Light water damage -- car really unsalvageable?

Maybe the battery just died? Have you tried jump starting it? Does your headlights turn on brightly?

 

Check 12V to be at least 12.5 V . What you mean dead no lights on dash at all ? Push button twice no brake all should lite up? Is the red security car flashing ?

 

That car isn't very broke

 

In simple economic terms, the estimated cost of the repair closely approaches or even exceeds the value of the car.

He might be wrong- but to read between the lines, he's telling you he doesn't want to do this work. Find another mechanic.

I've known some trustworthy mechanics who helped to maintain their reputational status by turning down repairs with low success rates, high "comeback" rates or just required a lot of hours billed for minimal customer satisfaction.

 

chasing electrical problems in a prius from flooding can anger customers who don't understand the nature of the beast.

if you want to go down the rabbit hole, get an old windows laptop, get a copy of tech stream up and running, and start the trouble shooting process by scanning the codes.
then rent the service manual by the day, and start following the trouble shooting tree.
all the best!

 

Until you can clearly articulate the actual water level the car was exposed to both us and our mechanic have zero ability to tell you how damaged it is. The water level could be accurately indicated by the flood marks on the wheels.

In the meantime, I'm with Tombuk2 on this... Your pictures so zero indication of water anywhere and even if there were minor puddles inside the car the hyrbid equipment is higher up than that.

I bet you haven't put a charge on your 12v battery in a long time and then you left the car doors open for a while when trying to dry it out and now your 12v battery is drained down.

 

I'd suggest, without delay, reading through T-SB-0229-12.

It has a section 1 just about getting the vehicle safe. First, decide whether any water got over the rocker panels into the car. If not, great, go to section 2. Otherwise, even if you see no water but carpet's damp, open all doors/hatch/trunk, pop the rubber plugs at floor pan corners and spare tire well, disconnect 12V battery ground (be sure to fold cable well away from the terminal so it won't sproing back and make contact), pull traction battery service plug (but only after disconnecting 12V, and only after letting water drain from the area). Then use wheel dollies to get the car to a safe place away from other valuable stuff.

Most of the rest of the TSB is section 2, with different lists of things to inspect depending on how high the water got (level 1, lower edge of rim; level 2, axle centerline; level 3, top of rocker panel/lower door edge; level 4, lower edge of dash panel; level 5, top edge of dash panel) and whether the car was driven in the water.

Section 3 is then about repairs.

 

sounds cheap enough

 

Yes.

Connectors can get wet and dirty (flood water is filthy) and corrode over a period of time. Often flood cars seem to dry out and run but then begin to have difficult to find problems due to corrosion in places no one expects. Finding those problems is not easy for even a "trustworthy" mechanic. A scanner will not pinpoint those issues. It takes an experienced electrical auto tech with things like oscilloscopes and detailed wiring diagrams. Some issues can take many hours at $150 an hour. Maybe they get it running again only to find another problem two months later due to corrosion.

A common scam is to buy these cars at auction, move them to another state to get a clean title and sell them to an unsuspecting buyer.

With that said, you have not answered the most basic no start questions posted above in #2 and #3.

Measuring the 12v followed by a polarity checking jump box attempt would be my first move.

 

Don't forget that, using the scheme of the TSB linked in #10, the car is presumed unsafe at least until the early things to check and inspect in the TSB have been addressed; it should be stored with 12-volt and high-volt systems disconnected, outdoors and away from stuff you'd rather not burn.

 

It is unlikely a new Costco battery has suddenly gone bad but it is possible, maybe a 1% or less chance.

A battery load tester imposes a high load on the battery and monitors the voltage and sometimes the current to determine the battery capacity. A bad connection can add resistance and create a false result. The cheap instantaneous load testers don't have a large power resistor to properly simulate a large load so they pulse a resistor and extrapolate. Often leading to errors. So I would return to the seller or other auto supply and verify the capacity is still there.

With that said, your first battery may have failed due to an excessive parasitic draw caused by corroded wiring or connectors. I would check the parasitic draw which should be less than 30 ma after 10 minutes.

 

That information clearly states that it is for a vehicle that was submerged under water. OP's photos indicate that the car was never submerged under water. Even the carpet looks dry and there's zero evidence of being submerged. And OP has yet to clarify how high the water got or if the carpet on the floor of the vehicle, was damp. They also won't indicate how high the water level got. Meanwhile the mechanic on the phone who hasn't seen the car, as well as everyone else in this thread is giving advice for a vehicle that was submerged under water even though OP has never indicated in enough detail that its what they are dealing with.

 

Thanks for clarifying... That's the type of water exposure these cars are designed to handle without issue. It's equivalent to driving through a puddle. If you had standing water inside your vehicle that would be when things are designed to handle that.

Also make sure to check your spare tire wheel well as that can hold enough water to cause damage if its sloshing around for a long time. If it is filled with water there's a rubber plug at the bottom that you can pull with needle-nose pliers to drain it.

 

It appears that a bad connection was the cause of the "after" battery test, giving a bad result. Look at the resistance that was measured.