New windshield for me
This thread was quite helpful, here's my story:
Bought CPO 2012 4R TE in August, when there's not much call for defrosting, right?
Tried out the wiper defroster Sunday, it did not work. Monday, searched the T4R forum, found a couple of threads, including this one. Looked at the 4R windshield, I did not see the heat wires. Made an appointment with selling dealer's service & took it in, said that the wiper defroster was not working (just a couple thousand miles inside CPU 12 mo/12K miles comprehensive warranty). Tech & service advisor tried to say that the wiper defroster was an option that my 4R just did not have, according to the sticker info on their computer (which I cannot get, I guess - I did ask). I showed them the 2012 4R brochure which shows that this is standard on all 3 models (SR5, TE, Limited) and why would Toyota put a switch in that did not work? Service advisor did not have a good answer, but we weren't making any progress so I said that I thought maybe the previous owner had replaced the windshield with one that did not have the heating elements -- the "wrong" one. Spotted my 4R in the Service area (not work space, but where it's checked in) & went over to it & started talking to the tech there, saying the same thing to him. Advisor followed me & he noticed right away that the windshield was not Toyota glass (I looked at one from a guy at work, "Toyota" is etched in the lower corner driver side on his). Could I wait in the customer lounge a few minutes? Sure.... Well, they ordered me a new Toyota windshield, order form says used car manager approved it, or somesuch. $1169 list price, iirc.
They could not fix the wiper defroster operation without a new windshield, so that's good for me. I don't think they would have to replace non-Toyota glass just because it's not Toyota.
If I had just accepted their "it's not installed option" original response & walked away, nothing would have been done. I can't say for sure if this was an intentional thing, dealership trying to sneak one by or not, but I suspect that it's just an oversight ... CPO inspection does not check for Toyota glass, and if you press the button & it lights up, then I think it's natural to think it's working. Shop tech & service advisor ... well, I think it's a new thing for them, they had not seen this circumstance before. And, they're doing right by me, so that's what counts, IMHO.
Hope someone finds this helpful. Thanks T4R!
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Dave