Diesel fuel in 2001 Prius

[drlarkin]

Hi,
Last week I stupidly put 8 gal. of diesel in my 2001 Prius. I realized this mistake and immediately called the local dealer. They said to bring it in and they would siphon the tank, drop it and remove the balance of the diesel. They also said they would purge the fuel lines. When I drove to the dealer (less than 2 miles) the car operated normally. I monitored the engine using the on board screen. Everything seemed to work as it shouold. When I got to the dealer the car was still operating OK. I spoke with the dealer the next day and was told that they had removed almost all the diesel. They had taken it for a test drive and when the tech was entering the service bay the care sputtered and quit. They told me they could not start the car and would have to have the battery charged. The killer was that because "I drove the car using the battery only" they could not do the work under the warranty. I think the Toyota mechanic ran down the battery attempting to start the care after it quit. I was told a new battery would cost between 5K and 7K to replace. This seems excessive! I was also told the catalytic converter would probably need to be replaced. Does anyone have experience with this type of problem. The car has just over 60K on it. Thanks!