2006 Toyota Prius with 136k miles RTD Wiring Harness Corrosion

Our 2006 Prius died in traffic with RTD and became totally disabled. Towed it to Sheehy Toyota in Fredericksburg, VA. Asked them to diagnose problem. Got a call next day saying they can't figure out the problem, and they needed more time, and more money to find the issue. Hybrid battery pack tested good. They said when pressing the horn, it would not stop blowing, and they had to remove the fuse. Also, pressing the horn would change error indications for hybrid system. They later called saying there was corrosion in the wiring harness, and it needed to be replaced for $5100. We traded in the car for new Toyota Corolla. While I like the Prius, I'm very discouraged. I had this 2006 and a 2010 Prius. My 2010 had the inverter fail, and it took over a month to get a part from Japan.

Jim

 

I got $2000 on trade in, and they waived the $500 or so in money spent on diagnostics. I bought the Prius new in 2006, and sold it to my daughter 5 years later. It was her primary source of transportation. It spent 7 years in VA, and 5 years in Savannah, GA. I'm wondering if the humid climates shortened the life of the harness. The car has been outside its whole life. While I would have loved to save it, I would have had to pay the dealer $500, get it towed somewhere else with no clear idea what it was going to take to get it going. Kelly Blue Book on it was really low. I just felt it was time to move on. I don't like my daughters braking down on the side of the road. Both my 2006 and 2010 have stranded them, sometimes far from home. I've seen people get 300k miles on these, but I have not had that luck

Jim