Prius ABS repair question

I know y'all have some Prius experience, and my SIL just asked me to help her out with her Prius. All of the various ABS, T/C, etc lights came on, so she went to dealer. This is repair quote she got back:

Any experience with all the lights and the above referenced TSB's? Any recommendations on what to do to correct? Feels pretty steep for a repair, but I don't know what those TSB's entail.

Thanks!

In reply to Spearfishin :

I'd take the TSB directly to PriusChat.com and ask around there.  I'm not familiar with those.

However, I saw the $638.42 line item quote to replace sway bar end links and I about CHOKED.  That's less than 30 minutes work and $50 in parts cost.

The first thing I would do is cycle the 12 Volt power.  That clears alot of false codes on the Gen 2.

When I googled the TSB, seems it's common enough that Toyota did it for free for a while well outside of original warranty. They've told her it's not safe to drive until it's repaired. 

638.42 for sway bar end links. Really?

My dealer keeps wanting $90 to replace the cabin air filter. Takes me about 45 seconds. And no, once again, I don't want the ethanol treatment or the fuel injector cleaner.

"I'd take the TSB directly to PriusChat.com" is a good idea.

So I'm a little confused...

First, the shop isnt saying what's wrong like a code number but just showing a TSB number.

I also see services $1,318. 

What did she spend $1,318 on?  My guess is this was a wheel speed sensor (from the same guys charging $600 for links.)

Then additional services RECOMMENDED (not required) is wiper blades, etc as well as two TSBs. 

Is the shop trolling for dollars saying ,"your car has never had this TSB so you should as PREVENTIVE MAINT?"

Are they trying the scare tactic of, "you're in danger until this TSB is done"?

There may be others, but there was already discussion of the first TSB (the OP arriving there by having the actual issue first rather than just an open TSB) at priuschat: https://priuschat.com/threads/brake-booster-malfunction.231275/

I'm stopping now, but I suspect searching for the other TSB will also turn up similar info. There are a fair few Prii out there, and priuschat looks like a pretty busy place...

John Welsh said:

So I'm a little confused...

First, the shop isnt saying what's wrong like a code number but just showing a TSB number.

I also see services $1,318. 

What did she spend $1,318 on?  My guess is this was a wheel speed sensor (from the same guys charging $600 for links.)

Then additional services RECOMMENDED (not required) is wiper blades, etc as well as two TSBs. 

Is the shop trolling for dollars saying ,"your car has never had this TSB so you should as PREVENTIVE MAINT?"

Are they trying the scare tactic of, "you're in danger until this TSB is done"?

 

 

Can't answer exactly the breakdown of what was paid for outside of what's shown as an estimate, but she went in for all the brake/abs lights being on in her dash, and that fits the first TSB, diagnostically, from what I've read. Seems a common problem, and books 5 or 6 hours of labor and over a grand in parts from the dealer. 

Internet seems split on how dire it really is. I told her to seek a second opinion from an independent shop. I'm glad to swap some brake parts, but don't know if it requires anything in the way of programming or ECU induced bleeding or something. 

In reply to Spearfishin :

Re: brake bleeding.

Gen 2 Prius doesn't take anything special to bleed the the brakes *.  I assume Gen 3 is the same.

* Actually it's the easiest car I've ever bled.  They have a brake pressure actuator that essentially  "pumps the pedal", so you can do the job by yourself.

TSB1 is abs pump

TSB2 is cold start rattle

TBS2 can not solve the abs light.  Are they listed in order of importance?  If so, is wiper blades more important than alignment?

When you say seek another shop, does this then mean the car is drivable?  If the ABS pump is actually bad then the car would not be drivable.  Braking would be VERY reduced.  

I still think they are suggesting TSB 1 as preventative maintenance.  I'll bet it's a hold over from a few years ago when Toyota was paying for this repair and the dealership found this wrong with every Prius that qualified for the repair that therefore paid the d dealership (easy money.)

We still wonder what the $1,318 paid for.  Since paying the $1,318 is the abs light on still or off?

I shall call her tomorrow. I got all of the info I have in a flurry of texts (I assume in real-time as she got info from dealer), and then nothing more. 

Appreciate help thus far. 

Get the vin from her or just a picture of the vin.  From there, you can go to toyota.com/owners and set up a profile.  Once you have a profile you can enter the vin of any Toyota/Lexus/Scion (including ones you dont own) and see the dealer service history.  In there you might see some brief but further notes entered by the service dept.  

I know the 2nd gen prius's have issues with the abs hydraulic unit not holding pressure, those got a warranty extension.  I would not be surprised if the 2011 uses the same unit so it may be worth looking into the cutoffs on the extension if it applies.

My wife's 06 has a similar issue.  It does not hold pressure so the pump runs every 10 seconds or so & intermittently will set multiple brake warnings.  I'm still weighing a new replacement or risking it with a used one, just need to figure out if coding is needed & options for bleeding it as toyota looks to be cracking down on the dealer software that used to be available online