Am I Being Taken for a Ride?

Last night my 2010 Prius' hybrid system experienced a fault while driving down the freeway. In previous days the Traction, Brake and ABS lights lit solid. No codes. Coasted to the side of the road and towed it to the nearest dealer. Today service text me that they are still working on the car, it's 1:00pm. I ask "You're just doing a diagnostic right?" No reply, so I text the assistant. Ask again about the diagnostic, and he says "Yes and also a recall". I ask if the recall is related to the problem. "Just checked, and it is not related. Recall is free" So you did the diagnostic already? What was wrong? I ask... No reply... Yet.

First guy texts back fifty minutes later "Yes sir!" (just diagnostic). So I look up to see which recalls have not been applied to my vehicle. J0V 2010-2014 2012-2014 Prius V Hybrid System Software Update. This is a failsafe failure recall to fix a problem that can cause damage to the hybrid system and inverter. That's my understanding anyway. Who does a recall on a broken car?

Anybody think this is fishy?

 

More to the story now. When they got back to me, they said "The problem is your fuel pump needs replacing. Also, your fuel injectors need to be cleaned. I noticed that you have an aftermarket 12 volt battery. It needs to be replaced. It not holding a charge."

My response "You know that battery is 2 days old, and I measured the voltage at 12.88 v while waiting for the tow truck last night?" No response... When I asked you if the recall was related to the problem, you said it was not, but the J0V recall is a hybrid system recall, but the message on my HUD clearly says Check Hybrid System. You're telling me it's the fuel pump, and it's not related to the recall?" No response.

$150 for the diagnostic, which now I question if it even took place. They called me again to let me know that they were not able to perform the recall remedy because of the battery issue. I show up, immediately open the trunk and measure the 12v battery voltage with head lamps on... 12.8v. F***ers...

 

The message is not verbatim, but conveys the meaning.

 

It was out of gas! After forcing the vehicle into maintenance mode several times to force the engine to run it finally gave the gas out code.
So I guess replacing the fuel pump would have solved the problem because when they took the fuel pump out they would have seen the tank was empty.