I had purchased my first Prius several months ago and had loved every mile in it. Yesterday, I encountered a slight jerk accompanied by a warning light stating "Check hybrid system, stop the vehicle in a safe place". My heart sank as I bought the Prius used. I took the Prius back to the Toyota dealership. At every encounter with a service rep, I continually got sighs and looks of "looks like you're going to have to really pay up for repairs". Expecting the worse, I began researching as much as I could about what the problem might be with the limited knowledge I had. My biggest source of information was PriusChat. I spent an hour going through the forums finding copious amounts of information about what it might be and what the possible solutions were. I tried to educate myself as much as possible before I received a call from the dealership. The call came. I was told that my IPM needed replacement and that I would have to pay $2,700 for parts and labor. Thank goodness I did my research on PriusChat and found that the IPM for my model was covered under a 15 year unlimited mile extended warranty from Toyota (something that the service rep seemed unaware of surprisingly). I countered his offer and informed him of the Toyota IPM warranty. He was surprised to find it covered and said he would call me back. He called and confirmed the coverage and said that the repair would be covered by Toyota. This made my month and saved my savings. Thank you to all the incredible contributors of PriusChat for posting informative threads that, in the end, saved my nice person.
I am glad you got it sorted. It is much easier for the dealer to charge you instead of filing the warranty paperwork. The dealer may have wanted to take the easier route or try to sell you a new car.
welcome, and congrats! another stealer ripoff story, imagine how many unsuspecting victims have been cheated over the years.
It’s always a good idea to do your research. Instead of checking the TSB, Extended warranties and other Toyota information, a lot of dealers will default to customer paid labor as the only solution. I wouldn’t trust a dealer like that, as far as I could throw them. I would voice a formal complaint to the General Manager about this kind of deception. Also, don’t think for a minute that they didn’t know about the warranty.
that's awesome. this is a great forum and great minds. It has been a great help for me too in the past.
Fantastic! Definitely need to take your time and shake your brain to think about if you have the pay the cost or not. Is there a prior thread you can point to that really saved the day for you? I do not recall too much like that.
