2006 PRiis recall possible for my issue?

Last week I received a horrible shock. Toyota service told me my 2006 Prius with only 63K needs a new HV ECU DC DC Converter Inverter Hybrid Inverter (or any of the many names I've heard it called) to the tune of $5800. Every hybrid owner knows the risk going in that someday they may need to replace the pricey hybrid battery, but no one EVER mentioned anything about this component that is way more expensive and apparently very, very vulnerable. It's like the nightmare with the HID headlights all over again. The safety issue is real; i.e., the car will stop dead while driving unless I replace this component. And no one can explain to me why a car with such low miles and so electronics dependent should have such an expensive and fragile component. I was having problems with my SECOND over-priced 12V battery randomly discharging over several months until it finally died and I had to have the car towed and a THIRD 12V installed, plus a couple of fuses for $500. When I picked up the car from my local mechanic he told me there were all kinds of warning lights that he couldn't reset. I immediately took it to Toyota who scanned it and got codes P0A08 and P0A09. I've spent hours on Prius Chat and other forums trying to understand it and have hit the limits of my intelligence. I called Toyota corporate and they offered me 50% discount since it was "out of warranty" but with low miles. I tried to make the case that the problem predated the end of my warranty which expired Sept 30, 2014, but they weren't having any of it. Two comments by Toyota service and the Toyota corp rep have made me wonder whether there are known issues with this component. The service person's first question was, "Have you had all your recalls done?" The Toyota corp rep volunteered to me that if there is a recall I will be reimbursed for the part. I had not specifically asked her about a recall. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INFO ON A RECALL FOR THE HV ECU COMING DOWN THE PIKE?? I want to love my Prius, I want to believe that buying a hybrid was the right thing to do, but now I feel punished for it.

 

I've read about "backwards" jumps, though I'm not sure how that can happen, and I think I would know it. It may have been a function of how often I had to jump the 12V as it began to fail. I realize now, painfully, how little I understood about the electronics of this car. Especially head-smacking was the number of times I went out to my car in the a.m. to find my battery discharged, and FINALLY figuring out that if I parked within 10 ft of my front door (where I left my extra "Smart Key" just inside) it would turn on the computer and drain the 12V. No one EVER told me about that. I called Toyota service to ask them about it and they said casually, Oh yeah, we had that happen with a bunch of Avalons we parked too close to the key box. I've asked many people about this dumb issue with the Smart key and almost no one heard about it including the manager of the local Enterprise rental. My question remains, why would such an expensive part be so vulnerable. In what universe should anyone be shelling out thousands of dollars for a part on a car with such low mileage. Having said that, I will check Ebay. Thank you.

P.S. I do know there is no recall...I'm just wondering if there is any talk of a widespread problem that might lead to one.

 

I really appreciate your replies. I discovered the Smart Key issue by READING THE MANUAL. Sigh. I promptly pushed the "key" button to turn off the Smart Key (which saddened me no end since it was my favorite feature of the Prius). May I respectfully offer a challenge to whether the Prius has poorly designed components by mentioning the many recalls the 2006 has had. The HID lights that I previously referenced was a big, fat, scary screw up that cost me hours and hours of time and energy and some dangerous situations. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the inverter that was recalled was different from the HV ECU one, instead it was related to the cooling system. So what I really want to know is how to specifically avoid issues with the 12V that may lead to blowing up the HV ECU.

Toyota did offer a "discount" so now it will ONLY cost me $2144.48 (a nice round number!). Still outrageous and unaffordable for me. I don't have confidence in my local Toyota service center, and I feel certain if I bring the car in for this fix they'll find some way to get additional money out of me. That is what they do.

I live in Central VA and have searched high and low for an independent who knows hybrids and won't rip me off. There's a company called the Hybrid Shop that reconditions batteries and trains other shops in hybrid technology. They have a shop 95 mi from me and one that is 50 mi from me but both of their hybrid specialists are out for 6-8 weeks recovering from surgery. It's really too far to go with a bad inverter anyway. I'm in a college town and we're tripping over Priuses here so you'd think there would be a market, but I'm not finding it. I'd appreciate any recommendations.

 

I found it startling that the Toyota corp rep was actually fairly helpful and responsive. Like all Americans I spend most of my free time dealing with horrible customer service from pretty much every big corporation. So, while I think she should have covered the entire cost of the part and labor, it wasn't as awful as I expected. At the end of the conversation she asked if there was anything else she could do and I said, "yes, you could lend me $2000."

 

I spoke to Mac himself and that was my next try. However, comments on yelp are that they are pricey. I am the first and only owner. It was a huge splurge at the time, only the 2nd new car I'd ever owned. It was purchased in VA so no CARB warranty. I did pick up on that from my hours of reading on PC. Just checked Ebay and there are slews of HV inverters for under $300. Unbelievable. These dealers just prey on us knowing we may become desperate without our cars. gggrrrrr.

 

Very helpful and excellent info about caring for the 12V. Clearly the 12V is the gateway to bigger problems with the electrical system and understanding it is vital to the health of the Prius. Wish I had this info from the beginning, but I didn't know what I didn't know.

 

Patrick, anything I should look out for in buying an HV ECU on Ebay? Does mileage matter?

 

Yup