2013 Prius 3gen , ABS, Brake, and Traction Control lights came on suddenly?

That's what you're up against for one with this model then there's some other issues that are getting ready to happen close to this mileage If you think $3,000 is something you're spending what are you going to do in the head gasket blows or it takes out the connecting rod or what have you that's 5 or $9,000 or somewhere in there depending upon where you live and who you contract to do this work so you can easily have 15,000 in a generation 3 Toyota Prius for absolutely no reason other than you own the car and you think you should spend the money because you need to drive to work and it seems this is where people are left so there's always that if you think of 2012 or 13 car is worth about $7,000 worth of work You're looking at three of it right now when the engine goes it's another 28 to $4,500 so you add up your brake job and then your engine job and then look at your car overall and you just spent $7,000 some dollars on this 2013 car that's how old now well there you go That's something only you and your mind can maul over what I do it absolutely not No sir but I have many ways to get to work so I'm not under any pressure when something breaks I can take my time assess the situation and do whatever it is I'm going to do without any worry of how I'm going to get anywhere because outside of my window there's a field of cars motor scooters bikes and everything that work impeccably so when one breaks it's not a catastrophe here with most people when their car breaks it's a major disaster that has to be dealt with immediately That's how the industry wants that to be so you make silly choices and bad choices and spend lots of money keeps you working and the country moving I guess they're not doing that with my money so you've got lots of things to maul over here but this is a common thing you could have read about all this long before you bought the car I'm sure the car was pretty You needed a car and here you are You want to get out of this real quick Go grab yourself a Toyota Yaris or a generation 2 Prius and probably never have to do any car work again as you're starting to know it anyway completely different animals and different experiences completely but only you can come up with those things Good luck my friend I'm sorry you stepped in this pile.

 

Sadly true.

How long have you had it?

EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system ever been cleaned? If not, head gasket is likely to let go soon. If you’ve just recently acquired, it might be held together by stop-leak product.

Head gasket failure typically manifests as shaking at cold start-up after sitting overnight. And coolant loss.

 

If the lights went back out before you got the trouble codes, then what the dealer says they saw is the best information you have to go on.

If those lights come back on, you can retrieve trouble codes yourself, this way:

Blink (a/k/a Flash) Codes – How to. | PriusChat

Of course, they might only confirm what the dealer has told you.

 

Yes I have had the EGR system cleaned about 6 months ago. I have had this for 3years. Thank for the info on the head gasket.

Would you say the cleaning was thorough? Did they do the intake manifold too? Considering the miles when you did this, I'd still be "cautiously optimistic"; that's a long hiatus. Research head gasket replacement too, and who can do it near to you. There's some links in my signature on head gasket repair, and the bottom link is the full engine section of the Repair Manual.

To keep the EGR system behaving like new every 50K from day one is optimum. It slow-but-sure cakes up with carbon, the EGR cooler doesn't do much cooling with a carbon layer, and the intake manifold EGR capillaries (one at each port) clog unevenly, with cylinder one tending to clog up first (the cylinder at passenger end, as you stand at front of car).

Do you think this price was fair for the master cylinder replacement and pump assembly?

Yeah seems reasonable.

Should I be looking for a different Prius?

I would just wait and see.

I have experienced the shaky cold start a few times, but not in a long while.

That "can" be indicative of head gasket leaking coolant into cylinders. Can also be due to short run previous day leaving water in the intake of EGR passages. Any trouble lights?

 

For the brake booster components I don't know much, hopefully others will comment. I've read here, to just keep driving it till it becomes intolerable, say cycling more than every 5 seconds??

I'd suspect leakage from the engine valve cover (presuming that's what you mean by "front engine cover"?) is unrelated, though not sure. Doesn't hurt to leave that be till you get around to head gasket replacement; the cover has to come off then anyway.

 

An independent shop may work out, and may save some. They may also struggle with the Tech Stream, post replacement.

Your call; I would go with dealership. $3k (all-in) is not crazy for this.

 

Sometimes that kind of question is valuable to ask, and sometimes it's what somebody wants to believe because the sensor is giving bad news so shoot the messenger, but in this case it doesn't matter anyway because the sensor in question is part of the master cylinder/booster assembly and not separately replaceable.

The "cycling" Mendel is talking about here is of the brake pressure pump, sounds like a little joy buzzer or rattlesnake. It's the sound you hear when you open the driver's door if the car has been sitting overnight.

So, have you been noticing anything different about that sound? How long does it have to run in the morning when you open the driver's door before it shuts off? Does it repeatedly run by itself when you're not even doing anything with the brakes? (That's the "cycling" Mendel means.)

The folks who say wait till it's every 5 seconds, I don't get. The normal period is more like hours if you're not using the brakes and the system's not leaking. Waiting for that to be down to 5 seconds makes me wonder "what does it take to convince you there's a problem?". Maybe some people just want to eke out the last miserable months they can from the failing part.

But on the other hand, it's a gen 3, so there are two parts really:



The leak that causes a problem like this is typically in the top one. A Toyota dealer will usually replace both at the same time and call it a day, 'cause it's your money and they want to make sure they won't see you again.

If you do it yourself, or at another shop, you can often solve the problem by just replacing the top part. Saves a bunch of part and labor cost.

But think again about the idea of waiting until the pump is cycling every few seconds. At that rate, you've been putting (you could do the math more carefully than I have, but at least) months worth of normal wear on that bottom part for every day of driving around that way. If you've waited that long, you probably are better off just shelling out for both parts. (And that might be part of why Toyota always wants to change both.)