IPM failure at 60,000 miles, 2012 Prius V

Just had IPM replacement on my 2012 Prius V, 63,000 miles. Accelerating over steel plates, tire slipped and several warning lights came on, and some red light stayed flashing even with the system turned completely off! IPM is Intelligent Power Module, which is inside the Inverter.

When the failure occurred, I drove just off the road without power. I turned off power and turned on again, no change. I phoned the dealer for help who referred me to Toyota Roadside Assistance. They set-up a tow service and took credit payment for $73.00 on the phone. Got towed to the dealer, less than 1 mile away! This was very lucky, I could have been in the middle of a freeway during rush hour! Dangerous!

Had the car towed to the dealer. Next day service had checked. IPM failure, replaced under warranty, said cost would have been $3000.00. After 2 days waiting, I asked for a free rental. They said yes, rental was covered under the warranty for IPM. BUT YOU HAVE TO ASK! Since I did not have full coverage insurance, they took me to Enterprise who, uncertain who should pay for the insurance, charged the dealer for insurance coverage. Took over a week to get the car back because wrong parts were shipped. IPM has been replaced, not just software upgraded, because transistors burnt out!

But I wanted the towing paid. Looked up IPM on the web and found an NHTSA listing for the recall with phone number for Toyota Customer Experience 888 270-9371 (there are several numbers one for each recall, but they all go to the same place.) This was NHTSA Recall 14V053000. Toyota rep said it was good I called them because dealer was not authorized to reimburse for towing. Was told to mail or email the dealer receipt, my towing receipt, & proof of ownership. The $73.00 towing will be reimbursed to me in 4-6 weeks. I got an acknowledgment of receipt via email.

Further checking I found two other listings for NHTSA recalls associated with Prius V 2012, Inverter 15V449000; and Occupant Sensing System for Airbags 13V014000. I phoned again to Toyota. They told me these things are covered under Warranty Enhancement Program (WEP)! WEP extends warranty for certain NHTSA recall items to 8 years, 100,000 miles, and no action is taken unless the system fails! I think that is pretty F**ed up, because a car dying in heavy traffic, or on a camping trip, can be more than inconvenient! But there it is! I was fortunate on this one!