2007 Prius - Inverter died (82k miles)

You should pursue this as a warranty repair. Call Toyota headquarters directly if the service manager doesn't know

 

Barani, welcome to the site.

At first your story sounds like you could have had a weak or dead 12v battery and a third attempt to start the car may have worked.

However it only takes one jump start with reversed polarity (attaching the negative lead to the positive terminal) to blow the fuse and damage the inverter. The warranty doesn't cover this situation.

I'd start shopping around for an inverter and an indy garage like Luscious Garage for the install. Also check the voltage of the 12v battery and replace it if it is low.

 

If the DC/DC 100A fuse was blown, that is circumstantial evidence that the jumpstart was botched and therefore the inverter was damaged due to negligence on the part of whomever did the jump.

The good news is that a used inverter can be bought for a three-digit amount and it is not very difficult to replace.

 

There are a number of stories here about reversed jump starts by AAA and the like. It happens more often than one would expect. It is trivial to jump the Prius as no major current is involved, so if it didn't work the first time then that would be the likely scenario.

 

Yeah it definitely sounds like the initial problem was nothing more than a flat (or failed) 12V battery, and that all the other problems have arisen from a failed jump start. I'd be 99.9% certain of that, particularly with the blown fuse which is pretty much a sure sign.

It's more likely that the AAA guy did the damage than the dealer in my opinion. The dealer tech would know for sure to use the front jump terminal (under the hood), which is pretty hard to get wrong. The AAA guy might have gone straight for the battery (in the rear hatch) which is a bit darker and harder to access, and a lot easier to make a mistake.

Do you remember seeing where exactly the AAA guy tried to jump it? Was it up front under the hood, or was it in the hatch at the rear?

 

Good so far. The next question is what was connected to the other end of the cable that the red clip was attached to.

 

You would think that after a few botched jump starts and claims or law suits for damage repair those motor clubs like AAA would warn all the tow truck drivers ahead of time adamantly about the proper way to jump start a Prius (or any hybrid for that matter).

I would assume those instances of botched jump starts to be very few and far between by now.

Well you know what happens when you assume . . .

Patrick, since you are monitoring this thread can you quickly go off topic for a sec and tell me if you are aware of any front or rear bumper changes between 2004 and 2009. The reason I ask is some of the aftermarket bumpers on ebay are advertised 2004-2009 while some are 2006-2009 and some are 2008-2009. I need a front and rear and nobody is answer this in my thread so i figured I'd ask you since you know quite a bit about the Prius . . . thanks

 

I am not aware of any bumper cover changes. However there could be, I just don't know.

For example, the engine plastic under covers design changed during the 2G model years. So this may have affected the front bumper cover.

Your best bet would be to buy a used bumper from a donor vehicle of a similar model year instead of buying an aftermarket part of unknown quality and fit.

 

thank you Patrick, while I agree used oem is better than new aftermarket, I would think that in a car accident the bumpers are the first thing to get destroyed so finding a prius in a salvage yard with good bumpers will be very difficult but I'll call around. thank you.

 

Yes, it may not be easy. Try autobeyours.com

 

If it was a portable jump kit and you witnessed the AAA connect the car correctly as stated in your post 8 then the damage must have been done at the dealers.

John (Britprius)

 

They put information in the user manual for the owner to read, not that any do. If people don't read the book they're not going to read any stickers.

They are not in the job of training third party providers either.

 

While in part I agree how many stickers do you want on your car. If it had been parked so that you could not get to the jump point under the hood you would need a sticker by the battery in the rear of the car. Then you would need a sticker on the outside of the hatch to explain how to open the hatch to get to the battery, because the release on the hatch will not work with a flat battery.

John (Britprius)

 

decals.