This is the story of my inverter failure and warranty fix. It’s a bit long. 2010 Prius that we bought off a 3 year lease from a dealer. We have 230,000 km on it and pretty much trouble free. Got the warning light on the dash to check or service hybrid system so I scanned the car and found the code to be P0A49. Did a search and quickly found this to be the inverter failure and also that there is an extended warranty. So I made an appointment at my closest a Toyota dealer, which is Granville Toyota in Vancouver. I told the advisor that the code is P0A49 and that it looks like the inverter has failed but not sure if they noted this. I had to wait about a week to get in and I wasn’t able to drop the car but my wife dropped it off. The advisor informed her that there would be a $150 diagnosis charge. Got a call after a few hours and was informed about the “bad news” that indeed my inverter has failed and that the repair is $4,300. I quickly replied that I think there is an extended warranty on the inverter. The adviser was not aware of this and asked where I saw it and suggested that it could be only applying in the USA since I saw it online. The advisor would investigate and get back to me. I will also investigate. I immediately called Toyota Canada and talked to a very nice person who was able to confirm that there is a 15 year inverter warranty on 2010 to 2014 Toyota Prius and that my VIN seemed to be eligible. She also gave me the reference number R66 or X66 in case anyone in Canada has this issue and the dealership is not aware of the warranty. The advisor texted me during my call with Toyota Canada and said that he found the warranty info but needed to confirm my car had the proper software update to make sure it is eligible. I replied and informed him I spoke to Toyota Canada and gave him the Ref#R66. After a couple hours I finally got a response saying that the software was updated so my car should be eligible. I just went to check the exact wording in the text but they all seem to be gone. I also tried to call that number after receiving the text and it isn’t a number you can call. Does Toyota have a system where they can text from a random number and the text auto deletes? At this point I am getting a bit frustrated. I want to know that I am covered for sure. Eventually I get another text saying the part can be ordered and work done next week. They asked if we wanted to take the car or leave it. I said leave it because it does not seem drivable. The day of the job o got another text with slightly ambiguous wording as to whether the work will be covered and I responded with “Do not proceed with this job before confirming it is covered under warranty. I will not be able to pay for this job if it is not covered.”. The next text I get is the car is ready to be picked up. The fix was done and I wasn’t able to pick up the car in person but thankfully I was NOT charged anything not even the diagnosis. My question or concern is around the warranty awareness of the dealer. Does this seem normal that I would be given an estimate of $4300 and if I agreed I think I would have just paid it and the warranty wouldn’t have covered it. Also the uncertainty of the coverage was so frustrating to deal with. This was potentially a very expensive repair. I feel a bit suspect of the dealership. Can they really not be aware of this warranty? How many Prius’ are in Canada? Is this a wide spread problem? I find it hard to believe they didn’t know. Am I off base here? I got a text asking if I was satisfied with the service. I responded NO and the response is that someone from the dealer will contact me. Ultimately I am happy my car is fixed and it cost me nothing except time and some aggravation. But I plan to provide feedback regarding the warranty awareness. Should I mention anything else?
No this is exactly how business works they want to keep you in the dark as much as possible if they can get away with it Toyota really wouldn't have anything to do with this this would be Toyota of Canada I guess it's like a franchise somebody brought Toyota to Canada a group of people millionaires whatever like they did in the States I have beef with Toyota in America I have beef with Toyota USA not Toyota the manufacturer in Japan I'm talking to USA because Japan doesn't talk to me they didn't sell to me Toyota USA did Toyota Canada did all that so that's who you're dealing with You can tell him whatever you want but this is pretty much kind of how they roll if they can get away with it You got it fixed generally speaking you should be happy and as far as Toyota Canada's concerned they'll send you a gift card for a cup of coffee or something probably I don't know but that's very typical people who've worked in the car business have a good handle on this sort of antics but your car is fixed and it's almost 15 years old or something so that's a pretty good lick right. Me I don't ever make it that far I just have an inverter laying out here under the carport and I just drop it in and I'm driving in an hour and a half so I don't have to make these calls and be told anything about 4,000 and a 12-year-old car or whatever
I’m not sure if Tom mentioned this, but I’ve heard dealerships get paid better by retail customers than Toyota, so a big disincentive for both of them to accept responsibility. Ever cleaned the EGR system?
My EGR is due to be cleaned and I had tried to get it done about 6 months ago. I don’t feel like doing it myself and my trusted independent mechanic has been going through some personal issues so it’s been delayed. It will get done. I also have the extra filter ordered for the battery vent in the rear seat.
I am very happy with the outcome but the process to get there wasn’t great. Where do you get a spare inverter? Is this a used part from a wrecker?
First couple of links in my signature may help him. If you've never done it, good to dig right down to the battery fan itself, see how it's doing, clean it. It can be done without rear seat removal.
Yeah during the time of the recall most of these got redone in America they put a sticker on them and some other kind of nonsense so you can tell it's been done as they go into the junkyard these inverters they can't give them away they have thousands of them piled up in the corner that they're going nowhere so every time I go buy any of my towing lots or LKQ they'll practically give me one give me $20 Tom okay buddy thanks but they never break in the generation 2 practically so I have one for each car just in case haven't used one yet many here on this list have had to but I personally haven't had to use one yet they're both sitting here at the ready and yes they came from breakers other people with cars that were getting ready to send the card to the breakers but they call me first and I took what I wanted and then it went to the breakers that sort of thing I try to stay on top of this stuff so I'm not having to buy lots of parts especially ones that have been fixed under warranty already and have a green stamp of approval.
Oh Man just wait a few more years You think this little dig with something to deal with Just wait these companies are fixing to get really almighty governments are enabling this pretty soon they won't even be a warranty or anything like that Just watch You may live to see it on your watch or your children will It's becoming more and more like that everyday Big business can write their own ticket and say whatever they want and pretty much that's gospel people are getting so dissatisfied and start being tired of hearing this stuff look on the internet they're blowing up products It will certainly get a lot worse before it gets better giving our governments have certainly short changed the people.
P0A94 at 182,000 km. They want $2900 CAD for an inverter and $1170 CAD for 6 hours labour, plus tax of course The labour is the funny (sad) part as their own T-SB-0003-21 states 2 hours for an inverter R&R. And no, the Customer Confidence Program 23TE03 doesn’t apply to us according to Toyota Canada. iPad ?
The inverter price looks competitive; question the labour and/or get quotes from a few other dealerships? That labour rate is $195 CDN per hour (1170/6=195), ugh. That’s $142.27 USD currently. if I google: average cdn toyota dealership labour rate the AI summary says $145~185 CDN, and also: “Dealerships often use a "flat rate" system, which means you are billed based on the manufacturer's estimated time for a specific job rather than the actual time the mechanic spends on the repair”
If you put together prices of every single part on a car, the total amount could buy 3-4 new cars, may be more.
Following up. I found the inverter for a little under $2200 +tax at performanceautoparts.ca and picked it up so no shipping. I decided to do the inverter pump as pro-active maintenance. The price was ok on the Toyota branded pump but had I had more time, I would have gone through Amayama and got the Aisin model for much cheaper. Amayama’s price for the inverter itself was high. It’s my belief the early model inverters are doomed to fail as they were run hot for too long before the software update. The job itself was not hard with access to the TIS repair manual.
Hello I am now currently have entered the same boat... Also I am in Ontario Canada. I am about to call the dealer to find out if my vehicle qualifies for this warranty .. but I think I will call Toyota Canada first just to get more info.. my Vehicle is 2012 Prius V with 353 k km on it, I already did the head Gasket, EGR Valve, Water pump, thermostat, timing tensioner. I was about to do this job but if its under warranty then great, Sad thing is I already purchased 250$ in parts( inverter Pump and Coolant) I am currently getting Permanent code of P0A94 DC/DC performance, I was not able to find any blown fuses and I don't know which relays to check , the car still drives at very Low performance as usual bunch of lights on my dash, including temperature/ over heat light I originally had code for my Right rear wheel sensor but i removed the plug and cleaned it up and put it back and the code is no longer back . The vehicle currently in Limp mode I sometimes can get it to rev and go up to 60-80 km/h but sometimes it gets stuck and does not want to rev! Never experienced something like this before. I am pretty Tech Savvy and mechanically inclined but the cold winters here don't allow for DIY repairs and I really need to get my car back working to normal any suggestion is welcomed , I have posted bunch of screen shots from Techstream
I called 4 dealership to try to get them to give me warranty on the inverter and i hit brick wall with all .. none of them even heard of extended warranty on inverter how did you manage this sir ?
There is a TSB for that in the US. See the attached. If your vehicle qualifies under the conditions laid out, show the dealer this TSB. I assume a similar one will exist for Canada.
They're likely bs'ing: it's been speculated that owners pay a lot better than Toyota. Same story for the gen 4 heat exchanger coolant leaks.
Yes I can confirm all but one Service advisors out of 7 dealers i called were BSing me and kept telling me they cant tell me anything until i bring my vehicle in .. the one guy that actually took the time and looked into it after I gave him the R66 reference and told him Toyota Head Canada has issues this Program managed to find it and even told me to bring print out of the codes I got off my car so they don't charge me the 150$ diagnostic fee, anyways I got appointment next week , I am hoping they don't change their word when i get there I got the service advisors name and he was confident that my car falls in to this program , unlike other dealers who shut me down right away as soon as I mentioned customer confidence program/ warranty and one them even laughed said "why would you think your 2012 Prius have warranty still" over all terrible experience dealing with Toyota so you call "Service advisors" They are clueless don't know codes and they see very dishonest
Sorry, service advisor is a misnomer - they are ALL salesman/saleswomen. You've actually found a very 'rare' one that actually does their job and care about customer satisfaction. Probably a young-ling that hasn't been disillusioned like this old fart. You need to treat them as such, so watch your assets. I guarantee you that they are recording all of your work authorization go aheads. Get all communications in writing, NOT disappearing text messages - that's a dead giveaway they want to or thinking about doing something dishonest. Why do you need disappearing text messages, unless you don't want your wife to find out about your girl friend on the side? If the service goes well, you should fill out the customer satisfaction survey with 5 stars and mention the treatment you got from the other dealerships (by name, if you can remember). Just my two cents......
