Check Hybrid System- Dealer has no idea

2013 Prius C THREE 67k miles

Got out of my car after using it friday. hopped back in to go to work tuesday was getting," Check Hybrid System, stop and pull over immediately". I put about 30k miles a year on my car so i run it hard and Im probably due for oil change and tranny fluid drain and fill but other than that I have no idea because the car was working fine friday. I tried going into accessory mode then holding brakes and powering up ,i forget what thats called, but no luck

Towed it to my mechanic, he said that he was getting generator errors (and tsp or tsb things?) and that he could most likely do the work but that I should make the dealer do it because it may be under warranty and didnt charge anything. So got it towed to the dealer and after the hybrid tech got in they said they see some generator error but they cant reset it. but also mentioned they got the car to come on.

So at the end they told me they need the car for tomorrow and will give me a rental because they have to call corporate in California to talk to the engineers to see whats going on because they ," have no smart idea." I appreciated the honesty but I wanted to see what yall think?

 

I'm still waiting to hear back from them so no idea yet. I imagine I'll hear from them sometime Saturday.

but I thought I always knew when there is something blocking the intake vent fan in the rear seat because the gas engine won't shut off. Doesn't that fan cool the battery?

 

And they never called me... I'll call them and update monday

 

well I called the dealer slightly before 5pm and the guy handling my car wasnt there so, I Will update when I know something

 

Ok so I just got off the phone with the dealer. They think its either the power inverter or the transmission and they'll let me know which soon.

I'm just not sure if I still want the car if it can't handle the way a drive and major parts are failing @67k..

 

Yea I try to be gentle but I'm doing deliveries and sometimes u just gotta be a little agresive. Im just not sure how to get out of this car without being financially screwed but this is probably the wrong forum for that question

 

So they said it was the transmission. Which is odd because wouldn't one notice a tyranny starting to die?

 

yea they said its covered under the 100k mile hybrid system warranty.

 

Yea thats what most people tell me. I mean I do deliveries, im doin like a 100 miles a day M-F and going like 80mph on the expressway for like 20 miles a day too. Also im literally hitting the pedal to floor at times durring rush hour traffic,I also never changed the tranny fluid but most people I say this too still say that it shouldn't have died that soon and there are taxi services that use the prius and im sure they are not being gentle. I will definitely not wait that long to change the new transmission's fluid this time though...

 

Whelp Im getting the car back tomorrow.. They said it was actually the Generator(part of the transmission from what they say) which is only covered under the 60k power train warranty but, because they told me sooo many times that it was considered the hybrid system and under 100k warranty that they will eat the $4200 cost and ill have to pay $220 or about 1/4 of the cost of labor...

Does this sound reasonable to you guys? It seems so to me. But I also remember my mechanic saying that he saw a bunch of ntsb's coming back when he first inspected the car before recommending I send it over to toyota. and mentioned something about a heatshield for the generator?

Just curious what everyone thinks really

 

Sorry I meant tsb