Took 2011 Prius in For Diag, Car came out undrivable.

maybe they forgot to tighten the spark plug or reconnect the wiring.

ask them for the trouble codes, you paid for them

 

Let me know if you want to sell the car. Or if you want to fix the bad head gasket, I know a mechanic that will do it for much less than $3300

 

How long was it at the dealership? I suppose it's feasible that you do have a head gasket leak and it didn't really show itself in that way until you got it back because it sat longer allowing more coolant into the cylinder before the engine ran. Or it could just be that the issue just finally reached that point. I don't blame you for taking it somewhere else, but I don't think you can say with any certainty that they messed it up more than it was.

 

How about a rebuilt engine for the dealer's discounted hg price? Another 150k miles and no hg problems or oil burning. Hybridpit around the corner.

 

What’s the miles on it?

 

Maybe the guy just did it wrong the quote wrong the first time and called to offer the correction. ($3300 is a lot closer to right for a gasket job)

Either way I like rjparker's solution. Very good hybrid shop near you that can check out the rest of your car and tell you whether it is worth reinvesting.

 

Unknown. There are more and more posts not indicating how many miles on the engine so I just assume odometer is broken or need new dashboard display.

 

They clearly broke it. Lawyer up like most people here say they will do.

 

So RJ was talking about the cost from the dealer to replace your hg or Head Gasket was $3,300. There is a business in SoCal near you called the HYBRID PIT. http://www.hybridpit.com they sell rebuilt engines with new gasket,rings,and HG's head Gaskets that are complete and ready to be installed for about the same price. So when faced with your choice....a lot of people if they want to keep their car will buy a new engine from the Hybrid Pit for $3,000ish and have a local mechanic install it. Then you are starting over with an engine that will last you another 150K or more miles. But if your car was doing the "death rattle" in the morning that is usually a sign that the HG (head gasket) is on the way out. It just depends on if you want to keep this car and repair or invest in new.

 

“Burn off the coolant”, interesting explanation

 

Grit's comment was a joke, mine was not.

I believe a rebuild on these engines is far better than a head gasket job, which is your car's problem. Head gasket problems are very common on these Prius engines, 2010-15 on the hatchback and 2012-17 on the Prius v wagon. Bad pistons and rings are also common on 2010-14 Prius hatchbacks and v wagons.

These subjects are discussed every week here, sometimes every day. You pay a dealer for turnkey service, you don't need to know much. This is a technically oriented free forum, so generally you have to do some reading, ask thoughtful questions, provide as much detail as possible, and seek to understand. Including your location. You might live in Los Angeles or Louisiana as far as I know. We don't get to test drive your car, put it on a lift, use a borescope inspection tool or scan it with Techstream.

So for free advice you are our eyes, ears and tools. Having a good attitude and patience in a stressful situation has the potential to give you great results that last. How would you feel if you paid the dealer $3300 and the problem returned in 1-12 months. It happens. My dealer won't even offer a head gasket repair.

[By the way, "do not pass go do not collect $200" means something must be done now without delays or deviations. It is a reference to the classic Monopoly board game but it was intended to be serious advice here]

 

Take it to hybrid pit and have them go over the car. Then you can make a better-informed decision on whether it is worth spending the money to buy a replacement engine from them.

Buying an engine from them is a better cure than re-gasketing your old one, and that shop does enough of them that even at $3k it is cheaper and better than you'll get from most anywhere else.

 

I think technically their name is Hybrid Pit Stop, but even their web address doesn’t reflect that.

 

Could be worse, Prius overlanding is no. 1 in sketchyness.

 

I have used Gasket Masters, out of CA. They charge about $2500, but do a splendid job, if possible right at your own premises.Every few months, they do make a country wide tour, repairing Prius Gen 3s, mainly blown head gaskets. Your car does not have much mileage, so you will still get a lot out of it, after the repairs.

 

Not exactly my experience.