I was recently in an accident and had to get my Prius repaired at an auto body shop. I know they did something to the steering column. Everything is fine, except the traction control light is now on permanently. I brought into Toyota to try and fix and they said the spiral cable needed to be replaced because a sensor was likely malfunctioning and that it would cost $1,000 dollars. That seems pretty steep to me. Does anyone know a cheaper way to fix this problem? Toyota realigned the steering rack because the previous repair shop didn’t do it properly. They said that might fix the problem, but it didn’t. Now they say I have to pay another $1,000 to replace the spiral cable. It really sucks. Would really like my traction control system to work again. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Toyota only requires one mechanic at each stealership to be trained in hybrids... So it's safe to assume that they don't know what they're doing on days when that person is not available and because they're warranty specialists, they're going to keep replacing super overpriced brand new parts, even though they may not be certain that it will fix the problem. That's why we call them stealerships. @SFO might be able to help you find a reliable hybrid mechanic in the Bay Area to fix this at a reasonable price with parts that are much lower in cost because they're the same age as your 10 year old car. Also you need to read the fine print of the body shop paper work who repaired your vehicle, as well as read the paperwork of the insurance company that paid for the repairs. They are responsible for fixing your car and they have not done so... If the shop improperly aligned your steering rack than they're on the hook for the cost of those repairs/reduction in charges, as well as the cost of getting the traction control light issue fixed. And while the fine print from both parties may give them an out, I'd raise hell until you get results. Quite often if you keep contacting them and politely stating and restating your position they're going to do way more to get you to leave them alone. Don't let all these clowns push you around! Stick up for yourself!
Wherever the work is done, it will have to start with reading the trouble codes to understand why that light is on. If the codes are posted here, we could have better suggestions.
Looks like the code is C1231 relating to the traction control light. Attached is first page of invoice I received. Appreciate the help. They recommend replacing steering angle sensor (spiral cable assy). Is this possible to do on my own? I see online that the part is around $200 dollars. What does it involve? Will this definitely fix the issue? Not sure why the dealer needs $1,000 to fix. Thanks again for the help. 
Is an insurance company participating in this, what have they said? Have you shown this document to the auto body repair shop and told them they failed to do the job that they were paid to do and need to compensate/accommodate you in some way? Bottom line, they were paid to repair the car and they failed to do so and there are consequences for that failure!
Sometimes people forget to plug in the angle sensor again after having the wheel off. Or they get it improperly aligned. I'd check the easy stuff before deciding anything needs to be replaced. On the other hand, sometimes if that stuff is put back on misaligned, it can be damaged the first time the wheel is turned all the way left or right.
I just completed this job a week ago. I knew the price from dealer and got another qoute for $700. I got the part for under $10 shipped and did it myself. Any questions let me know. I have pics also. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
You can also try resetting the steering angle sensor with the paperclip obd trick! Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
There have been other threads on PriusChat about people buying the ten-dollar spiral cables on eBay and finding them not long-lasting or reliable. But they are so much cheaper than Toyota's; maybe just buy three at a time or so to save shipping, and keep the other two around for later. It's a little hard to test whether they will successfully deploy the airbag (except by driving the car into something to see what happens, which few purchasers elect to do). If you have access to a high-current micro-ohmmeter to test the cable by itself, that might be a usable way of testing. (Never use such a device to test a cable with the airbag attached; in fact, there are specialized guaranteed-low-current microohmmeters made just for doing that, and nothing else should be used.) There are a number of procedures (not "tricks") found in the repair manual (more info) that all involve a jumper wire (could be a paper clip) between different pins of the OBD port, sometimes combined with other steps. Each one does a specific task. Each procedure should be used consciously to do its specific task, in circumstances where that task is called for. Lumping them together as "tricks" to throw at the car blindly isn't a recipe for good outcomes. The most important one of all of them to know about is the one for getting the trouble codes from systems in the car (by counting dash light blinks). That is handy in a pinch when you don't have a code-reading tool with you. It is covered in a lot of threads here on PriusChat. The codes will then hint you in the direction of what to do next.