Inverter issues - Need full hybrid system evaluation?

I have a 07 Touring with just over 19,000 miles.

My master warning light came on, so I took her to the local dealership (DCH Toyota Torrance). Codes came up related to the inverter.

After spending 3 hours evaluating, they told me that they could not determine what the exact issue was (within the inverter system) without doing a "Full Hybrid System" evaluation.

They also determined that the car had been in a serious front end collision. The front end damage was not visible in the posted photos, discolsed to me nor did it show up on my carfax report.

Due to the accident damage, they stated there's a low likelihood that they could make whatever required repairs under warantee. To their credit, the did not charge me for the 3hrs of evaluation and the Service Manager did drive my car for around 12 miles after clearing the codes to see if the light would come on again. Due to the evidence of front end damage, he did suggest that I try to get the dealership I purchased from to buy back the car. He said the steering didn't feel right either - he stated that it felt tighter than it should. It does sometimes make a quiet creaking noise when turning, but not very often.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

1. I've had the car since 7/7/09. This is the first problem I've experienced. I've driven about 1200 miles since taking delivery and have averaged 51 MPG in my heavy traffic mostly highway commute.

2. I'll have to ask about the DTC codes. The service manager said a general code came up for the inverter, but he said it was too vague for specific diagnosis. He did reset it and in the past 40 miles, nothing has lit up. Car drives normally so far.

3. Accident damage - The hood, though a Toyota part did not match the original car. The service manager stated something about the stickers not matching. The hood has been repainted (not well BTW, very obvious in person). The windshield is not OEM. The driver's front fender and door panel have been repainted, again poorly. Though clearcoat is somewhat smooth, the paint beneath appears to have sand paper marks. The Driver's side door and front fender are poorly aligned. The dash has evidence of the top panel being removed (superficial black-ish scratches on A pillars). When going over rough surfaces such as railroad crossings, there are some strange rattles from the suspension. The interior of the driver's door has a small dent on the frame adjacent to the B pillar - I'm assuming it's stress related from the frontal impact. This door also intermittenly creaks - such as when you negotiate uneven surfaces at low speed like speed bumps in parking lots. I'm assuming it's due to the mis-alignment of the door.

Regarding steering - the service manager stated that the steering didn't feel right compared with other Priuses he's driven. He said it felt tight / too high resistance. Feels OK to me, but I don't know what's normal. He also stated that it sound like on of my front wheel bearings is going, but I think it's really the crappy, stock, worn down Bridgestone Turanza EL 400 tires making noise.

Other than the sub par bodywork, the car is clean and everything else works well.

 

It's worth a try. My guess is that this car probably had salvage title level damage but was not reported to the DMV, hence the reason why it appeared as a clear title through Carfax. I'm will be reaching out to the dealership first to see what recourse I can negotiate. I will try Carfax as well to see what options I have.

I hate to give this car up - dispite the issues, I really like this car!

 

I bought it on line. The dealer had a good rep - ebay 100% feedback / multiple dozens of transactions. There were not close up photos. I could photograph this car right now and be able to easily hide the defects by camera angels and lighting. The car is what you might call a good "10 footer" - meaning looks good from 10 feet/but don't look up close - a term I've heard some in the vintage car community use to describe like cars. Needless to say, this will be the last time I buy online/out of state! Though this experience does make me feel ill, getting over 50MPG ave on my long commute does help to take the edge off!

 

Yes - I'm in a city on the Palos Verdes Penenisula - and our offical city name is "Rolling Hills Estates." Any local input would be greatly appreciated.

Regarding title and purchase - title comes up clean, no accidents and unfortunately, when I contacted the dealer (while negotiating price) he said I could save some money if we did the transaction outside of Ebay. Since they had 100% feedback, I thought it would not be an issue. Again, I'm learning some painful lessons.

The problem with Carfax is that if you've totaled your car and do not report it to insurance it will not show up in a Carfax report. There's no guarantee that even if a police accident report was filed that it will hit Carfax. Though I still consider Carfax a must in a used car purchase, it's not a great a benchmark as it's made out to be. From what I've read, it's difficult at best to get Carfax to pay up.

DCH Toyota Torrance did reset my warning light and it has not come back on over the past week/200+ miles. Perhaps the master warning light coming on was a fluke?

I'll be reaching out to the dealer (I bought from) this weekend. It's taken a while to respond since work has been really crazy and I've needed to photograph & build my case, along with trying to find out what legal options I have.

 

Update: I've been playing phone tag with the dealer (they are in Ohio). This morning my car would not start. Master warning light has come on and I can only select neutral. I'm assuming I need to have the $1500 hybrid diagnostic to sort this out, but am holding off until I can have a chat w/the dealer who I purchased from.

Those of you who are considering buying used: All the salvage title Prisues on Ebay have had front end collisions. From what I've seen, it does not take much damage to create a salvage title. I would strongly advise against buying online unless the selling party agrees to guarantee return w/shipping included if dealer inspection is negative.

Major flaws in body work can easily be hidden in photographs.

 

Forgot to attach a pic of the warning lights. The pic of the car is not mine, but one I recently saw on Ebay which was listed as salvage.