I bought an imported 1998 used Toyota Prius from a private party last October. I had no problems with it until this May. I took it to a dealer for a regular handbook service and everything appeared normal. The next day I noticed that the hv battery wasn't fully charging. I only drove the Prius 2 out of the next 5 days. However, on the 5th day the battery was charging less and less and a service light came on. I drove the car straight to the dealer where I had the car serviced only 5 days earlier. Because it was a classic imported Prius the dealer had trouble diagonsing the problem. Only yesterday did they come back with that the problem is 3-fold. They said that the HV computer, the HV battery, and the inverter are all shot. Total quote for repair is $12,000 USD. This really shocked me as I only had paid $11,500 for it and it only has 54,000 miles on it.

Anybody have any idea why all 3 components would fail at the same time? Have you ever heard of that before? Do you have any advise for me?

 

That would be an NHW10 model that originally was sold only in Japan. This was the first generation Prius and you probably found the display only in Japanese?

I would recommend reading the Wiki article that fully researches the different Prius models:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius

OWCH! What country are you in?
Sometimes the 12 volt battery can go weak and lead to a whole host of problems. However, if someone tries to put a quick charge on it and reverses the leads, it can wipe out the control computers.

Personally I don't see a good outcome. The car is first generation, always the one that teaches lessons. It sounds like it is not in Japan, the only country the NHW10 was sold in and parts would be found. Even the maintenance manuals would be in Japanese, which makes repair even more difficult if repair staff doesn't read Japanese.

You have my sympathy but there isn't a whole lot of good news here. Certainly it is worth while to test the 12 volt battery and CORRECTLY try another battery. However, this is 'grasping at straws' and I would not hold much hope out.

The NHW11, 2001-2003, and NHW20, 2004-current, models have a lot of improvements and world wide logistics support. We're finding they run a very long time although as they age, parts fail. But we're able to get them repaired and use parts from crashed Prius to fix them. But the changes between the NHW10 and NHW11 are too much to interchange parts.

Bob Wilson

ps. We have an excellent Prius forum, a better place to discuss vehicle specific subjects. I've asked the moderators to move this thread over there.

 

This is in News and Journalism why?

*Boot*

 

My 1998 Prius has the following fault codes
C2617 - POWER INVERTER ABNORMALITY
C2572 - POWER SUPPLY FAILURE WITH HV BATTERY

Anybody else experience the same faults? If so, what had to be done to fix your Prius?

Thanks

 

I don't have the link handy but I believe there is a YahooGroup that deals with NHW10 model Prius. This is the actual, first generation Prius.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

Andrew- I'm wondering why you bought a 9 year old car in the first place.
Sounds to me you over-paid.
Have you every had batteries last more than 9 years in anything else???
This is somewhat expected due to its age.

I just recalled I once had a Seiko digital watch last 10 years on the original battery....

 

You have my deepest sympathy on this ( upcoming ) financial loss.
This is one of key reason I decide not to buy any used car from any private party.