5 Most Outrageous Quotes Prius Owners Have Had From Dealers
Honestly, should we be surprised when we get a call from the dealer letting us know we need to mortgage the house to get our Prius back. Probably not, it should not catch anyone off guard, but yet somehow it still does. These are real life people who gave me permission to share their stories on what happened to them at the dealer.
All I Wanted Was A New Stereo
This poor soul who is hailing all the way from New Zealand had the crazy run in with the dealer when they wanted to get a pretty straight forward upgrade for the stereo. Turns out, they got nothing, because they could not afford the bill, not to mention, the dealer was not sure they could do it. Here is their story.
I have a Gen 2, no auxiliary, no Bluetooth. I wanted a new stereo because it's all in Japanese anyway. I had a quote last year of $1000 NZD ($630 USD) which seemed steep at the time. I looked around and found that it was actually not so bad. I decided to go back to them. I was then told it would be $3000 NZD ($1888 USD) and they weren't confident that they could do it. They are the local Toyota dealer
The ABS Actuator
An ABS actuator on a 2nd Gen Prius is not unlikely to have replaced. The cost though may send you through the roof. This person at least negotiated a better deal and a rental to boot. Here is their story.
I had the dreaded ABS actuator go out on my Prius. I was nervous about what it would cost, and I had every right to be. It was $2600 USD and 6 days from the dealer. I wanted to keep my Prius but this really had me thinking about a different car. After a little negotiation, I was able to get the price reduced to $2000 and get them to give me a rental car. I wish someone would have warned me about this.
Lack Of Skill Left Me Broke
This guy I feel for, hard. I remember not knowing how to work on my own car and what the costs associated were with having repairs done. I am glad I never had a bill like this one. Here is his story.
My Prius had a subframe bolt that was snapped. At the time, I was not skilled enough to fix it, which ended up costing me dearly. $1300 bucks and a hard lesson learned for sure.
Airbag Light Left Me Without A Financial Safety Net
Airbag lights are not great to have. This can mean your car is not the safest is can be, in the event of an accident. Though it should not cost an arm and leg to have a new one installed. This poor soul had a quote that made him think driving the car without it may have been the better option
I needed to have a part called a clock spring or spiral cable replaced in my Prius. The dealer confirmed it, but the price that I was quoted about made me fall out of the chair I was sitting in. $1400 for a replacement in my gen 2 made me ill. I could not believe how much that cost to be replaced. Yikes.
My Inverter Died, And My Heart Almost Did As Well
Luckily for this person, their component was under recall by Toyota, otherwise this story could have been a huge down payment on new car.
The dealership quoted me $8500 to replace the inverter for the hybrid system in my 2010. Turned out to be covered under warranty due to a software recall. I had to do the research to get it covered, though.
Conclusion
I am sure there are other people out there who have had higher and more ludicrous quotes that what I have here, but you never know. Be cautious when you go to the dealer and do your homework before saying ok. I hope that you all have a great weekend and stay safe.
Check out my other story about the 3 Reasons Toyota should bring back the Prius V
See you in the next story where I am discussing why Carista is the best $20 tool for your Toyota Prius.
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Peter Neilson is an automotive consultant specializing in electric cars and hybrid battery technologies. He is an automotive technology instructor at Columbia Basin College. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Service Technology from Weber State University. Peter is also an Adjunct Instructor of automotive technology at Columbia Basin College. Peter can be reached on Linkedin and you can tweet him at The_hybrid_guy on Twitter.
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