Cost for brake repair?

They are charging a premium for the parts but not a huge amount, brake booster >
2012 toyota Prius Brake Master Cylinder. Brakes, Leak, Repair - 4705047180 - Genuine toyota Part
, master cylinder >
2012 toyota Prius Brake Master Cylinder. Brakes, Leak, Repair - 4705047140 - Genuine toyota Part


I can't speak to the labor piece, I know they have to remove the tray under the windshield to get to the area and they have to bleed the brakes using Techstream, as for how long it would take, I'm unsure.

 

Most people can get this work done for near 1/3 the price... 8.5 hours labor seem a bit high... And a ten year old car doesn't require brand new $800 parts when the exact same used part is in the $100 range. Find a more affordable mechanic or find a friend to get on Prius Chat and DIY it.

 

Those parts are expensive. You may be able to find them online for less.
There are a few places online that "refurbish" them, but only give a 30-90 day warranty.
It doesn't seem worth it, at least not to me.
And getting a used part, well, how long will it last before you'll need to replace it, again????

Unless you KNOW for certain that part was recently replaced, you're again risking having to replace
them again. And the labor cost will be the same.

Just because the car is older, doesn't mean it's not worth the cost of repairing it.
If you spend the money for the new parts, it will probaly be 10 years before they need replacing again.

 

I doubt you will get good value for a Prius with a $3,000 critical safety system flaw. If the miles are reasonable and it does not have excessive oil consumption, a bad hv battery or other significant damage, I would fix it before trading. I would also check the market for a viable replacement at a cost you can handle.

Toyota was replacing the flawed design brake booster free under a customer support program. It is more limited program now, available if the car is less than ten years from date of first use and is under 150,000 miles. If you qualify, push Toyota for a free repair. It is not a given the dealer will check as they make far more if you pay.

If necessary, an independent hybrid repair shop should have lower labor prices because most mechanics who have done it before can do it quicker. I have never seen a real reconditioned part for these items, one Florida guy claims the gen2 has such a supplier but no contact information has ever been provided. I believe there are no reconditioned parts because of the complexity of these brake by wire systems and the fact Toyota was doing it free for everyone until recently.

Used parts are an option but there are many variations, even in the same year. Toyota has superseded some of the parts because of the poor design. So if used is dictated by finances, it is necessary to find part numbers using your vin and then use the donor car's vin to verify its brake booster. Most used sellers don't know this and go by housing numbers which are meaningless since they are the same across variations. You then have six to nine hours of non-refundable labor wasted if the wrong used part is installed. Or if it is also bad.

There are online Toyota dealers like McGeorge that will source new parts with decent discounts. You email them with your vin to verify their online system has selected the correct brake booster assemblies.

Finally, whoever changes the part must use an advanced scanner to calibrate and flush the system. Check with independent hybrid shops and other Toyota dealers for the best value with a guarantee.

 

These doc's are related, give some idea of the complexity. There were conditions under which it would be done for free, but I think (due to miles/months) that ship has sailed for most owners

Frustrating for sure, and more-and-more, Toyota is telegraphing the message that they don't stand by their products, even when there's an unacceptably high failure rate. Maybe more so...

 

It seems they are limiting most customer support programs to 150,000 miles which matches their best legacy hybrid system warranties in carb states. They did extend the 2020-up new car hv battery warranties to ten years 150,000 miles in all states. The gen3 inverter flaw still has 15 year unlimited. Lets face it, gen3 was a bad design.

 

As mentioned looked for a hybrid shop in your area and see if they can do it. There is one here that will do it for $1900 out the door with brand new toyota parts. They also caution against using used or " refurbished" parts.

Fred Haas Toyota here in Houston also had the parts for under $600 each last time I looked and they ship if you can find someone to do the install. I've considered doing the job myself but for $700 extra with it being done by someone who does these all the time and gives warranty i'm going that route.