Inverter gone bad.

The only inverter failures I have ever heard of were from abuse (no coolant or coolant pump malfunction during continued operation) or physical damage (rodents chewing wires, frontal accident, etc).

What are your symptoms, what are the codes, and why do they think it is the inverter. Posting all the codes is the best way to get help on this forum. If not listed on your dealer estimate, they should know and be able to tell you.

You can buy an inverter on eBay for $250 to $450: prius inverter | eBay

 

Sorry to hear it. Reversed jump starts are the main cause of inverter failure, if the fuses don't do the protection they are supposed to do. Don't be hard on yourself, you are by far not the first.

Where are you located? There may be an independent Prius shop that can do the work.

 

With the added information of a jump start, a fried inverter is very possible. Generally it is a poor connection (sparking) or more commonly reverse polarity. The fusible link blew as well which is current, not voltage so my guess is you had the cables backwards.

Buy a used inverter and have some shop put it in. They aren't that difficult, just observe the safety precautions and detailed instructions in the Toyota service manual.

This is why I am a huge fan of carrying these around in a prius:



$35 would have saved you all of this trouble. The usual advice is never jump start a prius. But if you have to, these are perfect.

They do not conduct until a delay after being physically connected (no sparking). They are polarity independent and will connect the battery properly no matter which way you connect the wires or in what order (no reverse polarity).

Really they are good for any small car, but they work perfectly in the Prius since the "starting current" is so laughably low to flick a few relays and not chug over a motor with a starter.

 

You might contact Boulder Hybrid Conversions and see who they can suggest.
Also give 3prongpaul | PriusChat a private message.