Scratch

iTrader: (3)

Breaking this off from the other thread discussing all the new features of the 2012 vs the 2011, as this one feature/change just has me in a bunch.

If any of you are not aware, the 2012 tC will have two reverse lights, versus the 2011 which only has the one behind the driver's side.

Scion has this marketed as 'European design' however from personal experience this design can cause issues with other drivers. I have been almost hit by a driver approaching from the passenger side in a parking lot, I confirmed by speaking to this driver that they could not see my reverse light and stopped only because they saw my car suddenly move backwards. As much as Scion wants to push this as a 'design change' it looks to me like a safety issue they are attempting to correct.

I have contacted Scion Corporate and opened a case for this issue. If you wish to voice your concern, I suggest you contact them as well, and you can either add you name to this case # or create your own.

Scion Corporate (Customer Experience Center): 1-866-70-SCION (1-866-707-2466)
Case Number opened 8/1/2011: 1108011690

The only additional information I was able to learn from this call, that if a 2011 owner wished to purchase a 2012 rear light/assembly in order to use a 2nd reverse light, that they would not be able to do this. I don't know what that means, but that was what I was told by Scion.

KidJustin

Sounds like they are saying...if a tC2.0 owner bought the assembly for a tC2.1 it would fit, it would have the hole, but it would NOT work because there is no wiring already there to power the light

or...
sometimes to get a replacement part via Toyota/Scion you need to input the VIN number...a tC2.0 VIN will say "rear tail light WITHOUT reverse" and that is the computer and no other way to slice it

....anyways i will try to see if my personal contact at Toyota Torrance can look into this. i'll see if i can give her your case number to make sure it doesnt just get thrown into the "random customer rants to be ignored box"

highvoltage1

iTrader: (11)

Its a stupid design flaw! Safety issue as well! Why even make the taillights look like it has two reverse lights on the 2011 and not have a second reverse light?

johnmk

Do any other cars out there have just one reversing light off to side like ours?

nolakpd504

I believe the guy that almost hit you was lying.(Just like anyone else who would have almost caused in accident or were in an accident.) At any angle the guy was viewing your car, he should have noticed it was moving. Say he was directly at the side of your car(90 degrees to your reverse light), 1) he would not be able to see any reverse lights at all, hence you can't blame your missing reverse light, 2) As being a human, he should have enough common sense to notice a giant machine moving in front of him from that angle. Now from say a 45 degree angle from your reverse light, from this angle he should have seen both reverse light SPOTS, meaning he should have seen the other as well.

Your story does not make any sense at all. Either you are lying or the other driver. As for you, who on Earth would jump out their own car and run to the other car ,signal to put their window down and ask the driver "What's wrong with my car that caused you to almost hit me?". In reality, both drivers would drive off both with a sigh of relief that there was no accident.

If this event was during the day, you would hardly be able to see the white reverse lights, but notice a giant machine moving. If this was during the night, he would have seen your other reverse light or have enough lighting in the area(parking lot lights, lights produced by each other's cars) to notice you are moving.

If it were a big of a problem with only having one reverse light, they would not be doing it in Europe. Make sense?

I agree the design is a bit weird to have a spot that LOOKS like it should have a second reverse light.

All in all YOU bought the car for the way it was built. No way Scion is responsible. Most likely, the people at Scion are rolling their eyes at your case.

Scratch

iTrader: (3)

The Gen 2 Scion xB has one (although it looks like that changed as well in 2011), but it is a separate lamp built into the rear bumper.

Scratch

iTrader: (3)

Thank you for your input. This thread is not here to try and People's Court the near miss (and I'm not going to debate this with you, so if you want to start something, please feel free to send me a PM). This is information for people who own the 2011 tC to be able to voice their opinion to Scion.

johnmk

Nicer than I would have been, Scratch. Well-handled.

KidJustin

yea, I remember (not sure where specifically) but Scratch said in detail the said "almost" accident and it made perfect sense

i agree that big machine vs small white light is more of a factor to judge where you should stop or not (i know people that dont even notice the reverse light..even if there are 2 lights...as a car backing up) but the "purpose" of the reverse light is to let people know u are in reverse (in addition to helping you see when u are backing up)....whether that "purpose" is actually useful or not when compared to a big moving machine. with that said, having only 1 light hinders the "purpose" of the reverse light

also in Europe they have 1 reverse light....but the other lamp is a reverse fog light....our tC2.0 is missing the reverse fog light then...

nolakpd504

Oh i'm sorry,

1) i saw the word "case".
2) i do own a 2011 scion tc
3) i don't understand why would u fight against scion about something you bought as is from scion( thats like buying an iPhone from at&t and going back to them and saying "This is not an Android!"(when you wanted an android), or buying the car and going back and saying "There's no turbo on the car!", simple retarded). Basically your going against your own signature that you signed for the car. Do your research, ask questions.
4) and frankly your story does not sound real at all, mostly the part where you exited your car to confront the driver about an "almost accident". Just curious.
5) Instead of PMing, i'd much rather ruin your pointless threads and posts complaining about your very own car throughout these forums.
6) You said this thread was for opinions, therefore, I posted mine.
7) I do not care if you're a ginger, and annoyed, nor armed.

johnmk

Aspergers much?

It's a good thing airplane manufacturers don't subscribe to nolakpd504's apparent philosophy.

ninerbud

iTrader: (1)

To Nolakpd504,
I am glad that you decided to share your opinion. However, I don't agree with what you are saying at all. All Scratch is trying to do is show Scion that he doesn't like that they are making this change to the new car and not considering how it feels to us that have already purchased the car. Say for instance someone in my position, until I became a member of this forum, nearly 2 months after buying the car, I had no idea that there was only one backup light. Since then I have had a bunch of people tell me that my backup light is out. It's very annoying to have a car that is only 7 months old that people think is broken. I will be calling Scion to add my name to the list, and I am very grateful that Scratch has opened the case. It's like my Mom taught me when I was young, If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Thank You Again Scratch!

johnmk

Hi ninerbud,

It's clear Nolakpd doesn't subscribe to our preferred system of polite, respectful discourse. Arguing with him with that premise in mind probably won't get very far.

His rebuttal of course would be that you shouldn't have bought the car until you had a full quantum profile of every subatomic particle contained (or potentially contained) in/on/around the car, followed by an Impact Assessment Study of any potential context the car might find itself in. Failure to do such rigorous analysis and then purchasing the car anyway exonerates Toyota from any responsibility.

The fact of the matter is sometimes asking for a favor can get said favor accomplished. If Toyota decides to issue a recall, I'll definitely take them up on it and accept a free second/passenger-side reversing light.

ninerbud

iTrader: (1)

My intentions were not to argue with him, but to support Scratch since he is doing a service for our community. If I had the time to figure out every single inch of the car I purchased I wouldn't have time to work, in which case I wouldn't have needed/been able to buy the car.

johnmk

It's true -- it's practically impossible to buy a product and know everything about it. We generally take a leap of faith in buying anything, even after research.

Occam

Very true... and even then, unless you have a custom coach-builder on your speed-dial, you make sacrifices to get the majority of what you want.

I lost a bit buying and selling my Honda Fit after only 18 months... I liked a lot of things about the car, but the driving position and front seat proved very uncomfortable for me as time went on. I may have been able to improve it with an aftermarket seat, but that's a big maybe, and any sign of an aftermarket seat in a Japanese car just screams "Abused by a ricer idiot"

There are a few things that I would change on the tC2 if it were up to me: mainly factory leather, more sound deadening, and getting rid of the ugly dimply pattern on parts of the dash. These are pretty minor things though, and mostly corrected by other means.

Druidiron

[quote=ninerbud;3886509]To Nolakpd504,
Say for instance someone in my position, until I became a member of this forum, nearly 2 months after buying the car, I had no idea that there was only one backup light. quote]

I am in the same boat, except it took me 3 weeks for someone to say "hey, your light is out." If I would have known, I would have tryed to negotiate a 2nd light in the sale.......

MightyP

iTrader: (1)

^ You must be a maintainer!

I had a very similar experience. I bought the car and when I went to back it in the garage that night, my niece pointed out I had a light out already. The next day I took it in and the dealer spent nearly an hour trying to figure out why my car was missing the right reverse light. It was a "design feature" even the dealer didn't know about and wasn't advertised in any of the literature. I would have been far less annoyed (and probably would have still bought the car) if someone had simply told me about the 1 light before I bought the car.

That is all. Oh and...

GINGER POWER!!!

johnmk

Not taking the car out for a test spin in the dead of night when the dealer was closed: gross negligence? ;)

ninerbud

iTrader: (1)

I called Scion to add my name to the list of customers with a similar complaint. I was told "they made a design change and there is nothing that we can do to make the change on your vehicle." They would not add my name to the case that was already open, instead they opened a new case under my name. I really don't understand how there is nothing that can be done. I will most likely just make the "FIX" myself and take it as a learning experience, never buy a car that is in the first year of a body style again. It's awesome to be the first one out there, but painful when the next year comes out and it gets everything you got, and more. I guess you'll always have that when you buy a new car, oh well.