silverevo05

iTrader: (1)

My wife has had her xb for a year and the car has not wanted to turn on 3 times now in the past year. dealer says its normal?????????? I dont know is it?

I can live with it (since its rare) but im curious if this is normal, are we the only ones?

It happens at the oddest times, mainly cold temps.

I think the 03-05 corrolla was having the same problems for a while

OldYeller

I had problems about a couple of months after I bought my car. The battery kept draining. You do not mention if your battery is going dead or not. I can not believe it is normal. Does it start by itself later on or do you have to jump it? My problem turned out to be a bad alternator which was replaced under warranty.

silverevo05

iTrader: (1)

It's not the battery, because it will start after I take the key out give it a second and then put the key in and turn it on.

Chops

In a case like this, it's the Alternator. Trust me, my old Chevy had to get it replaced like twice...

And in my opinion, get a NEW one... they make rebuilt ones, just like a starter but again, in my experience get a new one.

I'd also double check the battery, because sometimes they might get drained totally and just won't juce back up.

And a car not starting after only a year is "normal", wow... thats just bad.

OldYeller

That sounds like the starter is not engaging.........

BlinkieBoi101

haha funny story i couldnt start mine a week ago and it turns out it was in reverse HAHAHA

frogbox

You failed to mention , is it a man or auto?

The safty switch on manuals some time gets out of adjustment, or floor mats get in the way of the clutch pedal, not allowing the safty switch to turn on/off.

Autos have a neutral safty switch on the shift mechanism under the center console, these sometimes are a bit out of adjustment, might look into that.

both simple rpoblems to fix that are sometimes difficult to trace down.

Chops

Yeah I forgot about the starter too, when you try to start it do you hear a clicking sound? Usually thats the starter not engaging, like OldYeller said.

Pimp_Sling

I had a 4runner with a bad starter that displayed similar symptoms, except far more severe. Basically the brushes were worn bad enough that they wouldn't always make contact with the armature. An $85 rebuild fixed that. BUT, considering this is a NEW car, that is not a NORMAL situation. Is there another dealer around you can take it to. Basically your dealer is saying they don't feel like investing their time and money into a difficult to trace intermittent no start condition. Which is bad customer service, it's their job.

silverevo05

iTrader: (1)

Its an Auto

It sounds like its trying to turn on but it wont turn on completely

Its rare but it has happened 3 times in the past year

Sciond

seen it before in cold temps I can't explain it either

silverevo05

iTrader: (1)

Yup all 3 times were in cold temps after a long drive.

Once was in San Diego at night after driving there from orange county

NC_Pinz

In my less than one month of ownership, it has happened once to me. The temp was mid-80s. The engine turned over fine but it did not fire. I probably let it spin for 5-7 sec. After turning the key to off (I may have pulled it out but I don't remember), I tried again and it cranked right up.

It is obviously an ignition or fuel issue. If it happens again, I'll investigate, otherwise I'm treating it as a fluke.

silverevo05

iTrader: (1)

Exactly what mine did.

If you go to toyota nation the early current model corrollas had the exact same problem

oldmanatee

Why would the dealer even expect you to believe that a non starting car is "normal"??????Take it back, tell them to find it, show you the parts replaced under warranty and show you the new parts. In cases like this, they will get some old switches or something out of the trash and show you. Ask to see where these parts went. If they are dumb enuff to think a year old car that is not dependable is normal, get another dealer!

Remember, if the car stays overnight for repairs, you get a loaner... make sure it is fixed. You probably traded in a car you didn't trust. Don't accept anything less than what you are paying for.

dagarhart

Intermittent problems are hard to diagnose and most dealers will not throw parts at a problem then cannot diagnose. I know it is BS, and in my opinion, I do not care how many parts it takes them to replace to find the problem, they need to find the problem.

oldmanatee

Exactly!!! That is why Toyota put a warranty on it...If it was mine, they could keep it until the next payment was due... just fix it.

Besides, for warranty work, the dealer charges all parts back to Scion, it's not like they are loosing anything.