Thanks to a steep driveway and a busy street, my Prius’s transmission housing has a hole in it, and the dealership tells me that the entire transmission has to be replaced because one cannot obtain the housing separately. Is this true?
Yes, that is true, unfortunately, but some clarification is in order here.
Is there a hole in the transmission pan, or in the steel housing itself? Transmission pans can be replaced easily, but of course, then there is the issue of whether the loss of fluid caused major damage to the transmission’s internal parts. If the hole is in the transmission housing (unlikely, but possible, I suppose), then the entire transmission will have to be replaced.
One can replace parts inside a transmission if there is an internal problem, but it is not possible to buy just a transmission housing from the Toyota or any other car maker. The only way to do what you want to do would be to go to a junkyard to obtain an entire (used) transmission, and then pay a huge amount of money to have the internal parts from your transmission swapped into the new (used) housing. That entire proposition would probably cost more than buying a new transmission.
There is no cheap solution to this problem. This is not a desirable situation, but it is reality. In order to avoid this situation in the future, is it possible to regrade your driveway?
Call Your Insurance Agent. Did This Wear Through Slowly Or Hit And Punch A Hole?
It never hurts to ask.
You may have had a collision under there. If it’s possibly covered by insurance, it will be inspected, no doubt. I’m not sure wear-through by doing the same wrong thing over and over would be covered, but maybe a one time stike (going too fast) would be.
I took the back window out of one of my parked cars once with a weed-whipped rock. It was covered, but that’s comprhensive insurance because it was parked. I’m not sure what your’s would be if it’s on your property. My agent tells me they get lots of claims from husbands hitting wives in driveways (car, that is)(or is that the other way around).
If you’re not exactly sure when the damage occurred I’d say your not sure. It may be from a former incident.
I just ran over plywood in the dark and rain last night. I think no damage, though.
CSA
Thank you so much for your quick reply. This happened when pulling into a parking lot, so needless to say I will be much more careful about pulling into drives in the future. The Prius is so low-slung! I am being told that it is the transmission housing and not just the transmission pan, so I guess I am SOL. At least it’s insured, although I hate to think what will happen to my rates now. I didn’t want to okay the total replacement until I had some independent confirmation that the housing wasn’t available separately. The insurance appraiser will be able to confirm the extent of the damage.
Parking Lot? Perfect. See Below.
I believe you’ve been in a collision. This is one the reasons you pay for insurance. You are entitled to be compensated.
CSA
If your Prius has a CVT transmission, they have a reputation for not being repairable. When one goes bad, they have no choice but to replace it.
Worry Wart, Please Let Us Know What Happens. I Appreciate it. Thanks.
CSA
It’s true, and even if one could obtain a transmission case only it would not be cost effective to swap the case out.
The reason for this is that one would not simply swap the used internals over to the new case, but would replace all of the soft parts, seals, bearings, etc. if the job is done properly.
The cost of doing this would be even higher than the price of a new transmission outright.
Go To Discussion: Used Transmission for Prius?
Yes, I do wish posters would stay on the same thread. Cross-linking would be the next best thing. Thanks,
Did you get your prius trans fixed ? I have a case and could fix for you. where are you located?