Did I get scammed - $514.82 "Hybrid Battery Service" ????

i think so. i would demand my money back, and threaten to call toyota corporate.

others have reported it. it usually involves cleaning the cooling fan for about $200.

 

Maybe one hallmark of a rip off service is an inscrutable description? "Hybrid Battery Service" could be anything, likely is that fan cleaning.That's something you can do yourself with a little bit of ingenuity in a couple of hours, and the dealership would do it in an hour tops, with no parts outlay.

 

Did they also top off the blinker fluid and lubricate the muffler bearings?

 

I heard they changed the muffler O pipe and added some elbow grease to the flux capacitor.

 

This is astounding! I think I would talk first to the service manager and find out exactly what they did. Then, if necessary, I'd go to the general manager of the place. If that fails, I'd report to the Better Business Bureau and maybe a Yelp review, too. I've never had to resort to those measures, but this is just egregious, if they actually charged you $500+ for something so totally unnecessary.

 

Moral of the story: ask questions. If they offer a "service", ask for specifics. Also ask if it's in the Toyota schedule.

And don't take their word for it, look it up, read through the Warranty and Maintenance Booklet, get familiar with it.

 

Ask if it is on the Toyota PRIUS or HYBRID maintenance schedule. There are many thing on the Toyota maintenance schedule that are not needed for the Prius.

 

I have not. It would be helpful if you can post a copy of your service ticket (omit any personal info, etc.) so we can see exactly what they wrote down and billed you for.

 

Yup. You got took. Sorry. Unfortunately, the paper says you asked for the service and you signed it, so I guess you're stuck. If it was me, I think I'd call it a learning experience and find another dealer. I've had some expensive lessons, too, so don't feel too bad.

The only thing that MIGHT have been necessary was to clean the battery fan. And that's if you haul pets that shed a lot. At 50k miles the battery is practically new and none of that is in the service schedule that came with the car. Or, if you live on a small island with salty air that can get into the sensing wires, they might need to be replaced. Perhaps it's routine for them to try to get people to pony up for this so called service, but cleaning the fan isn't all that hard to do and as for charging the cells, if they need it already, then there's something seriously wrong with the battery. None of that is routine. They cannot deny warranty service for you refusing unneeded stuff that's not in the car's maintenance schedule. Look up the schedule in your warranty and maintenance guide. Here's what I find in the 2015 Prius c guide.

 

i would like to know their procedure for 'recharging each individual cell'.

and i would like to hear corporates opinion of warranty denial because of lack of maintenance.

i don't know if you'll get anywhere, but at the very least, i would send a letter to the general manager/owner, and threaten a yelp review.

 

Without having all the details obviously I'm going to vote "scam".
I never remember reading anything about the Hybrid Battery needing to be recharged.

I would ask them to show you where Toyota recommends this?
If they can't their "Threat" that NOT doing this maintenance "might" result in a future warranty denial is empty.
Toyota isn't going to deny you future warranty support on your Hybrid Battery because you did NOT do something they never recommended you do in the first place.

Show me something tangible that suggest the maintenance they charged you for...."recharging the battery" IS something that Toyota recommends.

 

Why threaten? Just give them the justified "they ripped me off with unneccesary work" review. Followed by "avoid these vultures at all costs."

Plus, your local TV investigative reporter might be bored and want to do a story on this.

Me too. Ask them for a printout of the before and after voltage for each cell in the stack, plus a technical reference for the procedure - TSB, something from a Toyota guide, etc.

 

Let them know too, say the franchise manager. That might get some compensation, some sorta compromise, say some free oil changes. Or not.

 

I would speak to your credit card company about stopping the payment and the consequences of doing so for you and the dealership. If the credit card company agrees to stop it, then you have an even playing field to negotiate a settlement.

I agree that you got took. It is up to you whether you take it as a lesson or fight it in every way you can. Personally, I would be outraged.

 

Those are commonly overlooked maintenance item. I neglected the Johnson Rod service intervals, but luckily they never caused me a problem.

 

I got 300K miles on my last set of Johnson rods. Must have been good quality OEM stuff.

 

I thought a dealer needed to have a special charger shipped in to recharge the traction battery.

 

New technology requires new scams.