Wheel bearing replacement

I would assume it WOULD be covered. 3yrs 36,000 miles.

 

Nope. Wheel bearings should last the life of the car. Same with ALL bearings in the vehicle.

 

Unfortunately, accordingly the "life of the car" figuratively means the period specified in the warranty.

 

The OP is still within the warranty period. It’s covered.

 

I question whether the problem actually is a wheel bearing. Anything can be defective, but a wheel bearing at this mileage is highly unusual. On the repair order be sure they accurately describe the problem as well as the service writer's guess as how to fix it. If the repair doesn't fix the problem, don't pay for anything--but it should be a warranty item.

 

There should not be a "cover charge" for the initial assessment, or at the least: if and when they determine it's covered by warranty you they should reimburse any charges.

 

Why do you think the wheel bearing is bad? What symptoms is your car exhibiting?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Great! I wonder what the cost would be if not covered by the warranty.

 

$100 Parts, $200 Labor. Give or take a grand.
Back in the day when wheel bearings were "ball bearing" construction they failed quite frequently.
Nowadays they are "roller bearing" type and much more robust.

Wheel Bearing Replacement Cost - RepairPal Estimate

 

That part number goes back to a pre-pressed bearing hub assembly; MSRP $400. It looks to be a very easy job, since it appears to be a bolt-on.
FWIW: Usually the right bearings go bad - from rubbing and jumping curbs. That lateral pressure, slowly loosens the bearing - causing eventual failure. Bearings are covered under our 3yr 36K mile mechanical warranty - brakes & tires are not.

 

LOL... so the final bill can be as low as $300 or as high as $1300. I can totally believe it though. My son just took his car to have two new tires put on. He damaged the sidewall driving over a deep pothole. I estimated the cost will be ~$200 total, 2x tires, and labor. As it turned out when he got his car back... the total cost was ~$850. Yep, they told him the car needed the rear brake jobs (new rotor and pad) as well as alignment. Plus, the wheel also needed to be replaced.

 

Prii use hub-bearing units, which are permanently assembled at the factory out of twin rows of ball bearings.



The ball bearings are configured in "angular contact". You can see the way the inner and outer races are offset, in opposite directions for the inboard and outboard bearings, holding the hub securely in place on its axis.



People sometimes ask about pressing a hub-bearing unit apart to "just replace the bearings". The picture shows why that's not really an option, though there do seem to be third-party inexpensive replacement "units" that really are a straight spindle and bore with a couple generic bearings pressed in. So, if someone is looking at a car where at one point those kinds of "replacements" were put in for the original HBUs, then it could be possible to press those apart and just replace the bargain-bin bearings inside, if the right size can be found.

 

They might fall under the drive train warranty.

 

1. The 3yr 36K is your bumper to bumper warranty - so your definitely covered there.
2. The 5yr 60K is the power train warranty. Engine & transmission; not sure if wheel bearing are included or defined in that list of warrantied items; but you may be able to talk the service writer into it or escalate the matter to upper management.
3. Then there's the EV drive train coverage, 10yr 150K for CARB state vehicles, or 8yr 100K for non-CARB state.

ie. Say an ignition coil or engine control sensor goes bad at 58K miles; covered under #2. If the same part goes out at 75k, not covered. Bad traction control battery CPU at 115K, covered in CARB state; any other state - your out of luck (not covered).

Hope this clarifies things.