Hi. New to hybrids. I do all my own work and have never been to a garage. How tough are hybrids to work on? How dependable? The car I'm looking at is an original owner 210k miles. Inverter is bad and was diagnosed by Toyota dealer. I also have a Toyota document that states Toyota will cover the inverter for 15 years and unlimited mileage. Any comments or input is appreciated.
Read through the posts in the Gen3 forums: Main, Technical Discussion, and Care Maintenance and Troubleshooting. You will find many posts about head gasket failures, clogged EGR systems, oil consumption due to stuck piston rings, brake actuator failure and high voltage battery failure. Prius CAN be a reliable car for 100k to 200k+, IF you own it from new and maintain it, or have very solid repair history. Buying an old high mileage car might be ok- or it might not. Do your research and if you are comfortable (ie have time, money, and or DIY attitude and capability to deal with the possible fallout) then get it. If you want to get a car that runs with minimal fuss, then an old hybrid might not be the best choice. Silly question, IF Toyota diagnosed the inverter and Toyota will supposedly cover it (ie replace it free of charge) then why didn't they do that already? Way I see it you have a broken car that could have other problems that you won't know about until you try to get it fixed. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
You'd be surprised how many Toyota dealers are oblivious to outstanding Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) for the vehicles they sell. I don't know if it's ignorance, apathy, deceit, or something else, but I've heard of many instances where an owner has been quoted $X.00 to repair/replace something on their vehicle. They come to this forum, or a forum for another model (I also happen to own a Tundra) and learn about a TSB or recall, download the document, and have to present it to the dealer to educate them on their own corporate policies.
There is obviously a reason the dealer hasn’t/won’t go ahead and change the inverter. What they don’t say speaks volumes. Find another car, OR buy it as is for pennies on the dollar, and repair it with a salvage yard inverter.
