2004 Toyota Prius: Freak Out Fixed

Quite expensive for a very common problem on the Prius. This may end up being one of those things that buyers of used Priuses need to ask about before purchasing (i.e. whether the pump has been replaced). Like the headgasket issues on the late 90's 2.5 NA Subaru engines.

My dad was damn happy that the car gods had his 2004 Prius inverter pump go out literally a day or two before his warranty was set to expire. Would have sucked big time to pay that much out of pocket.

Also, isnt that a bit on the expensive side for an AC compressor?

$1000+ for an AC compressor!!? A quick check online just now tells me a brand new compressor for my car, or for most people's cars for that matter, normally costs no more than $300 if you look long enough to find discounts. This is a friggin' Prius....not a Rolls Royce.

I must agree with jaden and messier. What they paid in TAX will buy a lifetime waranty remanufactured A/C compressor for any of the 4 cars I own - and it would take years for the Prius to make the difference back up in gas cost relative to my Buick - which I only paid $1800 to buy - 50,000 miles ago. (Heck, it'd take quite a while to make it back relative to our 20,000 miles/year Suburban!)

It's an electrically powered compressor, as opposed to the belt-driven sort on most non-hybrid cars. Not that the addition of an electric motor makes it THAT much more expensive, but that plus its unique design (i.e. not used on many other cars) may account for some of the additional expense.

another beaming example of toyota quality and a complex drivetrain. But its ok to spend 2.5k when you are saving the enviroment or something, right? RIGHT?

I told you the message was code for "bring lots of money"
I also agree $1,000 bucks for a A/C compressor seems excessive. I guess Toyota figures most Prius owners have the dough. Especially in Cali.

" What they paid in TAX will buy a lifetime waranty remanufactured A/C compressor "

Lifetime warranty is nice until you've had to remove and install a new one a couple of times. Then it is nicer having one that just lasts.

Thats pricey, I hope the donuts had sprinkles on them, or at least got some bear-claws...

A quick search of the internet, Pep Boys and Auto Zone finds no A/C compressors for a 2004 Prius. It looks like the dealer is the only game in town @ this point. No competition = big price.

Prius A/C compressor is more complex than a typical compressor, includes electric motor, not belt-driven, and operates at variable speeds like an a/c system for a big commercial building.

Since the dealer is the only place for the part, be prepared to pay and pay some more. It is hard to imagine spending 25% of car's value on a Toyota with ~75K miles, just points to the durability of their vehicles lately. I has a 97 Toyota Avalon, ran for 217K miles without a single broken item, those were cars that had the toyota reliability.

Just hope your battery doesn't die. After no help from the owners manual and a call to the dealership, I was told the terminals to jump the car are in the trunk and they advised against doing it anyway. Everything in the car is electric too so no shifting the car into neutral, opening the rear hatch, etc.

A tow truck had to come drag it out of my garage. Luckily it was under warranty.

I don't recall a blog entry mentioning A/C troubles.

What was wrong with the A/C?

"Quite expensive for a very common problem on the Prius."

Common? My wife has a Prius and has had no problems and even the Ex has one with no problems....Do you have a link to show that it is common?

I`m freak out now, LOL.

Suddenly my $500 dollar lower ball joints seem cheap and cheerful at the moment.

totota probably figured that if it broke most toyota pious drivers wouldn't notice because they don't drive with the a/c on... a/c needlessly burns extra fuel.

So what other cars have electric A/C and do they cost as much?

It is a lot of money but less then my friend just paid for a new transmission on his 2005 Grand Prix.

Bodyblue,

Just a quick search brought this thread up.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-care-maintenance-troubleshooting/36513-inverter-coolant-pump-takes-dive.html

Also, my friend's prius had the water pump crap out at 92k and my dad had his fail at 99k (I understand that is not serious evidence).

As noted on that priuschat thread, Toyota did issue a TSB for it...so definitely a known problem!

Way to go, Toyota..........

Costs that much on a Toyota, will make sure won't get any one of those. Good bye..toyota

You, sir, got ripped off. The inverter pump is a common failure (ours went out around 90k miles) and it cost me $250 to fix, parts included. It is a common problem as has been pointed out. You may want to call Toyota and complain, specially if you car is still at all near warranty. I also doubt that the A/C would have gone out at exactly the same time. They are separate systems. I'd definitely have the old part inspected. I smell shenanigans.

And for the haters out there: one part failure in 102k miles of driving, maintenance of just oil and tire rotations every 5k miles. I'd say that's very reliable and the lowest upkeep costs of any car I've had.

Not a common problem. For Toyota to issue a service announcement it just has to happen a very small percentage of the time. How many Prius's are sold again? And how many issues they have? and btw, if you have water pump issues, start filling up once you get to 1/4 tank. Anything less than that you start sucking in air and the water pump goes on any car made to date that uses gas. i guess if you don't want to worry about that you should get a Tesla.

My 2008 Prius just needed a $4000 repair after just 27K miles for a failed power inverter(?).

Thank god it's still under warranty.

I'm worried about the long term costs of this car.

I have only had one toyota in my life. A 2003 Camry XLE V6. Got rid of it after 104,560 miles. Toyota makes a big fuss about reliability? This car was a maintanace nightmare. I spent a total of $6000 on this car during a 6 month span. Ridiculous. And the fact that it wobbled at speeds higher than 60 was a mystery and the dealorship couldn't fix it at all.
This is the first and the LAST time I will ever buy a Toyota. EVER.

I hate them. bland zombie mobiles, which don't do what they are supposed to do.

Doesn't Toyota have a longer warranty on the hybrid systems of their cars? If so shouldn't the inverter pump and A/C be covered under warranty since these parts are unique to hybrid cars? I would like IL to have Toyota formally respond to the large number of failures of the inverter pump and why they are not covering it under warranty.

Wow this makes the ~$600 in unscheduled repairs on my 'unreliable' 75,000 mile '06 Jetta seem extremely reasonable.

this is pretty ironic because Toyota is currently running ads showing owners who have supposedly seen their vehicles last 150k-200k miles with no repairs. This car has 70k miles and if it was an American car Toyota/Honda fans would be up in arms and using this as a prime example of how domestics can't make it to 100k and beyond without signficant problems.

[sarcasm] Yeah, I don't understand this. The Toyota TV commercials tell me that if I buy a Toyota it should last me well over 20 years and 400k miles with just putting gas in it (and maybe a muffler at some point). The TV said so! It can't be wrong. The TV also told me it would be really cool to drive a Kia Soul, because there are some gangsta hamsters driving it with gold chains and hoodies. I so want to be like those hamsters... [/sarcasm]

I'd imagine anyone with these issues on their last gen Prius probably curses at the TV when they see the current round of reliability themed ads.

I bet the Prius has the highest possible reliability rating in CR though- as usual well documented Toyota issues miraculously fail to show up in CR's survey results.

I'm convinced Toyota makes their money off of dealership parts. They wanted over one hundred dollars for an unpainted door handle for our 99 Camry, and another 150 to install it. I paid 20 on Ebay for a pre-painted one and did it myself. They wanted over 250 for an EGR valve. I had it bought and installed by a local mechanic for that, including labor and tax.

Granted the car is in amazing shape for 210k miles, and we've put maybe 2 grand into it in 8 years, which includes the brakes and tires and oil changes. But, I'd avoid the Toyota dealership whenever possible. Sadly, doesn't seem to be possible with the Prius. Another reason to avoid.

"and btw, if you have water pump issues, start filling up once you get to 1/4 tank. Anything less than that you start sucking in air and the water pump goes on any car made to date that uses gas."

@canabacon

The water pump and fuel pump have absolutely nothing to do with each other. the water pump circulates coolant throughout the engine, and the fuel pump, well, that's pretty self-explanatory. therefore, filling up at a quarter of a tank isn't going to do anything to extend the life of your water pump. also, most modern cars have the fuel pump in the tank, toward the bottom, negating the need for filling up at a 1/4 of a tank to prevent 'sucking in air'.

that being said, the repair here was an inverter pump that circulates coolant through the electricals of this car, not a water or fuel pump.

$2500 for the fix? Hope you ate a LOT of doughnuts..

Holy crap, and I thought VW was expensive!