2010 Inverter Failure

what a wonderful dealer! hopefully the mech will get you back on the road with a used part for short money. all the best!

 

that's a great price, well done.

 

It sounds like you are dealing with some good people. Good luck and keep us informed with an update later.

 

I'm late to the party on this issue. I've owned my 2010 Prius for 2 years but have not had any trouble with my inverter. Didn't even know I HAD one until the recent LA Times article was sent to me. So my question is, has Toyota or anyone else released a failure rate or similar useful data on this issue? I'd like to know whether I'm living on borrowed time or watching out for black swans, or how close to either extreme.

 

welcome!
nothing. if you go by owners report here, it seems pretty rare. we've had a few though

 

There was a software update to protect the inverter better, during hard acceleration. Let a dealership run your VIN, it should show if you've got the update.

 

what part number did you replace it with? Still working fine?

 

Great, good to read your feedback. And thanks for checking the part number, its exactly the one I am planning to replace mine with.
I saw the other thread you linked in your post too. Your confirmation of the same part number provides additional assurance.
Will postan update after the replacement is completed.

 

Last week I replaced the inverter (with help of mechanic) in a 2011 Prius Gen 3 (original part nr G920047140) with an inverter of Auris 2013 part nr G920047190. After clearing the error codes it works perfectly. If anyone get's in a similar situation I encourage doing the same (unless warranty applies).

 

2010 Prius in Australia. The inverter recently died and Toyota wanted $5k to replace.
After extensive research decided to source a second hand newer model online.
Managed to find one out of an Auris (UK car)
Original: G9200 47140
Replaced by: G900 47190

Took around 8 hours to remove and replace, all working fine now.
Of course only time will tell.

 

Not too long ago I received a notice stating that people are gathering a class action against Toyota on the inferior inverters. While they are still working on it, I heard Toyota knows that the inverter is flawed and replaced it silently.

 

The inverter is guaranteed for 15 years and has been for years.

 

... and that'll be 20 years, unlimited miles, if the recent proposed settlement gets approved in January, as it is expected to.

We have a way around here of being really generous with words like 'inferior' and 'flawed' when we buy a thing with some part in it engineered for an eight year, 100,000 mile warranty, and we drive it for multiples of that time and mileage and sometimes the part conks out, and then they agree to give us new ones at nearly double or even nearly triple the original warranty duration, so we won't be sad if it conks out.

 

I agree with that being generous, but the problem lays in if the issue is safety related. In automobile industry different parts are meant to be engineered to different life spans. For example an oxygen sensor can be engineered for 8yr/100k miles with no issue, but you certainly don't want any of your brake parts to be engineered to last this short. As a matter of fact the existence of the safety recall mandates that most safety related parts should be engineered to last way more than the typical life span of the whole vehicle. And if any of the safety related part does not meet this requirement, manufacturer should recall and repair it regardless of warranty status.

Problem is that whether the inverter is safety related is of debate. I can see people concerned about safety in the case of inverter failure, but Toyota does not want to admit that. They say in case of inverter failure it enters limp mode which can move you out of traffic so it's not a big safety concern.
After second recall, Toyota Prius electrical system is still overheating - Los Angeles Times.

As a reference, years ago I bought a used Mercury Monterey (basically Ford freestar) with like 140k miles on the odometer. Shortly after I took ownership I received a recall notice saying the torque converter might be flawed and could cause the vehicle to lose power so it could be dangerous. Dealer replaced the torque converter for me.

 

Wow I didn't know that. That means the inverter in my 2010 Prius with 218k miles is still under warranty? That's fabulous!

But it's weird that several folks had to pay to replace their inverters as gen3 starts at 2010 so I assume all gen3 inverters are still under this 15yr unlimited miles warranty?