New owner with serious repair cost concerns for the future

If you are really that concerned, you always have the option of purchasing an extended warranty. You can get a great (7 yr/100K) Genuine Toyota Platinum Warranty through Prius Chat (Search Discounted Extended Warranty) for a very fair price. And, there's no rush, as long as you get the extended warranty before your factory bumper-to-bumper warranty expires (3 yrs/36K miles) you'll be fine. So, set a little aside each month and when your at 35 months or 35K miles give Troy (TOG) a call and get the extended warranty. Or, just keep putting away a little each month and use that if you ever need it!

 

Did you lose sleep for years over the possibility of a multi-thousand dollar transmission repair bill for your other cars ?

 

For any part that could fail on the Prius, there is an equally expensive part that could fail on a non-hybrid. Thankfully the Prius is extremely reliable.

Lkie with any vehicle, do your research on the failed part and you can save a lot of money vs. dropping it off at a dealer and giving them a blank check.

 

Nice screenname.

 

yes

 

You skipped the opening bars.

In order to get to the failed part, a $250 (!!) diagnosis/inspection fee is required at the dealership unless you can read the flashing lights and decode their meanings.

 

As usual tp, you start with one grain of truth and add 99 grains of BS or spin.

-- The $250 fee is far from universal. I usually hear $100-$150
-- Many repairs do not require codes to figure out
-- DTCs can be pulled at home or an auto parts store, and advice sought here for diagnosis and repair.
-- And lastly, diagnostic fees are not exactly unheard of in conventional cars.

 

Once you're old enough to drive you'll find out that all dealerships (regardless of brand) charge this kind of money to look at a car. Independent mechanics charge a lot less, or sometimes do diagnosis/read codes for free (great way to get you in the door).

My personal experience is that my prius has covered 30k, and needed oil and petrol, and an occasional wash. My GM Vauxhall Vectra covered 35k from brand new, needed two new fuel pumps, two fuel regulators, a new head unit, two new door mirrors, a new drivers door module and a new wiper motor.

Even if at year 10 i need a new HV battery or transaxle i will still be ahead of the game with the fuel pumps, clutch, gearbox, brakes and who knows what else in the GM vehicle.

 

The standard diagnostic charge in NY and CA for independent issues looks like $250. I would get very upset if my Accord required such a high diagnostic fee.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ailure-my-way-home-coachella.html#post1309032
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...8-prius-red-triangle-light-3.html#post1309573

 

No, not paranoid, but possibly not assessing the risk correctly. In my day job we do FMEA (Failure Mode Affects Analysis) which involves a risk level and a frequency. Something may be high risk, but low frequency (such as a prius transaxle failure) and that may or may not be a bigger problem than something medium risk with high frequency (transmission failure in a regular car). It's all about the probability and your ability to deal with the failure effects. do you always have $1000 kicking about to cover a transmission rebuild? fine, you can cope with the risk. could you have $2k-$3k available in the unlikely event of a transaxle failure? if so, you can cope with the risk. (there's then a whole other topic about whether you should leave that money available or invest it)

 

Then add disappointment to your personal problem list
Hondacare Question: Diagnostic Fee - Honda Odyssey Forum : Odyssey Minivan Forums
http://www.hondacarforum.com/honda-technical/53362-97-honda-accord-check-engine-light.html

 

Dude, don't stoop to his level! It's not Tpfun's fault his dad bought a shit car.

 

^^ Am I ?
I only meant to point out that Honda also charges diagnostic fees in the Los Angeles area.

Two quick googles found Toyota dealers charging $110 - $130.

 

If the diagnostic process is strictly electronic and you have any common sense at all you should be able to easily negotiate out of the diagnostic fee. That is of course if your dealing with people who also have common sense.

The deal I had with previous honda dealer was is if the mechanic spent more than 30 minutes on the computer diagnostics he can charge me the hourly rate. 30 minutes is just about $48... I had my Civic in probably 6 or seven times while I owned it and never got charged a diagnostic fee.

My kids Subaru, I had to go to three places before I got the same deal.

We'll see what happens when my Prius has to go in with a problem.

 

Ask yourself how many silent owners there are for every vocal one. The internet tends to amplify significantly. Remember, there are now over 1,000,000 Prius owners in the U.S. now.

I myself have surpassed the bumper-to-bumper warranty period 3 times now with 3 different Prius over the past 10.5 years of ownership. Never have I even considered the purchase of an extended warranty. The tech has proven more reliable than traditional vehicles I've owned in the past.
.

 

Agreed w/Sagebrush. Although my Prius has not been problem free, I have NEVER paid $250 for diagnostics for any problem under or out of warranty. IIRC, I've never had to have the dealer read any DTCs off my car. I can't remember paying ANY money for diagnosing problems while I was under warranty.

I've had my local dealer try to diagnose and fix a horrible noise and a squeal 2x, while out of warranty and IIRC, they charged me only for ~30 mins of labor each time.

OP, pay no attention to tpfun, our non-Prius and non-hybrid owner resident troll. http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-...onsidering-prius-iv-2011-a-2.html#post1291647 and http://priuschat.com/forums/honda-hybrids/86559-civic-hybrid-why-buy-one-3.html#post1302157 are pretty accurate descriptions of his behavior.

 

As you read those horror stories, notice how many involve using jumper cables badly?

One level of paranoia would replace the 12 volt battery every 4 years.

I bought auto polarity cables, the more paranoid would get a AAA card.

Universal - Garage Pro Jumper Cables

 

Heard that. It only sold 33.6k units in US March '11. Definitely a POS.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: March 2011 - KickingTires

 

You are one tough negotiator.
I am surprised they are willing to deal. Are you a regular customer ?

I guess lesson one is never have a car towed to a dealer unless it's under warranty.