN Automotive but merely my recollection of what happened yesterday. If you are happy with your dealer or do your own maintenance work then by all means continue to do it. For me, I have found my mechanic who will do all my maintenance work (I am foregoing the 2 year Toyota Care and will pay for this work myself). His shop is convenient for me as it was about 25 minutes away from my home. Since he is in business by himself and is not a Toyota dealer any basic 3 year B to B warranty work or extended warranty work would have to be done at a Toyota dealer (and I would probably ask him for a recommendation for a Toyota dealer's name who he feels does good work). This is just the way Toyota works for these warranty issues and he wouldn't be reimbursed for those repairs. If anybody has further questions about my experience yesterday, let me know or private message me.
