Longish story, which I'll shorten, but it is both funny and irritating at the same time. Our 2009 Prius with Nav needs a Multi-function Display repair. It cuts out intermittently and it's a general pain. Toyota quotes $7100.00 to swap out for a new one. So after several months of "putting up with it", I drove over to the dealer in the Pip and decided to see if their service dept had a less expensive repair option - which turned out to be a $4,000 refurbished unit. Still ridiculous on a car that's just 5 years old next month. The service writer gave me a phone number for a stereo shop and said since the unit is still working - albeit intermittently - then it might be repairable, and maybe the stereo shop can figure out what's wrong. So driving away from the dealer, in the Pip, I get a triangle of death and a message to check the hybrid system and stop as soon as it's safe. So I turn around and go back to the service dept. Turns out the problem is a sensor in the inverter which will cost at least $2500 to repair. Luckily, it's part of the hybrid system, so it's on the 10 year warranty. (Which is indeed fortunate. LOL) Unfortunately, the 2009 Prius with the dying MFD is way out of warranty, so if the repair shop can't fix it, the MFD will cost a substantial amount out-of-pocket. Maybe I should see whether or not I can still buy an extended warranty on the Pip. Sounds like I may need it - at least in my small sample set… Happy New Year.
Wow that's making me worry, I had my old '10 prius which lasted me 185,000 miles with out even coming close to the brake pad limit absolutely pristine. I already have have 13,000 miles on a car that's 4 months old 216 miles per day. Any idea what the exact problem or code was?
Apparently, it's a temp sensor in the inverter that's gone bad. small part, big repair job, unless they're replacing the entire inverter. They didn't tell me anything more than "about $2500" - a bunch of hours. Luckily, it's on Toyota's dime. Won't have a code until the paperwork is done, and that probably won't be until sometime next week. They're saying maybe New Year's Eve if they can get the part sometime tomorrow. So that makes it sound like it'll take at least a day to R'n'R the assembly. Ugh.
I hope you fill in the survey about owners who've had inverters and HV battery failure issues (whether covered by warranty or not).
There's a NAV screen out there on eBay for $495 Buy it Now. After trying to "jiggle" connections on existing one, I'd probably take the chance on something like this rather than trying to repair the old one.
No resolution on the PiP. The inverter is on 'backorder'. Wth. Car gone for perhaps another week? Unbelievable. As for the problem in the '09, surprisingly it was resolved by replacing the radio with a new head unit and nav. There was nothing wrong with the Multi-Function Display. The problem was with the radio and the actual nav/dvd system connection (still over $2,000 to replace both, according to Toyota). Toyota diagnostics fails again. Had I done as the "service advisor" recommended and replaced the MFD, I'd still be looking at something that didn't work - and something that didn't need to be fixed. Toyota and Toyota Service continues its quality free-fall in my estimation. Two cars, one less than two years old, the other less than 5. Both with fewer than 60k miles. I can only hope someone calls after this is all said and done expecting me to say I'm "Thoroughly Satisfied".
