I got my first brand new vehicle 4 months ago, wasn't used to having something that handled so well and, of course, crashed it into a tree my second day of owning it. The repair was massive, but not enough to total it with my insurance (trust me, I tried). It's been in the shop since, thankfully a good, recommended shop that uses only Toyota parts, certifies the Toyota warranty afterwards, and is not affiliated with my insurance. Hopefully only a few more weeks to go. The real problem is that I bought this thing partly because I wanted to be a Prius-dweller: live and camp in it on weekends. I wanted to take advantage of the hybrid's behavior of charging the battery back up once an hour or so while I was inside running little stuff off my inverter. Emotionally, (irrelevant, I know), this vehicle was over my budget but was my ticket to finally start traveling in my life. So I lay awake some nights wondering if the thing will really run how other Prius-campers say it will after this massive repair. My nightmare is that I'll crawl into bed my first night in the vehicle and the ICE (gas engine) won't turn off because the sensitive electronics weren't repaired right. My question then is pretty general, though technical- is the ICE/battery charging behavior a sensitive system or is it a fairly fool-proof mechanism that is easily repaired? They're replacing the whole front end including the engine, but everything behind is fine, including the original battery. It seems unlikely that the shop would hand me back a hybrid who's ICE never turns off (lol), but maybe in Ready (park) mode it's different? And I'll come clean- it's a Highlander Hybrid; there just isn't a forum for us.
It is a scary road your going down and I wouldn't accept anything less than a hybrid back that operates and handles just like the one before the accident. Best of luck to you and your car and sorry to hear about your troubles. RE: repair to the Hybrid system: You might want to check the earlier generation forums as too many of us haven't buggered up our cars yet....knock on wood.
The correct forum is "Toyota Hybrids" - but I've reported it to the moderators who will probably move it. You're more likely to find someone there who might have intimate knowledge of your car. Also, it would be a good idea to change your identity to "Other Hybrid" rather than 2017 PRIUS. Meanwhile - sorry to hear of the accident - sounds like you were lucky. For an engine replacement, it must have been massive. Did it activate the air-bags? These days, repair parts are often in modules, complete with wiring looms and plugs, and many "just" plug in after being bolted in place. And if one part isn't installed correctly, there's a chance it won't work at all till it's rectified. Service personnel also have diagnostic tools which will test that the modules all talk to each other correctly - presumably the smash repairer will have included this in their estimate. Then, when they give it back to you, the vehicle continues to do checks all the time it is running (like it always did), and, if it detects a problem, it will throw a MALFUNCTION (on Prius to the dash display) which is recorded in the computer, and your TOYOTA service can read and solve the problems.
I agree with Alan. The Gen 4 Prius is markedly different than the Hylander Hybrid. Although the HyHy shares some similarities to the Gen 3 Prius, it an other hybrids such as the Camry & RAV 4 are different since they have a larger engine & other components. The 2018 Camry Hybrid is the first larger hybrid to be based off the Gen 4 hybrid. The Toyota Hybrids forum is at Toyota Hybrids | PriusChat Please update the vehicle in your profile so you do not get dangerous, falls, or misleading information.
What was damaged in the accident? If there is something wrong with the inverter, converter or engine, it will throw a code. Shouldn't the repair come with a warranty? If you test the Highlander during that period and find something not right, I would take it back and have the shop fix it. Good luck and keep us posted .
I updated my information, thank you for the notice. No it was a low speed impact thankfully. This is exactly the type of information I was looking for, thank you! Every time I read about some awesome feature my vehicle has, say, the little humidity sensor that adjusts the AC accordingly (can you imagine trying to DIY that in a custom RV?!), I freak out wondering if some mechanic will drop it on the floor... knowing that the whole HVAC might just come in one unit they 'plug' in makes me rest easier.
Thanks, yes the shop's work comes with a warranty and I also have the best Toyota Care, but I doubt that would get them to remedy any behaviors exclusive to car-campers... for example, if when sleeping inside with the AC on, the ICE were to turn on every 5 minutes to charge the battery instead of once an hour like it did when I bought it, they might just deny fixing it since everything else works.
i think any damage can be repaired correctly. unfortunately, they can only repair what they find. this may work sometimes, but you will often find hidden damage that comes back to haunt you months or years later, and insurance companies are reluctant to cover it, because it can be more expensive than the original repairs. and that got for all cars, not just hybrids. all the best with yours. personally, i would trade it in when i got it back, if i could afford to.
Bisco has a hybrid Camry, which is closer to your Highlander than a Prius, I believe. He has experience with both.
If the impact was low speed, what was hit that concerns you about camping in it? If the hit was to the AC system, it wouldn't work, and they would fix it. If the inverter pump was hit, fluid would not be flowing and cooling the inverter, so it would throw a code and that would be covered. The HV battery is buried in the middle, so that should be fine. We bought a 2017 Lexus RX450h after looking at a 2017 HyHi and pretty sure the platforms are the same as the layout in the engine bay and 3.5L configuration match. I wouldn't worry about it and drive the car and enjoy it. But if you can't do that, trade it in and get something else. Good luck.
To add to @alanclarkeau's comments, the repair shop should use the Health Check feature of a Toyota Techstream diagnostic system to scan for diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) before and after the repairs, as specified in Toyota’s Collision Repair Information Bulletin 2016-191, “Scanning for Electrical System Faults.” You could ask to see a printed Health Check report to make sure this has been done. Remember that some DTCs do not trigger any warning lights, and if it were my vehicle, after the repairs were complete, I’d also run the Health Check again after, say, a week or a thousand miles, to look for faults that might be detectable only after the vehicle has been driven for longer than a typical road test. Most dealers or repair shops would expect to be paid for this diagnostic service.
Dump the car when it is fixed, demand compensation from your insurance for diminished value, and buy a new one, take the hit and move on.
What's with you posting dates? This is the second one I've come across. Did someone hack your account?
Could it have been a reference to an archæopost being dug up to give advice to someone who had an accident last summer and hasn't been back since? -Chap
