Fuel Economy Drop After Speed Sensor Replacement

I'll be honest. I'm scared to buy one. I have a learning disability that gives me a hard time understanding directions and information without being physically helped.

(Unfortunately, I don't have friends here offline that can help, that's why this forum is my best point of contact for Prius related stuff.)

 

A long story short, my Prius ended up back at the same dealership. They've had it a few days, but gave me a loaner this time, which was appreciated.

They emailed me an update tonight, and it's not good at all.

"The tech has recommended for the abs actuator to be replaced as it incorporates a lot of the systems associated with the codes hes getting. So in order to remove and replace that its 4 hrs labor @ $185 ($740) and the parts are $1013.70 so $1753.70 plus tax."

There's no way I could possibly afford that, especially because my job security evaporated this week.

I tried looking the parts up on RockAuto, but I don't think I'm looking at the correct ones. I think the only one over $140 is an Ignition Starter Switch.


The following is more context, but probably superfluous. I try to provide as much info as possible, in case something I don't think is important enough to mention, is actually a necessary part of the puzzle.

Spoiler: Read more...

I take everything a dealership says with a heap of salt, but I do have a question. The tech mentioned after reviewing my DTC pdfs from over the course of this situation, some codes showed up only after the replacement repairs. It's possible that when the original shop replaced the hub assembly, and later the speed sensor, they may have caused a short that got us here. Truth be told, my roommate and I had independently shared that concern.

Without getting too deep in the woods; after the hub was replaced, but the issue persisted, they suggested further work. This wouldn't be covered under their guarantee, since they said it wasn't necessarily related to the original issue. Usually they're okay with me asking questions, so I asked if a speed sensor is something that's normally replaced along with a hub assembly. They said they had no way of knowing the sensor was bad when originally diagnosing the issue, because the sensor is buried in grease. I don't know if that's a common issue, but unfortunately they didn't seem willing to explain it further, so at the time I let it go.

I think I ended up paying around $250 for the sensor installation, but I don't have that bill on hand to double check. This is the bill for the original hub assembly job, though.

I suppose it doesn't make a huge amount of difference at this stage, but do you think it's likely, or even possible for the original shop to cause the abs actuator to fail in this scenario? Or is it more likely just hitting the pothole sent this all in motion and the ABS imploding was inevitable?

 

I wanted to try out some of your suggestions, but my car's been at the dealership this entire time.

They think it's these that need replacement, but they couldn't confirm it. (They never gave me the paperwork I asked for, so I'm not even sure how they came to that conclusion.)

(It's not this specific dealership, I'm just showing the parts!)


When they called to ask for me the loaner back, I told them not to do the repairs, and I'd take the back car instead. (I didn't directly say it, but I want to get it done elsewhere.)

I couldn't bring it home the same day I returned the loaner, but they gave me my key so I could, even if they were closed. They had insisted on getting the loaner back that day, but since I was running behind for an appointment, I didn't think to check my car before leaving.

Yesterday I drove the 40 minutes to get it (Sunday, so unfortunately they were closed). And. Uh. Here is how they left it for me.

When I dropped it off with them, obviously it had a cowl, wipers, functional glovebox arm, etc. The missing parts are completely MIA. (I always said "stealership" in jest, but oof...) They honestly expected me to take it like this...
Now I don't have the loaner, or my own car.

So... I understand it's okay for some water to get in the engine bay, but it's been raining (often pouring), for days now... I didn't think to cover it somehow before leaving, because I cannot articulate how frustrated I was. Still unsure what do do, I left it there. How possibly screwed am I?


I'll call Toyota directly tomorrow, although I'm not optimistic they'll give a hoot. (In over a decade of working with them, unfortunately they've not been very accommodating.)

This sucks.

 

The black arm seemed broken on the glove box, but you're 100% correct. I'm really scared about the engine bay.

The worst part of it is knowing I'll likely just be on my own to pick up the mess (hopefully I actually get my parts back).