I found a 2007 Prius that had been in a front end accident in MASS. and was fixed and certified by the state of MASS as OK. Has a reconstructed title (or whatever they call it). I've looked into it and had it checked and everything is good. Car has 65k on it and I just realized that the batts are out of warranty due to the accident. So my questions are as follows. 1. Who can I check with at toyota to make sure that they are indeed out of warranty as the guy who's selling says he's fairly certain. 2. Am I crazy to buy this car without a battery warranty? What kind of life are people seeing out of the batts? 3. If worst case scenario at 120K or something I need to repalce the batts, what am i looking at? Do they even do this?
I have a 2001 Prius with a factory new 9 month old battery. What is covered under the 12 month limited warranty? Would the buss bars and sensing wires be under warranty as well as the individual cells and battery housing? If the buss bar goes bad and needs to be replaced, should Toyota pay for diagnosis and repair? In refrence to the question above, I would not buy a car with a battery not under warranty unless it was super cheap! Like under $1500.00 because battery replacement is an annoying and expensive process if you are not capable of doing the repair yourself. If you try and repair your bad battery I have some cells I can sell you really cheap. If you get a new HV battery keep the old one and send it to me I'll give you $50 plus shipping.
http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/warranty.html Reportedly, fewer than 1 in 40,000 batteries fail during the 100,000 mile warranty period. After that, no one will have good records as the owners may opt for used batteries (see below) Big city taxi with 300,000 mile histories are reported, but a big city taxi is almost continually Ready, so the computers are able to babysit the battery. Normal owners who bought a 2001 and drove it 30,000 miles a year for 10 years may be able to confirm that life. But the battery design has been improved twice since 2001. A 2004 would have to be driven 43,000 a year to be at 300,000 miles. Ebay has a supply of batteries from $200 up. (Toyota has a $200 recycling program, so that serves as a minimum price) prius battery -ECU items - Get great deals on eBay Motors, Prius items on eBay.com! ReInVolt refurbishes batteries for $1375 (plus $285 labor if you want them to install it) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-2009-Toyota-Prius-Hybrid-Battery-Pack-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem1e5ce8b239QQitemZ130407772729QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories Toyota's list price for a new battery is $2295 (plus labor)
In an accident anything might have happened to the car. But if you've paid a dealer to completely diagnose it, *including battery tests*, and everything checks out, the battery is probably not much more at risk than an average one.
It sounds like your car was built from 2 wrecks. A salvage title voids the factory warranty. If you look around you may be able to find a different VIN stamped on the rear parts.
