I blew up the inverter????

Please,

Don't spend the $5000. Spend about $30 (my local fee) for small claims court. Even without a lawyer. Judges vary but I think you have a much better than 50% chance that the judge would be good for you.

 

Ditto. I think they are definitely on the right track.

 

I got a question, has the dealership offered to buy back your car? My theory is that maybe they are hoping that you will let them buy it back (on the cheap) so they can resell at an inflated higher price.

 

Hi Ginny,

Sorry to hear that Toyota will not help you here. You've previously raised the possibility of seeking local media publicity. Since you did not provide followup comments, I assume there is no interest on the part of your local TV stations and newspapers. You've also consulted with your attorney and determined a low probability of success with legal action, and I agree with that.

Since you managed to get the car released from the first dealer, I assume that you either paid the towing fee or else the first dealer waived that fee.

Now that your car is at the second dealer but that service dept cannot help you, you have two alternatives: pay $5K to have the car repaired at the second dealer, or find an independent Toyota mechanic who is willing to take on your car as a small project, retrieve the diagnostic codes that currently exist, and if the inverter has failed, replace it for you. The mechanic can download Toyota repair manual info at techinfo.toyota.com

Champion Toyota (Houston) sells a new inverter for $2,646.
Champion ToyotaWorld

Also, you may be able to obtain a salvage part for ~$900 or so.
http://www.autobeyours.com/PriusParts.htm

I think there is some possibility that the inverter is good, as I do not recall your saying that DTC had been retrieved after the fusible link assembly and the 12V battery had been replaced.

Good luck.

 

If Idaho has a lemon law they're trying to avoid it. That's why they won't let the second dealer touch it. If it's defective, she should have to pay anything.

 

Did you tell other dealer that the battery had been jumped backwards. The reason i ask is when the first dealer replaced the block and 12volt battery, another dealer would only see a bad inverter and not have a logical understanding of the events that took place earlier and based on the fact that those parts have been replaced it would look strange to them. Once they checked with there tech people at toyota they will find an open case with toyota and it will be out of there hands. My brother told me last night that you will probably just have to have it repaired and go from there. When i asked him about the first dealer he told me that they can't make replacement decisions on high dollar items without consulting the regional reps. They request info, and then toyota reviews it independently. So if they saw the 12v low or dead, with low mileage, the fuse block needing replaced, and the inverter bad, you are pretty much going to have to pay for the damage. He said dealers in general don't mind if it is warranty work vs. customers paying the bill, as they make the same amount of pay for the work. So the dealer does not control the factory decision but are rather the middle party involved with the decision.

I think you are just in a situation that can't be won! Hate to say that after all of the work you've done to this point, but it seems to be a reality.

HBoy

 

I forgot to mention about the 12volt battery. He said it's not that the battery is necessarily dead, but rather that they are proned to going dead for many reasons. His dealer will cover a battery that won't take a charge, due to many reasons for human error. The battery is just small enough to not like frequent charging via driving. So the battery being bad or defective are not really the case. How often have you been driving this? You mentioned jumping had been done before. I think i mentioned before but don't remember for sure, if the battery is low, and the vehicle or whatever you are using to jump can't have to high of voltage or any form of spike. He said it's like when the power company has a power spike and your plasma gets fried. You must be cautios. I can tell you this much after i read my owners manual, i won't be jumping mine either, i'm going to just take it to my local toyota dealer.

sorry ginny

 

It's what are they trying to cover up.

Have you talked to a lawyer yet?

You did say your state has a lemon law. Your car qualifies.

 

Ginny,

How long did you let it run when it started the first time? I'm just wondering if the 12volt didn't have enough time to recharge. Possibility that wasn't charged enough so you had to jump it the second time.

I sense that your frustration is not how it happened but rather the way you feel toyota has helped? Or do you feel frustrated with the design? I know as a prius owner myself, i love the vehicles, but realize they have a lot of technology behind them!

Keep me posted of what you decide to do! I will visit the thread as often as possible. I don't want to see you abandon the Prius Nation that we need to help others understand. We just simply have better cars =) PLUS THEY ARE FUN TO DRIVE!!!!!!!!

(not making fun of your situation, no pun intended)

 

You could have the new dealer fix it. And specify a list of what you want done according to all of the posts in this thread. You want a detailed report of every code, every replaced part, everything they do. They are NOT to just replace the inverter and bill you. They are to fix the car according to a set diagnostic course. And only bill you for what is really wrong with the car. That way you don't pay to replace an inverter when the only thing wrong is a fuse. Talk to the dealership where the car is now and negotiate a repair based on fixing what is really wrong with the car, not just what the regional manager says to replace and bill. See if they'll work with you on this.

Personally, I'd rather give $4,000 to a lawyer than that crooked dealership.

 

Plus whatever settlement there is most likely will also cover your legal expenses. Usually a lawyer will only make you give them approx. $1000 up front and then wait until the settlement / judgement. In my opinion there is very little chance that you would lose this, and second most likely as soon as you have a lawyer file a suit they will immediately make an offer to fix for free or at cost.

 

and how freaking hard was it for them to do this in the first place at the original dealer... without putting you through a wringer...

good luck!

 

That's great! If it is possible to drive the car although warning lights are on, then the inverter may be OK. It's really unfortunate that it took two months to get to this point - due to an unusual combination of incompetence and rigidity demonstrated by the first dealership's service mgmt and staff.

If the DC to DC converter in the inverter failed, then the tech should retrieve P0A08, P0A09, or P0A10 fault codes. The fail-safe chart in the repair manual indicates that the car can be driven normally although these codes appear - so the car may be relying upon power from the 12V auxiliary battery, while it is being driven in the parking lot.

Good luck!

 

The car drives?

Great. Glad the new dealership is working with you. They are scoring mucho points on this. Even if they're farther away, I hope you consider giving them your business over the previous Stealership.

 

Hi Ginny,

The DC to DC converter's job is to maintain the 12V bus voltage at ~13.8V when the car is READY. The 12V bus powers various electrical systems in the vehicle and also charges the 12V auxiliary battery.

If the DC to DC converter is not working, then the 12V auxiliary battery can power the vehicle for a short period of time. However the voltage that the battery can produce will be lower than 13.8V, which will cause various ECUs to log DTCs and instrument panel warning lights will come on almost immediately. The skid control ECU is especially quick to notice when the 12V bus voltage is below normal.

Therefore, you'll have plenty of warning that something is wrong. You cannot be driving around for hours in this condition - 20-30 minutes is probably more like it, before the battery discharges.

No. If the P0A08 - P0A10 codes return after the hybrid vehicle ECU memory has been cleared, then the DC to DC converter is definitely bad and the inverter will have to be replaced.