Prius died while it was being driven

You buy a rebuilt car and you take your chances. There is a reason that insurance companies total a car that was in an accident like yours. The Prius isn't prone to electrical problems, but they do have a lot of electronics and wiring to mess up in an accident.

Tom

 

Unless you have it in writing or on tape about all you can do is try to file a complaint. Used vehicle sales are like that, they will say what it takes to make the sale. They are corrupt by nature. Plus the sales folks bounce from dealer to dealer.

It's not Toyota corporate that is the problem, it's the dealer(s). Dealers will create an excuse not to honor their own warranty, or absolve themselves of actually offering one on their work. So you never really have a dealer warranty anyway, just the illusion of one. You can get honest ones that will fix their own mistakes...or not. Personally, if a dealer tells me they won't warranty ANY work they do on a vehicle, they will never see me or my vehicle again. They are telling you they really don't need your business, but will work on you car for money if you insist.

 

I would say Shawn has had at least one pretty bad experience to make such general, blanket statements about used car dealers and Toyota dealerships not honoring warranties. Still, the truth is that your recourse against the LA folks is most likely going to be a claim for fraud. You will need to find out whether there is an applicable consumer fraud statute in CA (meaning, does it apply to sales of automobiles and do you have time left to make the claim), and whether you are able to file the claim yourself. I suggest an attorney, but the cost for the lawyer may well approach the costs you'll have in making the necessary repairs.

On the Toyota dealer end, please understand that if your car was listed by the responsible insurance carrier as totalled, then its VIN record will be listed and Toyota's warranty will be voided. The only warranty you have is from the re-seller. If the re-seller offered nothing, then check to see if there are any California laws that require a return period or minimum limited warranty.

One option for you is to find another buyer who is looking for a Prius to do a major change on -- conversion to full EV, for example. If the body is in good shape, then the buyer can take advantage of the lowered price being related to things the buyer intends to change anyway.

Sorry not to bring better news. Here's hoping someone out there can contradict at least some of my sobering statements.

 

Sorry to hear your unpleasant situation.

I would start from here:

Consumer Alerts, Information & Complaints - California Dept. of Justice - Office of the Attorney General

Good luck!

 

15A fuses: DOME, FR FOG, HID, AM2, EFI, PWR OUTLET FR, PWR OUTLET, ECU-B, RR WIP, M/HTR, ABS MAIN3. I can't see how losing front fogs, HIDs, power outlets, rear wiper or mirror heaters would be a shutdown problem.

DOME is mainly interior lighting but does also seem to be involved in powering the Body ECU and the Certification ECU and receivers for Smart Key. Even if the fob is in the slot, I think losing DOME would lose the Body ECU and the car would forget it was supposed to be ON. You would get some warning lights triggered by the emergency power supply (bank of capacitors in the trunk next to the AUX battery) but these won't last very long.

AM2 is involved in engine control, ignition, push button start, shift control, illumination, and the hybrid system. It appears to power the four injectors, and also the Power Source Control ECU. That ECU is responsible for handling the Power switch and routing power appropriately.

The EFI fuse powers the Engine Control Module. No ECM = no engine.

ECU-B powers the Gateway ECU, which converts between the various communication buses: CAN, for fast communications between e.g. HV ECU and ECM; BEAN, the Body Electrical Area Network, for Body ECU, Power Source Control ECU, Smart Key, etc; AVC-LAN for the multi-function display. It also runs the MFD.

ABS MAIN3 provides power for the brake control power supply (aforementioned bank of capacitors). I would expect a failure here to trigger a DTC (C1377/43, Capacitor Malfunction) and probably a switchover to hydraulic braking (front brakes only, no assist), but not a complete shutdown.

Given the car's history I'd be inclined to get all the wiring harnesses thoroughly checked over for short-circuits.

AM2 and EFI should be fairly easy to diagnose. Wires runs everywhere in the car from DOME, e.g. the map lights and centre interior light, door and trunk courtesy lights.

 

IF you get the car back from the dealer without having it fixed:

Buy a scan gauge and see what codes come up.
Buy the manual on the Prius and learn how to read the electrical diagrams.
Buy high voltage electrical line man gloves. Wear another pair of disposable gloves inside of those. Keep the rest of your body out of contact with all wires, connectors, etc.
Buy a multi meter, learn how to use it. Learn how to troubleshoot electrical short circuit problems without getting electrocuted.
Get a triggered sweep oscilloscope from a place like Fry's electronics. Learn how to use this without damaging either yourself or the car's electronics.

Better yet don't even think about going into the wiring, you will get hurt or die.
You have a large learning curve ahead of you, otherwise:
Give up and scrap the car.

Anyone who asks what to do about checking electrical circuitry without a degree in electronics will end up dead or with a dead car from idiotic things that they do.

I am sorry about the answer but it is not an easy thing to answer. This car is a complex electromechanical device with more traps than the US Government has in the Internal Revenue Code.

 

I wonder if they just spliced the broken parts of the harness together? Most splices are poorly done, eg just a cheap crimp-style splice, no heat shrink, no nothing.

 

A dealer technician will eventually find the short in the wiring harness where the insulation has worn through because it was not repaired correctly after the accident. Consider yourself lucky if this costs less than $1000.

 

I agree with Mike. It seems like "LA folks" rebuilt the car and then crossed their fingers. I would have someone go over it thoroughly before filing any claims against the company. If it goes to court (which it prob. will have to) you will need all that info in advance anyway.

 

Lets not give the poor man a heart attack. The problem could be simple and easy, although time consuming to troubleshoot. Assuming it is not fixed when you get it back, I would positively identify the fuse, and check to see what is connected to that fuse. You will need to disconnect everything, or everything that you can reach on the net, and then verify that the fuse no longer blows. If it does blow, the problem is still in a connected module or the harness. If not, connect one item at a time back on until it blows the fuse. You will then need to either repair or replace what is causing the problem.
These cars are no more dangerous to work on then any other modern car. The highvoltage cables are all insulated, so you should not accidentally hit the HV. Don't wear any jewlery, and you should not get a serious shock. If you need a schematic, I can email you one.
Oh, if anyone thinks I'm crazy, I just rebuilt a totaled Prius, I am a electrical engineer, and I think the warnings in the manual about wearing HV gloves were written by lawyers.

 

More than one, but going in eyes wide open usually keeps me out of trouble. Are you going to make a positive "blanket statement" about used car dealers? I stand by my classification of them. I grew up near the "odometer rollback capitol of the world." If there is a way they can misrepresent something to make a sale, they will do it. Recognize that and you should be okay.

Toyota dealerships have not impressed me for the most part, although the latest one I've dealt with has done much better than several previous so I'm cautiously optimistic. Compared to Honda and Nissan the sales side of Toyota was frequently awful, bad enough that it was many attempts over 10 years before I finally bought one (had to go out of state at the time to pull it off.) Toyota "service" in Albany, Georgia did manage to produce the worst experience I've ever had with any dealership by far--crooked, lying, and incompetent are the most fitting adjectives.

 

Hey don't blame the Toyota dealer. Your post seems to insinuate that you were aware of the nature of the car when you bought it and btw, your title plainly states SALVAGE. Good luck suing that guy. Remember the 50 forms you signed when you bought the car. One of them stated that you were 100% aware and down with the salvage issue. Class dismissed.
Now there's many people on this forum who will gladly help you including myself. First thing you need to do is buy a Scangauge here at PriusChat (see Priushop button on top of page) and that device will tell you what the code numbers the car is throwing. With that code info we can lead you in the right direction towards fixing your car. It might be rather simple. Good luck.

 

I always thought the idea of repairing a crashed car was to conceal the severity of the crash?

 

I believe that is legally qualifying in many states.

Tom

 

HV gloves are a requirement if you're working on the high-voltage sections of the car with the HV battery connected (transaxle, HV battery, inverter, air-conditioning compressor). However, the HV battery is only connected to the rest of the car with normally-open relays, which are switched on only when the car is made READY. Therefore it should be isolated, as long as there hasn't been a fault that welded the contacts closed on both relays. The main fuses/fusible links should blow before this happens.

To be very sure, the battery has a service plug in the middle (electrically) which, when unplugged, stops current flow between the battery's end terminals. Once this is disconnected, there's still a (much smaller) risk of shock between the main battery terminal and the service plug contacts, at half the full voltage, but a very low risk of HV anywhere else in the system - generally the manual says you don't need the lineman's gloves once this plug is out, unless you're actually working on the battery itself.

You don't need HV gloves if you're only working on 12V systems, which is all the rest of the car's electrics.

 

This pump sits in a spot where it is often damaged in a front end collision.

Tom

 

So is a chemical engineer