My daughter scratched the quarter panel of my 2020 Prime, and the repair estimate of the body shop included half hour mechanical labor “to disconnect the hybrid battery”, and another half hour to run a system check after the repair. Is it necessary to disconnect the traction battery before repairs and how is it done exactly?
maybe some already know how to disconnect the Primes hybrid battery from experience, I'd think the best way to get up to speed on what's involved is to watch a youtube by Pro. John Kelly on the Primes hybrid battery. youtu.be/yGMcQ6JWlBs Getting a second estimate might be a good exercise in futility as most estimates I've gotten have errors in part numbers and other things too. But they do give you ideas about how a shop approaches it's reporting to insurance and maybe even how it approches the repair process. best of luck dealing with your insurance and the repair. ps: if it's a minor quater panel scratch, it might be in your best interest to ask your insurance agent how they process self repair claims. That is if you believe you might be able to fix the quarter panel using DIY methods. Pics of the damage can possibly be directed at youtube videos of HOWTO complete the repairs using simple methods and / or give ideas about the repair process.
Taking off and reinstalling the deck to access the traction battery is probably a 20-minute job if you've done it before. Half hour if you need to figure it out. I've done it so I could inspect the cooling fans. 30 minutes may be the smallest billing period they have. Unplugging and reinserting the orange safety plug itself takes about 5-6 seconds. My question is why they would need to do that just to sand and paint a scratch????
Maybe some welding involved, and they're worried that might screw something up? That said, removing/reinstalling the orange plastic plug (for disconnection of hybrid battery) should take a minute or two at most.
But unless the car is in READY, the battery is already disconnected. If they welded the scratch (why, I don't know) and melted some HV cabling insulation (which doesn't pass near the fender anyway, afaik) they wouldn't know till they powered it up whether the plug was in place or not. Basically, painting that fender posed no more shock risk than washing the car. Probably less.
Disconnection is not without risks either. Shouldn't be, but it seems like weird stuff often happens after. I know personally, the aftermath of just a 12 volt disconnect can be "interesting".
Yeah, I don't think it is necessary to disconnect the traction battery for this type of repair. But hey, if it flys they will write it up and charge it to either the owner or the insurance company whoever is paying the bill. I am taking my 2021 PP for a minor fender/door scrape repair next week to a Toyota dealer-owned Toyota certified body repair shop. It was sideswiped and the extent of repair is 100% cosmetic but includes some dent removal and body parts replacements on the front fender, and doors. I just looked at the Preliminary Estimate for this work. The only thing they cited Mechanical Labor @$58.00/hr is 1.4 hours for Pre & Post Repair Diagnostic Scan. No other mechanical labor. Everything else is Paint and Body labor and parts/supply cost for the total of $2,838.78. Yeah, I know that is a rip-off, but if the insurance company thinks it is OK, that's what they get paid. I have no deductible.
Well, disconnecting the 12 volt has effects that are kind of to be expected, because it is normally connected all the time and there are lots of things in the car relying on it for power and memory retention. Pulling the service plug out of the traction battery when the car is already OFF has all the effects of disconnecting something that is already disconnected. So, none, really. Now if you forget and go push the power button while the service plug is out, then the car will light the triangle and log a P0A0D code, which exactly means "hello, it looks like you have left the safety interlock unsecured, perhaps you would like to go check that?". But if you were to post about that and only include the story and the triangle light and not the code, probably someone would say you had "confused" the computer and made it report a "random" code.
could be a safety recommendation in the service manual before doing body work. manymight ignore it as unnecessary, but a dealer or body shop following the manual would probably stick to it
