1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

IPM failure at 60,000 miles, 2012 Prius V

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by pabloinla, Oct 31, 2017.

  1. pabloinla

    pabloinla Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2012
    4
    4
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Just had IPM replacement on my 2012 Prius V, 63,000 miles. Accelerating over steel plates, tire slipped and several warning lights came on, and some red light stayed flashing even with the system turned completely off! IPM is Intelligent Power Module, which is inside the Inverter.

    When the failure occurred, I drove just off the road without power. I turned off power and turned on again, no change. I phoned the dealer for help who referred me to Toyota Roadside Assistance. They set-up a tow service and took credit payment for $73.00 on the phone. Got towed to the dealer, less than 1 mile away! This was very lucky, I could have been in the middle of a freeway during rush hour! Dangerous!

    Had the car towed to the dealer. Next day service had checked. IPM failure, replaced under warranty, said cost would have been $3000.00. After 2 days waiting, I asked for a free rental. They said yes, rental was covered under the warranty for IPM. BUT YOU HAVE TO ASK! Since I did not have full coverage insurance, they took me to Enterprise who, uncertain who should pay for the insurance, charged the dealer for insurance coverage. Took over a week to get the car back because wrong parts were shipped. IPM has been replaced, not just software upgraded, because transistors burnt out!

    But I wanted the towing paid. Looked up IPM on the web and found an NHTSA listing for the recall with phone number for Toyota Customer Experience 888 270-9371 (there are several numbers one for each recall, but they all go to the same place.) This was NHTSA Recall 14V053000. Toyota rep said it was good I called them because dealer was not authorized to reimburse for towing. Was told to mail or email the dealer receipt, my towing receipt, & proof of ownership. The $73.00 towing will be reimbursed to me in 4-6 weeks. I got an acknowledgment of receipt via email.

    Further checking I found two other listings for NHTSA recalls associated with Prius V 2012, Inverter 15V449000; and Occupant Sensing System for Airbags 13V014000. I phoned again to Toyota. They told me these things are covered under Warranty Enhancement Program (WEP)! WEP extends warranty for certain NHTSA recall items to 8 years, 100,000 miles, and no action is taken unless the system fails! I think that is pretty F**ed up, because a car dying in heavy traffic, or on a camping trip, can be more than inconvenient! But there it is! I was fortunate on this one!
     
    Tim Jones and bisco like this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    what a pain. toyota quality is becoming an oxymoron.
     
  3. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    3,902
    1,064
    0
    Location:
    New Yawk
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    You never received notice of those Inverter/IPM recalls?
     
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  4. MelonPrius

    MelonPrius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2017
    809
    504
    0
    Location:
    Las Vegas
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Thanks for the info that towing and rental cars are included in the IPM extended warranty. 15 years with unlimited mileage gives me a peace of mind, except the hassles of being stranded in the middle of nowhere. On a side note, I'm happy with the way Toyota has stepped up in dealing with a known (and expensive) problem. I'm also cautiously optimistic with the reports of a WEP being applied to the EGR.
     
    pilotgrrl likes this.
  5. jonkdc

    jonkdc New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2021
    2
    1
    0
    Location:
    usa
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Did you (or anyone) ever actually get reimbursed from Toyota for rental and towing expenses related to IPM failure and repair? They have denied my request for reimbursement.

     
  6. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2018
    1,669
    546
    3
    Location:
    SE Texas
    Vehicle:
    2011 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I know....same crap happened to me 1100 miles from home and toyota had the car two weeks.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,474
    38,106
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    It took me a while to decipher that lol. Anyway, I would not wait for a warning light or symptoms (cold start knock), as specd in the WEP; get on with DIY cleaning preemptively.
     
    Tim Jones likes this.
  8. carlbarry

    carlbarry Member

    Joined:
    May 24, 2011
    63
    26
    0
    Location:
    Nassau County
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Thanks! Good to know. My 2012 car failed yesterday with 28,000 miles. This morning I received a voice mail from my Toyota dealer that the IPM failed, and no cost to replace. BUT unit will not be available until next mid-week (today is Friday).
    I'm going to check out the free rental, and also reimbursement for $80 towing.
    Thanks again!
     
    Air_Boss likes this.
  9. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    3,902
    1,064
    0
    Location:
    New Yawk
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    This is great news. Suitable for framing!

    Can only hope they wake up to the ABS Pump/Accumulator failure issue.
     
    carlbarry likes this.
  10. carlbarry

    carlbarry Member

    Joined:
    May 24, 2011
    63
    26
    0
    Location:
    Nassau County
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I just got off the phone with Toyota. They said I'm covered under the extended warranty, and there will not be a "diagnostic fee charged" (!!!!). But she couldn't find anything about reimbursing me for the towing, or getting a free rental.