2011 Gen III Prius, 150K miles. Just last week in the middle of going 50mph on the highway, my Prius’ yellow triangle, traction control, check engine light, ABS light, anti lock light all came on at once and I could no longer accelerate. By the time I pulled over, every display was flashing and I couldn’t turn the car off without a hard power-off. Got it towed to the dealership, dead inverter. Cost of fixing is $3,900 - they recommended a few other repairs to get it in optimal condition, including spark plugs and coolant repairs - totalling $4,900. With a Prius that’s 11 years old and 150K miles on it and has a Blue Book value of $5,000 - I’m hesitant to invest 100% of its worth into fixing it - but used car prices are crazy and I’m screwed either way. However, I’m most hesitant on what a dead inverter might foreshadow, and if there are any other problems on Gen III priuses that commonly follow a dead inverter? I’m especially concerned about the HV battery - since it’s still the original, and is nearing its average lifespan and is usually $4-5,000 pre repair. Any wisdom on the matter appreciated - or if inverters are usually an isolated incident. Thanks!
I don't have a good answer to your question but if you do opt for repairs I would shop around, there is a place near me that sells a refurbished inverter for $650-$800 with a 2 year warranty, with installation it's probably still under half of the dealer quote.
gen 3 at 150k? yes, move on as quickly as you can afford to, before you blow a head gasket and need engine replacement. unfortunately, this is not a good time to buy a car
There's nothing in particular that causally connects an inverter failure with anything else (other than the inverter cooling pump, maybe). You have other things with their failure probabilities wherever the age and mileage puts them, but not really increased or decreased by knowing the inverter went out.
There was a software update for the inverter, two actually. The first was for protection, in particular during hard/sudden acceleration, and the second was to mitigate a fail-safe shutdown that could leave you stuck/stranded. In Canada we were notified about the first of those updates in a letter dated March of 2014. Do you know if the car's had these software updates?
UPDATE: Got in touch with the dealership and relayed the information you all shared with me here. The codes they had pulled from my Prius were P0A1A, P0A94, and P324E - and after looking at “Warranty Enhancement ZE3” that both Mendel and Roger recommended - I learned that any one of the following codes have to be present in the car: P0A94, P324E, P3004, POA1A. I had 3 of those 4 codes turn up a match, so I was definitely eligible. Plus, I got the recall for the inverter that this Warranty was for, which was Recall Number “14V053000”. So if anyone comes across a Prius inverter issue, make sure that: Your Prius is a model from 2010-2014; You had gotten a 2014-issued Recall Number “14V053000” Your Prius has one (or multiple) of the following codes: P0A94 P324E P3004 POA1A If you meet all 3 of these criteria, you are entitled to a warranty repair regardless of mileage. Thank you so much everyone!
Luckily I have a backup car. I had an induction cleaning last year to alleviate this worry with the Prius, hopefully it pays off. So far so good! I was getting warnings by 100K from most people. 50K miles later...
