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2012 PIP - Bad Inverter

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by 20)^Black, Apr 6, 2013.

  1. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Not to mention the fact that these voltage inverters are just electronics. They can even --- gasp!! --- be repaired. Yes, that's right, a "mechanic" could actually repair the failed components with a soldering iron, instead of merely replacing the whole the entire thing.
     
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  2. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    I haven't met any "car mechanic" with the ability of performing actual electronic's repairs for an Authorized Automotive Service Center, unless is their part, vehicle and money at risk.
    I interpret the $10,000 explanation charge as pure BS from the toxic dealer.
     
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  3. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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    The term for this type of repair is A Electronic Mechanic, which differs only slightly from a Electronic Technician. For the most part a car mechanic does not do this type of repair. For the most part he is a replacer. This is not to denigrate a Auto Mechanic, as some are capable of actual repair. With a dealership, it's all a question of time. On the Gen 2 forum there was a case(s) where the inverter was opened up and the offending and obvious, shorted bit or piece was replaced. With most micro Electonic cards this is impossible nowadays.
     
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  4. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    Question of time and ROI; authorized car service centers do not get paid on "parts" repairs, only exchanged parts, and parts with a high ticket value, they must return the cores for evaluation; and in the case of this, one in a life time Hybrid Inverter replacement, I can assure you that a Toyota Team of Field Engineers will be investigating this issue to its fully extent.
     
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  5. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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  6. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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  7. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    For these expensive components, it would seem smart for Toyota to just do a swap at the dealer, and send the problem unit to a specialized center where they could decide if the unit could be repaired and put back in service as a reconditioned unit for someone else down the line, or if the unit should be scrapped. It would be way too expensive to have technicians for this kind of thing at every dealership.
     
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  8. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Toyota Carlsbad has a good service dept. Toyota Escondido stay away. That's my opinion.
     
  9. 20)^Black

    20)^Black My Third Prius - 2012 PIP

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    UPDATE: I got the car back today. That service advisor I previously spoke to grossly overstated the cost of the replacement inverter. Of course, everything was covered under warranty and when I looked at their internal warranty paperwork, the whole thing (parts and labor) came to about $2,800. I don't know how much they actually get reimbursed from Toyota. Car seems to be fine. I looked under the hood and the workmanship is very clean.
     
  10. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    That was from the Gen 2 Prius. I did attend some of the sessions where a Portelligent guy (likely the author of the above) went over various systems. I posted a link to pics of the torn down Prius and some of the slides at Embedded Systems Conference Prius Teardown | PriusChat.

    The Gen 3 Prius inverter externally is quite different from Gen 2 (see Picasa Web Albums - cwerdna - Prius Connect...). Not sure about the internals though.
     
  11. babybird

    babybird Member

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    I would guess the internals are quite different too, because as I recall they shrunk its size by some significant percentage for the Gen 3 Prius.

    I would imagine the PiP inverter is different from even the standard Gen 3 Prius, but I suppose I could be wrong. Maybe they designed the new inverter from the ground up to support a more robust, continuous plug-in operation anticipating the PiP being released a few years later.


    Glad to hear you got it back and the original estimate was just way off the mark. $2,800 sounds much more reasonable for a brand new inverter replacement.
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats! all the best.
     
  13. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Makes me think a good time to sell is at the 3 year mark
     
  14. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Why? IIRC, the inverter's warranted for longer than 3 years.
     
  15. rogerv

    rogerv Senior Member

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    I think he is saying before the warranty runs out. One could also buy the extended warranty at that point if a lot of these types of repairs are reported over the next couple of years.
     
  16. Tracksyde

    Tracksyde Member

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    Toyota FAQs | Send Questions to Toyota Customer Service

     
  17. rogerv

    rogerv Senior Member

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    Thanks, I wasn't thinking about the hybrid warranty, but rather the 3 yr/36K mile warranty.
     
  18. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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    . Did the dealership give you any hint of why it may have failed?
     
  19. 20)^Black

    20)^Black My Third Prius - 2012 PIP

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    No indication. They said that they are returning it to the factory for a complete inspection.