2005 Check Engine light on- only owned for 4 days! :(

[Brown]

On Tuesday, I purchased a 2005 with 97000 mi at what I thought was an excellent deal.
However, tonight on my drive home the check engine, VSC, and (!) lights came on while I was driving up a long steep hill ( I live in the mountains of NC and this is typical road for me).
I pulled over, parked and restarted and now the only light still on is the check engine light (and the red triangle of course).
I went to Advance Auto Parts to see if they could get a code for me but they didn't have the right equipment so now Im stuck at home, stressed out, and wondering if I should be driving to work in the morning. Any clue as to what could be going on?

[jburns]

Originally Posted by Brown

On Tuesday, I purchased a 2005 with 97000 mi at what I thought was an excellent deal.
However, tonight on my drive home the check engine, VSC, and (!) lights came on while I was driving up a long steep hill ( I live in the mountains of NC and this is typical road for me).
I pulled over, parked and restarted and now the only light still on is the check engine light (and the red triangle of course).
I went to Advance Auto Parts to see if they could get a code for me but they didn't have the right equipment so now Im stuck at home, stressed out, and wondering if I should be driving to work in the morning. Any clue as to what could be going on?

You need to take it to a Toyota dealer ASAP.

[Brown]

Problem is that the closest one is more than an hour away and the dealer I purchased it from is 2 hours aways. I'd like to have a little peace of mind that its okay to even drive it that far.

[jay_man2]

Make sure to rule out the easy stuff, and check that your gas cap is on tight.

[johnjamis]

If your inverter is too hot to touch, it could be an inop inverter coolant pump. Look for coolant flow(surface turbulence) in the pink reservoir(do not open if hot!) beside the inverter. No flow = inverter coolant pump inop.

[V8Cobrakid]

it may just be the spark plugs too.. as mine slowly started to fail, it made the engine produce less hp.. which produced less voltage ( over several months ).. which would trip various lights while in mountain roads.

i replaced them around 92k miles. they looked newish still.. but.. shrug.

[richard schumacher]

Toyota uses some proprietary diagnostic codes so this calls for a dealer. If it is the inverter coolant system a long drive may damage the inverter. That would turn a few hundred dollars repair into a few thousand dollars, unless the factory warranty is still in effect or you have a warranty from the seller. Still, people have done this without damage. If you feel like trying it, drive gently to the nearest dealer. Don't run the A/C while going there (the A/C is electric and will further load the inverter). When you get there leave the car running in Park until they can see it.

[icarus]

I would not drive it until you get it figured out.

I would first raise hell with the dealer. 4 days you must have SOME recourse. The major hybrid systems should be warranted to ~100k miles.

Second,, if it was the VSC light it could be something as simple as a rough road. I wouldn't drive it with the lights on until I could read the code.

Have AAA tow it to the selling dealer!

Icarus

[ETP]

Originally Posted by Brown

On Tuesday, I purchased a 2005 with 97000 mi at what I thought was an excellent deal.
However, tonight on my drive home the check engine, VSC, and (!) lights came on while I was driving up a long steep hill ( I live in the mountains of NC and this is typical road for me).
I pulled over, parked and restarted and now the only light still on is the check engine light (and the red triangle of course).
I went to Advance Auto Parts to see if they could get a code for me but they didn't have the right equipment so now Im stuck at home, stressed out, and wondering if I should be driving to work in the morning. Any clue as to what could be going on?

Most states have a cooling off period in which you can return a product. It is more than 3 days in most states. Get your ball bat out man and give the team work speech.

[ETP]

delete