ABS actuator Repair worth it?

2008 is a tank. that's a decent price for repair, and if you want to keep it long term, you can figure a hybrid battery.
what is a replacement vehicle going to cost? it's a personal decision, as well as financial.

 

Shop around to smaller independent hybrid experienced shops. I realize you are in an high priced area but somebody is likely to install new for half that price.

It is a fairly involved job but is a common problem for an experienced hybrid independent.

 

The most common big repair expenses for this car are the ABS and the HV pack. Both repairs cost about the same. If you can do the work yourself, replacing a pack with a new OEM one may be as low as $2000. Looked at the price of used cars lightly? What does $4700 get you? Wait, you're in California, so add around 10 or 11% more for sales tax on the used car (payable when it is registered if from a private party). Car repair labor isn't taxed in CA, but the part will be, and if a dealer or repair shop sells you that part they will mark it up.

Fixing car aesthetics is pricey these days. The days of a decent low price paint job are long gone. Assuming the problem includes the front fender and two doors, you could fix most of it if you can locate a car in a wrecking yard in the same color, with damage elsewhere, and just swap those three parts. At LKQ doors are $110 each and fenders are $60 (there is a core charge if you don't give them the old parts in exchange). Damage to the rear quarter isn't as easy as just bolting on a replacement. Just a scrape, no big dents? Get some matching paint and touch that up. It won't look good up close, but at a distance it will be OK. We had a Civic with about 100 little chips in the paint on the front of the hood, looked like somebody hit it with a shotgun. After filling all the divots with touch up paint it looked fine except up close. Getting the whole car repainted would be, I don't know, maybe $3000 for so-so Maaco quality work? Probably less from a shop more towards Sacramento than anywhere near you.

 

It’s a tough decision, a gamble. You can repair this car, but it’s nothing great to look at, and more repairs may be on the horizon. Or you could buy another one which is scratch and dent free, but may have underlying issues that may not surface for 1k miles or so. Sometimes, it’s better the devil you know, right? At least you know this car and it’s reliable. Buying a different car is an unknown.

 

Most of these cars wind up getting a break actuator or they go to the tow lot because of it It's a pretty easy repair too If that's going to cost me $2,700 I'll laugh my way to the bar because I do these and an hour and 40 minutes something like that maybe 2 hours and 10 minutes with the bleeding included and this I don't even get very dirty doing it so and I don't need a million tools either It's pretty much common sense which isn't so common these days but it's a pretty much no brainer do it right in your driveway you don't need a shop or any special nonsense at all if you have a AP200 scanner you're covered for the bleeding easy peasy If you shop around online you may get a deal on the break actuator new in a box or you buy it online from Toyota and have it sent to the store and you get your deal there these things are about 1,400 retail just the part so that dude's charging you $900 for the install I can't really see that in the retail setting I could see 650 maybe but then again today everybody's making $100 an hour so there's always that I charge customers here for 50 they supply brake fluid and whatever I tell him to bring and they've either bought the break actuator or they've already paid me to get it I have installed used ones with good results and I've had to do one twice luckily they were my own cars the few I've installed for people I've never heard back from I'm assuming the cars are driving fine.

 

No I'm not understanding you clearly we're going from the break actuator now to the battery was replaced in 2019 before you bought it something about a recalled or whatever part I'm not sure what that has to do with your break actuator now going bad in 2024? So I'm somewhat confused at all of this The battery was replaced before 2019 for you bought the cars and it's you know four and a half some odd years old or what have you 3 and 1/2 years old that's great so you should be in good shape for another six or seven years battery shouldn't even be on your mind really but flashing beeping and low braking should be That's where we are I thought right now in the generation too I don't think there were any recalled break actuators that I know of I think you're getting the generations of cars mixed up possibly I don't know what the deal is talking about of course they didn't reiterate and well now nobody knows anything but it's a generation too there shouldn't be any real funny business going on You need to break actuator you get a break actuator put on the car some kind of way and the lights go out and you go on your way happy whether that's a used actuator a brand new one out of a box what have you

 

If it had a dealer installed oem hv battery in 2019 that is good.

I kind of wonder why it has a salvage title “owing to a long scrape across four panels”. I guess it was yours when it happened, the insurance totaled it and you took the cash and bought the car back without fixing it.

Regardless, I still think you can shop around for a better price on the Brake Booster. Even if you have to drive an hour or two. Start out with a call to Gasketmasters near you.

No need to give them the back story or ask if it is worth it. That is your decision. Just ask for a budget price on the brake booster or a recommended hybrid budget shop.

 

IMHO; a good running beat-up pile of tin parked on the streets of Berkeley is a bonus. Nobody wants to steal it for a joy ride or part it out - it gets left alone. The neighbors may complain about it, but that's it. Cheap to register and insure, why are you looking at resale value? It's more valuable to you since you don't have to buy a new or used car with the associated headaches. So it looks like a POS, I find it easier to merge and change lane in front of or into MBZ's, BMWs, or any newer nicer cars. Some will even get out of your way, so the stink doesn't rub off onto their cars. LoL if it's safe and parts aren't falling off of it - I'd drive it till the wheels fall off. $2000 is what, 4 new car payments, minus insurance, fees, probably more gas? you could probably get it fixed for half that estimate, if you shopped around.

Hope this helps in your decision....

 

Two new car payments without a good trade in. For five years.

 

Yea; realized I forgot about the down payment - After the fact.... LoL.....
It's easy to get the monthly's down to $500 - they'll just push out 8-10 years.
That's why sales people ask; how much a month you want to pay? They don't want to tell you that the car is going to cost you $75K - $100K by the time you get finished paying for it!!! I'm talking about cheap econo-boxes; like a 5 speed manual Nissan Versa or Chevy Traxx. You'd want to stick to the manual tranny on a Nissian than gamble on their CVT....

 

Man fix the thing that's cheap in the world of cars If you're handy get a used one off eBay from a vouched for seller there are a bunch of them down in Georgia that have thousands of these cars and so on even a person that doesn't do a lot of this kind of work and get this done in 4 or 5 hours probably with basic hand tools yeah it's a pain in the butt oh well. Or find the independent shop that'll do it for you You should be able to get it done for about 4:50 and a reasonably independent job this does not take Toyota expertise It takes some brale expertise But that's not that hard to find these days these things are not only happening in Toyota Prius BMWs and Volkswagens and what .

 

I suggest calling many hybrid and Toyota specialists in the Bay Area and out towards Sacramento. Might take a while, but it is just time and could save you a bundle. I would expect that the prices would be less in the central valley than in the Bay Area, but who knows, maybe one there has lower overhead than expected, or works more efficiently, and has a better price.

There is a shop near you called "Berkeley Bob's" which claims to service Prius's


Prius Service and Repair - Berkeley Bob's


but I don't know if they are any good. Love the name though.

Definitely get a price from Earthling Automotive (in SF, used to be Luscious Garage). Might not be cheap, but they certainly know what they are doing.

Also, if you know anybody else in your area who drives a Prius ask them where they go for service.

 

tough decision, for me putting a $2k for an eyesore is a dealbreaker but the gen2 Prius can last forever with minimal maintenance (aside from this one and your HV battery is almost new) For sure there are plenty of shops out there that can install a used ABS actuator (eBay special) Just don't go to a tire shop (to save money) because they'll mess things up.

when my ABS actuator quit on my hybrid Camry at 195k miles, I gambled on a used one and it's still running today (230k miles) If that actuator fails again.. it might go to junkyard or I could gamble on another used one.

 

I've put on five used actuators right here two of them had to be redone again because the actuators that were purchased were bad right from the get-go they were used obviously but the other three no problem at all The cars are here still running One has been retired in the brake actuator is sitting in the car park somewhere marked and ready to go when needed

 

Sometimes at a junkyard you can actually use your jump box and boost the 12 volt system enough to get the dash to light up so you can check the codes and see if the junk car you're messing with have the problem or at least if the lights were on and had the codes yet

 

here in my area, the ABS actuators are a hot item.. they are gone immediately from day 1. You'll never see a single Prius with the ABS actuator in them.

 

Buy an older Toyota Corolla
My son just purchased a 2001 Toyota Corolla with 110k miles for $2600

 

Those have been my go-to cars for 40 years That's a great buy it'll serve him well for a long time 01 that's a one ZZ FE very good little engine mine here the Colonel's car has gone 500,000 miles It's an AE11.02