I loved my Prius until...

As one who lurks around here quite a bit, I can say these kind of misdiagnoses, intentional or unintentional, are seen often enough. Second opinions are always worthwhile.

 

Clearly, not very well.

 

Yes, we certainly see enough cases similar to this one reported here. Hopefully most of them are unintentional misdiagnoses, but sometimes you've got to wonder. I mean, $1200 for a heater core is probably pretty lucrative even if they do actually perform the work, (and yes by implication I mean even more lucrative if they only say they did).