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2010 Prius inverter failure at 75k miles, "Check Hybrid System/Safe Mode" 10 miles off the lot.


Michael Speziale

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10 days ago, I bought a used 2010 Prius IV from a Chevy dealership about 25 minutes from my house. I had already test-driven the car twice, and it ran very well - really nice car with the solar roof package. I decided to get a Prius because my mom bought a 2005, and still has it with 240k miles on it and it's never had to be serviced ONCE, outside of regular maintenance.

Anyway, after making the deal and signing all the papers, I left the lot and headed home. After getting off at my exit after a short ride on the highway, I started up a hill in the center of town. When I crested it, I heard a beep and the car started slowing down. The MFD said "Check Hybrid System," and the car was immobilized after I pulled into this small Mexican place on the side of the road. I called Chevy, who towed me back to the dealership. I was given a rental (A crappy little Chevy Aveo), an apology from a very embarrassed salesman, and told that the car would have to go to Toyota to be diagnosed.

Two days later, my car was at the Toyota dealership and I was told that my inverter failed. Not the recall issue, they said, as that was the "inverter/water pump." (Funny, I thought the inverter/water pump issue was only for the Gen II.) I was told the car would be ready in a day or two. The next day, she called me back and told me that the part was not available in the US, and they had to order it. They had no idea when it might show up there.

I got a little antsy, and called another Toyota dealership, who looked around and told me that two dealerships had inverters, in MD and NC. I called MD and the guy there said that they had one. When I called my dealer back, she told me that there was no way that he had one, because their ordering system would have showed that. She also said that even if he did, and they got it, that it couldn't be fitted to my car because it has to be ordered for the car...whatever that means. (Overall, the woman I've been speaking with at my Toyota dealership has been very nice, for what it's worth.)

So here I am, ten days out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not so upset that its been over a week so far. In fact, I'm expecting it to take much longer. I go on vacation in ten days until the 22nd and in the back of my mind, I don't expect to have it back until I get back. I just don't understand why a company like Toyota can't have these inverters ready to go from their distributors, especially since they are obviously very well-aware that it's happening. It just seems to me that this was a case of being EXTREMELY unlucky on my part. The Toyota dealership even told me that there was really no way that Chevy could have noticed this problem before selling the car, and a member on PriusChat told me they wouldn't have necessarily known about or done any recalls. When I was searching around for these cars, every CarFax DID say "open recall."

Anyway, just wondering what everyone's thoughts on this situation are. Apparently, it's a rare one, though I'd imagine people with original inverters may start seeing it more in the higher miles.

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  • 3 months later...

Sorry for the bad luck with this car. I am only glad that you went off your mom's good experience with her Prius. Generally I have heard they are very reliable.

My car is a 2011 Camry SE (not the hybrid however). Also a good car.

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  • 1 year later...

I have a 2010 Prius V with 96000 miles.  Never had any problems and the car runs perfectly.  Sorry to hear of your experience and would like to know if others have experienced similar problems.  Good luck and hopefully many miles.

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