I have a long and horrible tale! As previously read in other hybrid forums and on ebay.... Prius Gen 1 needed MOT, got it easily at Toyota garage in Elgin (back'o'beyondsville). Next day, driving the car home, it lost power gradually and eventually conked out after about 40 miles. AA returned the car to Elgin who after much hmmming and hawing (a week or so) read the codes and decided it needed a new transmission. This was going to cost me £900 and the man hours about £1000 so worth more than the car so car was scrap. BUT, after kind people emailing from ebay told me that a broken transmission means No Driving at all, something is not right. I rang Inverness Toyota who say the same thing. 'Limp Home Mode' which is what my car is on now is not usuable with a broken transmission. It can mean something else possibly worse or better than the transmission. Also, Inverness says a new transmission costs £2000 so they're not sure what this 900 figure is. I've just rang Elgin to get the codes and an explanation of the part needed but they're refusing to give me the codes until I pay for the cost of the diagnostic test (£80). I love my car but am feeling drained - I am on limp-home-mode! Does anyone have any experience of this or any ideas?
This was a car you just purchased from them...did it not come with some sort of warranty? Usually, in the US, you get at least a 30 day or 90 day warranty even on a junker used car. If you did not, then you owe them the money for the diagnostic and we need the codes. I'm also skeptical that it' is the transaxle, sounds more like an inverter and/or battery issue, but could be an ECU or any number of things.
I bought the car 5 years ago in England, so my car's been around the block. I'm going to set my husband on the garage and hopefully get the codes. If not, it'll be going to a new garage for a new diagnosis. Everyone seems to be suspicious of this transaxle story. Ugh!! Thanks anyhow!
Hi Evan, In the UK an MOT[Ministry of Transport] is a compulsory vehicle inspection for roadworthiness,here in Ireland it's called NCT[National Car Test]
Ok thanks, so no repairs or maintenance were performed, just an inspection. That eliminates several possibilities.
I can only speak for the NCT centres here in Ireland,they go through cars with a fine toothcomb[throughly]As a Taxi i have to have a test annually to renew my Taxi licence,in fact they remove the oil filler cap to get oil temp so after my test i lift the bonnet[hood]to check if it was replaced properly,i've heard some horror stories,infact my best mate had his Taxi's engine dept go up in smoke in the test centre because the guy doing the test crossed some cables....still in litigation!!
I wonder if the MOT people did anything. First thought on that front is that they may have over revved it for the emissions test.
Well Sofia did say it was a Toyota garage,so they should know what they're doing,in Ireland at those test centres they're still very green in relation to hybrid vehicles mainly because if you buy a new car it's not required to undergo a test until the 4th anniversary of first registration and then every 2yrs thereafter,infact they don't test for emissions on the Prius which causes all sorts of problems on completion of the test to get your cert,it's happened to me every year since 06...frustrating!! But getting back to topic....Sofia...get those codes!!
I am pretty sure yours is a gen2, no rubber on the bumpers, small spoiler on the boot, scan codes read by a Toyota garage and no mention of Japanese display on the MFD all point to a "Classic" or gen2 car.
Direct.gov.uk - What does a garage look at during an MOT test? Very, very basic tests to check that the car isn't actively harming the driver, passengers or other road users. If any of those tests do fail, however, you're supposed to have them repaired immediately although there's a provision for driving the car to a repairer. Somehow the garage my parents used last week for their 2001 Ford Focus managed to find £500 worth (or was it £700?) of things that needed fixing. Corrosion in the suspension allegedly. I would have asked for a second opinion - and to see the parts that needed replacement.
Darn it, I'm going to have to pay that shoddy garage to get the codes. The MOT is not fine-tooth stuff but they did change the Brake pads. They say there is no way that could have effected the car but someone has told me they might have accidently 'reset' it while changing the pads. Does it not strike this forum as odd that a car (ok, not a new one) that has never had a problem should go in for a test and come out with a fault? Trouble is, they admitted themselves (even as a Toyota dealer) they knew very little about Prius. I can't tell you all how much I love my car and how grateful to you all I am for trying to save its life!
Hi Sofia, It is quite reasonable for the garage to require you to pay for the diagnostic test before revealing the codes to you. While we are waiting for you to obtain the DTC, and assuming that you have an NHW11 model, please advise all symptoms that you have noticed: - exactly which warning lights and messages have appeared - what unusual noises do you hear - what is your fuel gauge reading - any other relevant info
Sophia: If "limp-home-mode" means the car is running on electric motor only, I recommend you don't drive it that way or you can cause even greater damage. The £80 for codes may be cheaper than getting a tow to another dealer. good luck!
Yup, we've had a word with the garage and have undertaken to pay them and they've promised to refund some of the cash if it turns out they were at fault. Codes tomorrow (hopefully). So, I have the three warning signals on the screen - the exclamation mark, the triangle the engine and the message 'take the vehicle to a garage' (this is all from memory - if exact wording description is important, I'll go out and take a look) -The noise is like that of a bike dynamo, rising and lowering in pitch as the car moves. -The engine is slightly over-revving. There is a sluggish feeling of pulling, again as if the car was constantly on the braking setting. - My car needs fuel right now but as I'm too scared to take it onto a busy, fast road, have not yet visited the petrol station. I will get it a can of petrol soon. - On rainy, damp days this car did occasionally show up these exact warnings and have a lack of power and eventually stop within a mile. To sort this out I simply re-started the engine and the warnings vanished and the engine was fine.
Hi Sofia, How many miles on the odometer? In the past when the warning lights came on, did you hear the same noise that you are now hearing? Sofia, your comment above is contradicted by the following comment: Several NHW11 owners have reported failed transaxles in the past and your noise symptoms could be consistent with that. When you post the DTC we can comment on whether the codes support the failed transaxle diagnosis or not. It is possible that your car has multiple problems.
The car did have these warnings but only occasionally and only on damp days. I put it down to the car not liking damp weather. I did take it to the garage the first time but because the warnings fix themselves within a mile, the mechanics shrugged their shoulders and said they couldn't do anything (this is before I knew anything about computer read-outs). This issue only came up on a few winter mornings but it has been a consistent feature of this car since I got it 5 years ago. When this happened before I would not get the dragging and whining noises that have happened now. I will have the codes today. There are 83000 miles on the clock. I drive pretty carefully, am not a thrash-merchant. My MPG is 55!
Hi Sofia, I was wondering have you been changing the transaxle oil on your prius during these 83000 miles?
I've been told about this TA oil. On another forum, I was told that Toyota recommend it to be changed every 60,000 miles but in reality it should be changed every 30,000 miles. It is something only a garage should do, I'm told. If I had known about it I would have made a point of having it changed - maybe the garage did it during previous MOTs but they didn't do it to my knowledge.
