More "Check hybrid system. Stop the vehicle in a safe place." alerts

That is the case here. It has happened twice and the car went to dealer today. They have diagnosed a faulty charger and have ordered a new one. I guess replacement is a big job, taking all day. In the meantime, the car is OK to drive. No charge at Capitol Toyota, Salem.

I asked about the "Stop car, check system" messages. He said OK to drive the car if it starts, runs OK and no obvious signs of destructive trouble, etc.. Get service appointment soon.

The car no longer seems to take a charge. Either the charger has failed totally, or may be disconnected / disabled.

Curiously, the last three successful charges have given me a bit more EV estimated miles (15 or 16) than I have been getting. Makes me wonder if the battery is benefiting from some kind of break-in process, or if the failing charger might have overcharged it a bit.

 

sad that toyota hasn't been able to weed out the faulty chargers before installing them in new cars, since discovering the defect. probably the warmer weather increasing your ev estimate. all the best with your repair!

 

They're all stuck somewhere by the side of the road...?

 

Bad charger was diagnosed. New one ordered, and backordered. Said it could be days or weeks, and OK to drive the car with the messages displaying if no other sign of trouble.

 

yep.

 

I've come back occasionally. I'm up to 10,000 miles and not had any issues since the replacement of the charger. Seems Toyota should do a recall to me.

 

agreed.

 

New charger delivered and installed 3-26-15. Seems to work fine. The dealer that performed the service, (not the same one I bought the car from) Capitol Toyota in Salem, OR. treated me well, communicated well, and had the car finished on time. I wish I knew a little more about the problem, specifically: Has the cause of this infantile failure been identified and fixed? Is the fix incorporated in my new part, or is the new part just picked from inventory?

(*"infantile failure" is a technical term that refers to very early failures where a relatively new part fails way short of its expected lifetime. They sometimes are evidence of material or process defects.)

 

no one has come back to complain about their replaced unit, so it's probably fixed. unlikely that toyota would want to keep paying to replace defective units. what's puzzling is how the '15's are getting out of the factory with bad units.