Is The Dealership Service Center Trying To Scam Me

My wife has a Prius from before we were married, recently I saw the "check hybrid system" alert come on the car. Took it to the Toyota service center near us to be checked. She has the top of the line extended warranty on the car. After a few days of not being able to diagnose the issue they started asking me if the car was in an accident (which I didn't know, but later found out my wife had a minor collision on drivers side in 2016 that was repaired through insurance at the time). They eventually said that it seemed to be an inverter issue, they ordered a new part and would be totally covered by warranty unless "further diagnostic reveals issues related to the accident the car was in in 2016" (apparently they pulled the carfax and found the collision).

Lo and behold today after the part arrived the factory foreman was looking at the car and found a broken wire on the drivers side and now they're saying the inverter may be fine but the wiring may be an issue. Since the accident was on the same side the repairs wouldn't be covered by warranty.

I'm a little skeptical as the car has driven perfectly for the 2 years I've driven it which was after it was repaired, there were no alerts or anything before now. It seems like the service manager from the beginning was trying to pin the issue on something accident related as opposed to the warranty.

 

I'm not really sure, I'm somewhat auto savvy but this was my wife's car and I think I initially came off a bit clueless since I didn't have answers to basic questions (the car outlasts me and I have no idea it's history). It seems like they're dragging their feet at pinpointing a problem, keep falling back on "Since it's a hybrid my hybrid tech (or factory foreman, or supervising mechanic) needs to look at it and they found..." for a while there it looked like the inverter needed replacing then it became a broken wire. It's been two weeks as of today since the car has been in the shop. They also lied and said the diagnostic fee isn't included in warranty (which I found out by calling Toyota corporate is). I'm new to hybrids or else I would've taken it to my trusted mechanic instead of the dealership, he told me now that 650 total is excessive if the problem is, indeed, a wire.

 

andddd an update from the dealership: turns out the entire inverter needs to be replaced because of damage to the bottom that was apparently caused by the accident two years ago. I investigated further with my wife who told me the car was only ever serviced by one person and his uncle owned the body shop she took it to after the accident, it's my father-in-law's neighbor, know him and the family well so gave him a call and he said if the inverter was cracked or damaged at the bottom it would take more like two weeks rather than 2 years to fail as it powers the entire hybrid system. He did his last service check about a month or so ago.

I asked the service rep on the phone if I could have the codes and a video of the damaged inverter, that was several hours ago and I'm still waiting. When I get it I'm going to send to the other mechanic to see what he can tell me and my next step is to go to Toyota corporate.

 

Yep, that is the next step, the guy has been avoiding me since I asked for diagnostic codes and a picture of the inverter.

 

Tech found codes.

P0A08 DC/DC converter status circuit

P0A78 Drive motor a inverter

P0A7A Generator inverter performance

P0A94 DC/DC Converter performance

 

This is a video of the inverter - http:// vid.penskecars.com/v/MKCRwZx4n2

There's clearly a dent, but I've been in contact with the mechanic who also owns the body shop that did the work after the accident 2 years ago. We have to go to geico for all the information but he remembers the accident as he's close with my wife's family and doesn't think that could've been a result of that (it was more driver's side door). In that case I assume perhaps a pot hole or something?? And seeing as their is physical damages is it a moot point and not covered by warranty? They just seem really adamant that it was this specific accident that caused it but the people who worked on the car after and also did routine check ups are saying that is nearly impossible (he's a great mechanic with an excellent reputation, I trust him...the dealership on the other hand have been sketchy). I don't have the details or I would check myself but seems doubtful with my basic understanding of warranties, working on getting that paperwork right now. Been such a headache but afraid we're going to be on the hook for $5K+ if insurance doesn't cover it