"Check hybrid system" error + cruise control problem in a brand new 2013 toyota prius three

Get it in to the dealer. Sounds like an issue though could be a sensor, loose wire or dodgy ecu. I had similar message on mine when it was about a year old and it turned out to be a failed hv battery ecu. All replaced under warranty.

No car or manufacturer is perfect and the Toyota system is good at finding the faults in the car.

Think others more experienced might be able to advise.

 

Sorry to hear of your travails. Not much for the salesman to do now. Your recourse is the warranty, and I would expect them to get it fixed promptly. They are on that path. The dealership cannot swap cars because they'd be holding the bag on selling your used one. Whereas, Toyota bears cost of the warranty work.

No doubt is stinks to be stuck with the loaner, and the anxiety whether your car will be reliable. But it all seems appropriate from my point of view, SUBJECT TO it truly getting fixed.

My 2010 III has been problem free, and I expect you to have no further difficulties. Obviously, one possible outcome is that the new AC unit does not fix the problem, so you are in for round 2. If it gets to round 3, then I think you look to lemon laws to make them buy back the car, restoring you to no harm.

In any event, I expect you will eventually be very satisfied with the car, and wish you the best.

My 2010 is subject to the brake recall I refuse to have done, and a new recall related to the brake booster pump that I will probably get done. These sorts of issues are unavoidable regardless of car make/model.

Isolated failures like I presume yours to be are similarly unavoidable.

 

I think your only choice is to let them fix it. Check to see if your state has a lemon law. However, most states with a lemon law require three attempts for repairing the car first or a minimum number of days out of service.

It does sound strange that the "Check Hybrid System" light would come on for the AC compressor. The only connection I am aware of is in ECO it reduces AC output for conservation.

I would drive by the dealership and ask to talk directly with the technician. The service writers are trained to isolate the techs. I would walk right past the service writers and grab the first tech you find and ask who worked on your Prius.

Best of luck!

 

My dealerships paperwork has the name of the tech on the printout.

 

It's a new car still under warranty so let the dealer's mechanics do it their way. When they finish with the compressor if the CC still doesn't work get them to fix that. You may have more than one problem.

 

Take it on another 300 mile trip after repairs and see if it happens again

 

All good advice given above...I'm surprised you weren't at least offered a Camry hybrid as the loaner. BTW, I once touched a wire to a wire I thought would be positive during reverse only in the shifter connector and got the infamous check hybrid system message. It would seem that message may come up for any electrical anomaly.

 

Did they tell you what the part was they ordered?

 

Yes, exactly. I got the check hybrid system message after probing some contacts with a multimeter to check voltages and grounds. The display cleared after going through a couple of cycles of power down, power on.

My guess is that there is a short circuit somewhere in the cruise control system that is causing both the observed problems with the cruise control operation and the error displayed.

 

I would demand a hybrid loaner at the very least. A few words with the GM or Owner for sure.
hope it all works out for you!!

 

The sales staff , your new best friends , should be able to get you a hybrid for a loaner,
Or may be after the sale not as friendly any more, asking wont cost you any thing..
As for the Trouble .. Let them fix what ever they want to , but before taking it home,
Take a TEST drive with a service person and check out the CC ..
Sorry to hear of your trouble. Good luck

 

On the GenII Prius, if you failed to reconnect the bus system after installing an aftermarket stereo system the MF display would black out and you would get an orange triangle stating the climate control system was not connected or something to that effect. The point is, sometimes a seemingly unrelated device can cause issues you wouldn't expect. Regardless, I'm sorry to hear of this problem on your brand new car. All three of my Prii had been trouble free.

 

Can you remember if when the cruise control failed if the dash light went out for it too (little green light and the "set" light upper right of cluster)? I still have doubts it was a faulty compressor as the 2 components should not be tied to each other. Add to that, a compressor change-out is major surgery for this car.

 

I'm really surprised the dealership seems to think it was the compressor. A good tech should have been able to hook up a techstream (a diagnostic "PC") and determine where the electrical fault was in the cruise control ecu. Even if it's very technical, they should share their thinking with you as to why a working compressor needs to be changed.

 

Change the A/C compressor because the cruse control stopped working.

 

The "technicians" do not troubleshoot the electronics in the conventional sense, they plug a computer into the car and look for codes. They may run some kind of diagnostic program which will tell them what part to replace. No matter how logical it is to think the A/C compressor is OK because it was still working and the CC didn't work they don't want to hear it. They just want to do what the computer tells them and if that doesn't work they will call Toyota and maybe talk to someone who can tell them what is really wrong, or they will keep replacing parts until they luck out and replace the right one. It's all they know how to do and that's OK as long as they (Toyota) are paying for it. Fortunately you are still under warranty.

It is also possible that there is some kind of inverter problem that causes a failure code pointing to the A/C and the computer in the car shuts the CC down when it sees any kind of inverter failure, who knows?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and find out what is really wrong, good luck. Maybe this is why a lot of people buy extended warranties.