I blew up the inverter????

[etyler88]

Please,

Don't spend the $5000. Spend about $30 (my local fee) for small claims court. Even without a lawyer. Judges vary but I think you have a much better than 50% chance that the judge would be good for you.

[Cootunit]

Ditto. I think they are definitely on the right track.

[morpheusx]

I got a question, has the dealership offered to buy back your car? My theory is that maybe they are hoping that you will let them buy it back (on the cheap) so they can resell at an inflated higher price.

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by GinnyErns

...I was able to get the car towed to another dealer on Thusday this week. They said I am entitled to a 2nd opinion and that it seemed odd to them that a jump would be able to do $5000 worth of damage... On route, the Region Service Manager called the new dealer and told them not to touch my car. That he had already reviewed the case and his word was final and I should pay $5000... dealer should not touch my car unless I paid the $5000.

...Not sure myself how long it takes to clear the codes and do a new test on the car. But thought it should be less than an hour. In any event, I have to pay the $5000 period.

...I am not the type of person to sue, and many posts on this site say it is very difficult to beat Toyota on my own.

Hi Ginny,

Sorry to hear that Toyota will not help you here. You've previously raised the possibility of seeking local media publicity. Since you did not provide followup comments, I assume there is no interest on the part of your local TV stations and newspapers. You've also consulted with your attorney and determined a low probability of success with legal action, and I agree with that.

Since you managed to get the car released from the first dealer, I assume that you either paid the towing fee or else the first dealer waived that fee.

Now that your car is at the second dealer but that service dept cannot help you, you have two alternatives: pay $5K to have the car repaired at the second dealer, or find an independent Toyota mechanic who is willing to take on your car as a small project, retrieve the diagnostic codes that currently exist, and if the inverter has failed, replace it for you. The mechanic can download Toyota repair manual info at techinfo.toyota.com

Champion Toyota (Houston) sells a new inverter for $2,646.
Champion ToyotaWorld

Also, you may be able to obtain a salvage part for ~$900 or so.
http://www.autobeyours.com/PriusParts.htm

I think there is some possibility that the inverter is good, as I do not recall your saying that DTC had been retrieved after the fusible link assembly and the 12V battery had been replaced.

Good luck.

[Godiva]

If Idaho has a lemon law they're trying to avoid it. That's why they won't let the second dealer touch it. If it's defective, she should have to pay anything.

[HybridBoy_greenmachine]

Did you tell other dealer that the battery had been jumped backwards. The reason i ask is when the first dealer replaced the block and 12volt battery, another dealer would only see a bad inverter and not have a logical understanding of the events that took place earlier and based on the fact that those parts have been replaced it would look strange to them. Once they checked with there tech people at toyota they will find an open case with toyota and it will be out of there hands. My brother told me last night that you will probably just have to have it repaired and go from there. When i asked him about the first dealer he told me that they can't make replacement decisions on high dollar items without consulting the regional reps. They request info, and then toyota reviews it independently. So if they saw the 12v low or dead, with low mileage, the fuse block needing replaced, and the inverter bad, you are pretty much going to have to pay for the damage. He said dealers in general don't mind if it is warranty work vs. customers paying the bill, as they make the same amount of pay for the work. So the dealer does not control the factory decision but are rather the middle party involved with the decision.

I think you are just in a situation that can't be won! Hate to say that after all of the work you've done to this point, but it seems to be a reality.

HBoy

[HybridBoy_greenmachine]

I forgot to mention about the 12volt battery. He said it's not that the battery is necessarily dead, but rather that they are proned to going dead for many reasons. His dealer will cover a battery that won't take a charge, due to many reasons for human error. The battery is just small enough to not like frequent charging via driving. So the battery being bad or defective are not really the case. How often have you been driving this? You mentioned jumping had been done before. I think i mentioned before but don't remember for sure, if the battery is low, and the vehicle or whatever you are using to jump can't have to high of voltage or any form of spike. He said it's like when the power company has a power spike and your plasma gets fried. You must be cautios. I can tell you this much after i read my owners manual, i won't be jumping mine either, i'm going to just take it to my local toyota dealer.

sorry ginny

[GinnyErns]

Thanks Hybrid boy......I seem to be in the middle of a power struggle with the District Rep and he is not going to back down. It's a sad day when we have to have our cars towed 85 miles (in my case down a windy mountain road so takes 2 plus hrs one way)to a dealer because of a low, or dead battery that is 1 year old. The tow was $400 and could have been a lot higher. So remember you can't just take your Prius to the dealer, you have to have it hauled on a flatbed. This is definately a terrible design flaw. Luckily I was at home and not on a trip or out in a campground with no services. By the way I only jumped the car twice all on the same day...that is it...it started the first time, and not the second time.....never attempted it again except the town truck driver tried it before he loaded it on the flatbed. Car is one year old with 5000 miles on it.

[GinnyErns]

Patrick, you are right new dealer is stopped from checking my car, even though it has been said many times by different people and the new dealer themselves that I am entitled to a second opinion. You all advised me to have the car sent to a different dealer for a second opinion. I finally was able to get it moved to a new dealer only to be denied a second opinion. ( yes the old dealer put in the battery "under warranty" and waived the tow fee). I am dumbfounded as to why the new dealer can't test to see if a new inverter is needed and to make sure the old dealer really did put in a new fuse and new battery. The old dealer is now saying that back the first week of May they replaced the fuse and battery, even though I have a recorded message on my phone where the service manager says he has the "parts" and is just waiting my authorization to put them in (which I never have done as I always asserted it should be under warranty). And on June 18th when I talked to him about putting in the battery and fuse so they could check the inverter he indicated that had not been done yet and he would see if he could have that done under warranty. That's when they finally admitted the battery was defective and that it should be replaced under warranty. I then said well make sure the fuse is covered also so you can test the inverter for reall He was to get get back to me on the new codes. I specifically asked that he make sure the codes are reset to zero before testing. The dealer operations manager and district manager say the test coeds I got were after they replaced the battery and fuse.

How long does it take to do the test any way. Isn't it a 15 min. job to retest once the new parts are in ???????? Why would the second dealer be banned from doing a new test on the car????????? What are they worried about or should I say what are they trying to cover up. hummmmmmmmm

[Godiva]

It's what are they trying to cover up.

Have you talked to a lawyer yet?

You did say your state has a lemon law. Your car qualifies.