Rear window of taxi shatters with customer inside (From York Press)
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Taxi driver blames ‘faulty heater’ for shattered windscreen but car manufacturer insists vehicle is not responsible
8:59am Thursday 9th August 2012 in News
By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk
York taxi driver Bose Thomas peers through his shattered rear window
A TAXI driver from York is in a row with a car manufacturer because he said the rear windscreen of his new Toyota shattered unexpectedly while he was carrying a customer.
Bose Thomas, from Clifton Green, blames a faulty rear windscreen heater for the shattered glass, though Toyota said it had no record of similar complaints in the UK about its Prius range of cars.
Mr Thomas, 38, who drives for 659 Cars, said the incident happened at 4.20am on Friday after his passenger had stopped to use a cash machine at the Tesco store at Askham Bar.
He said: “There was a big bang and the glass smashed. The customer was frightened and wondered what was happening. I got out and looked around and the area was completely empty.”
Mr Bose bought the Prius in December and said since then the car had suffered a smashed wing mirror and also a shattered side window after a passenger closed the door.
“On Friday morning the temperature had come down 10C in York,” he said. “Then the car got foggy inside and I switched on the heating system then two or three minutes later it (the window) exploded.”
He said the car dealer where he bought the vehicle had blamed it on a stone chip and told him to claim for repairs through his insurance company, which he has now done, though he is still in dispute with Toyota.
A spokesman from Toyota’s head office said: “We were very sorry to learn of the damage sustained to Mr Thomas’s car.
“We do not believe that a manufacturing defect was the cause of the breakage to the rear window glass which means that Mr Thomas’s car will be repaired under the terms of his car insurance policy.
“Every effort has been made to minimise the inconvenience caused to Mr Thomas as a result of this incident and ensure the vehicle is repaired as quickly as possible.”
Comments(16)
TONY THE TORCHE
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9:35am Thu 9 Aug 12
razor08
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10:35am Thu 9 Aug 12
Buzz Light-year
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12:35pm Thu 9 Aug 12
again
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12:47pm Thu 9 Aug 12
Not sure why readers need to comment about a taxi driver's rear window, especially as no cyclists have been accused. Yet.
Viper_7
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3:29pm Thu 9 Aug 12
Goes with a helluva bang.
All replaced for £50 under the glazing over.
Always tricky in this kinda of situation, as to wether it's a design/manufacturing defect or simply faulted. This kind of fault is not really "wear and tear" and should be guaranteed to last for 'x' amount of time. Just like with all electrical goods, under EU law manufactures must cover the cost if it faults within 10 years.
I would possibly argue the same with motoring manufacturers. These parts should be designed to be fit for purpose; if it faults, should be covered by the manufacturer.
chucky1977
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6:03pm Thu 9 Aug 12
luckyiceblue
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7:13pm Thu 9 Aug 12
Pathetic story that I do not want to read about thanks
luckyiceblue
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7:15pm Thu 9 Aug 12
Oh and his friend above viper/mate
Frogmanz123
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7:16am Fri 10 Aug 12
Pete the Brickie
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7:39am Fri 10 Aug 12
Then the car got foggy inside
Whilst the Prious is an intelligent, highly advanced hybrid car the blokes story falls apart here as it simply lacks the physical ability or language to make a person get inside it which is of course the stuff of Knight Rider.
To add to that "Foggy" is a fictional character from the long running TV series Last of the Summer Wine and the actor Brian Wildewho played the amiable buffoon is dead and could not have been involved in this mystery.
I did however watch an American programme involving four meddling kids and a talking great dane who might be able to offer Mr Thomas some help in solving it.
chainguide
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9:39am Fri 10 Aug 12
Pete the Brickie
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3:45pm Fri 10 Aug 12
chainguide wrote:Your friend should have asked the driver for a receipt for his payment and the old mirror, then told the driver he was giving both to the provider of his all risks household insurance to prove payment, then advised him his insurer would be checking the mirror to prove how the damage was caused. I use this tactic with false small claims for damaged "Armani" clothing which this sort claim was caused by my workforce from time to time, it never fails they always back down.
Slow news day? or so i thought until i realised it's the same driver that forced my mate to pay for the wing mirror or he would have him arrested! all he did was shut the door and the wing mirror fell off,it looked like it had already been smashed but could'nt say either way.he phoned toyota and paid for it but was £75 cheaper than the driver had said when demanding to be paid directly! MOST IMPORTANTLY,the person who dealt with it was initially under the impression that the taxi driver was trying to claim the wing mirror under warranty so did'nt take payment there and then but called back later.
In this case I'd check with the garage to see if they still have the damaged mirror and ask the police to look into it, they will be able to check how the damage was most likely caused and however it happened unless your friend deliberately smashed it the money was obtained from him by menaces which some might call blackmail and should be returned in my opinion.
matroom
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2:26am Tue 14 Aug 12
Gary Gilmores Eyes
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8:45am Tue 14 Aug 12
My Toyota diesel does almost as many miles per gallon but has not got a leased battery inside that has expensive/exotic minerals mined with child and slave labour in 3rd world countries like Chad/CFA/Niger, then flown out of the country to be processed into an 'eco' battery to enabole some people to feel less guilty about driving a car.
Don't believe the hype
Parris Boyd
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2:18pm Tue 14 Aug 12
pot.com
NoNewsIsGoodNews says...
9:15am Thu 9 Aug 12