Inconsolable - Need Gen1 Help

Good Lord. Tell them to bill you for 1 hr's diagnosis and put the bad battery back in. They knew damned well that the traction battery was most likely the culprit given the vehicle's age and could have verified it without putting a new battery in and attempting to soak you.

Search the forums a bit and you will find that the traction batteries for these cars can be obtained refurbished for far less than what the dealer is offering.

Oh. And :welcome: .

 

I don't know what your financial situation is personally. But I would say, that's about the highest total I've ever seen presented for a traction battery replacement. I think you should be able to discover cheaper options.

Tough call as to where you want to draw the line, or can draw the line. But I would search this very site...and just get on the phone to other dealerships...$6059 for replacement of the traction battery is about the highest figure I have ever seen presented.

 

1) get a second opinion. Either another dealer or an independent who knows hybrids.

2) If you need a HV battery, I recommend ReInVolt batteries, they use Gen II cells in the Gen I case. Gen I cells are more prone to corrosion. Near $1700 for parts.

Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs

If you feel up to DIY:
01-03 Toyota Prius Upgraded HV Battery Pack - eBay (item 130479704143 end time Feb-05-11 11:58:28 PST)

These folks should be 'local' (Culver City) installers of ReInvolt, and may also be a good place for a second opinion.
Modesti's Car Care Center | Auto Repair Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Mar Vista, Los Angeles, Westchester, Venice, Santa Monica, Palms, Inglewood, Ladera Heights, Baldwin Hills | Hometown Family Service You Can Trust Since

It should be much closer to $2500 total. (in addition to the money you have already spent) That is way less than $6000

You get used cells that may be 'newer' than a Gen I battery off the shelf, and seem to be less corrosion prone. In this one occasion, I am not sure new is better. The warranty is the same.

There are detractors whose brother's uncle's Friend's Prius had trouble with ReInVolt, but we have never had an actual owner on PriusChat who was unhappy with them.

 

It still isn't clear to me whether the problem is the traction battery, an inverter, or both. Several items in the OP suggest to me that the high voltage to 12V inverter went bad.

This needs to be clarified.

 

On Monday be sure to have the dealership tell you all the DTCs (diagnostic trouble codes) that the car produced. That will tell the more experienced mechanics here (not me) quite a bit more about what went wrong.

 

If you can't afford to make repairs, will you buy another car? A $1,000 - 2,000 repair is cheaper than $10-20K for another car. Based on your current mileage and vehicle year (assuming you bought new), I gather you're willing to keep a car for as long as possible. If you repair the car, I'm thinking you'll need to keep the car a couple years to recoup some of the repair investment. Thinking of market value on your car, without the repair, the car is not worth much, if anything. If you make the repair, the car's value increases, at least enough to cover repairs.

Ultimately, "repair vs. replace" decisions are not always easy, but I'm confident you'll make the right decision for your circumstances.

 

I hope things work out for you. Lousy to get a bill like that.

 

What was the warrantee for the hybrid system on a 2003?

The 2010s have a 150,000 mile warrantee on the hybrid system so if you buy a new one, you'll be covered for a long time.

 

I skimmed through this . . . if your inverter (pump?) went south, the Gen II's are on recall. Don't know about the Gen I's though. It's worth inquiring though, none the less, because the cooling pump, the inverter itself, are ALL part of the synergy drive system, which gets the 150,000 mile warranty in CA. Do NOT let them blow smoke up you.

 

Check that warranty carefully. I seem to remember past discussions indicating that the 150k warranty began with Gen2, so OP's Gen1 warranty may be expired.

 

Even the warranty is expired, at 111,000 miles it is kinda close. I'd appeal your purchasing dealer for at least some help paying for the repair. Parts at cost, for example.

Toyota is better than most car companies at being reasonable with customers. Look at what they did for owners of Tacomas with frame rust-though (like me). I got 11K of credit for a 12 year old truck with a blue book value of 3K.

 

I joined these forums just so I could ask...Teachxii, what did you decide to do? I felt awful for you after reading that original post.

 

That labor cost for battery/inverter replacement is insane for a 8 year old Toyota but this is a Prius. Toyota is not a charity and they have to recoup the huge development and R&D costs for the Prius somehow plus all the freebie recalls given to other Prius owners ..

 

I've never had a Gen 1, but I'm leaning towards fuzzy1. AFAIK, the Gen 1s weren't AT-PZEV cars and thus shouldn't have a 150K mile warranty on anything inverter or emission related.

I agree w/JimboPalmer and I think this dealer is trying to ream the OP. $2300 of labor to replace an inverter??? At my wild-guess rate of $150/hour, that means over 15 hours to do the job?

Was P3130 the only code? Any more data accompanying the code? Can they give you a printout from Techstream?

Too bad you are too far from Luscious Garage | Hybrid Specialists, but it seems they're knowledgeable. (I have no experience w/them.) Side note: I did stumble across Luscious Garage | Blog | Gen 1 Prius code P3130: Inverter System Cooling Malfunction when digging.

If you can't get a competent dealer you, it might be cheaper to get it shipped to LG in SF to get it fixed, fly up then drive it back...