I have a 2006 Toyota Prius. I bought it last year. The car currently has 201,000 miles on it. Suddenly there was an array of warning light on the dashboard. I took it in and the mechanic told me the hybrid battery is going out, in addition to the catalytic converter, AND the power invertor. He says it will be $9000 to fix, but his recommendation is to get a new car. He also says most places will only give me $500 tops if I trade it in. Sadly, because I only have had this car for a year, I still owe a lot of money on it ($7000). I took it in to another Toyota dealership to get a second opinion. This mechanic says the hybrid battery is going out, but not the power invertor. He also tells me that if I fix the hybrid battery (cost $2700 out the door), it will very likely fix the catalytic converter problem, but no guarantee's. This dealership says they will give me $1000 to trade it in. So my questions- 1) I'm not sure which repairs I really need. Do any of you car mechanic out there know which is the more likely scenario? Any other suggestions? Should I take it to yet another dealership? 2) I'm not sure if I should just loose the money I owe on it, and buy another car, thus leaving me with a very LARGE loan I'm not sure I could afford, or should I fix the hybrid battery and take my chances? I am afraid if I fix it I may end up spending a total of $9000 in repairs anyways, which is what I DON'T want to do. What if the catalytic converter does need to be fixed? What is a typical cost on that? What if the power invertor really does need to be fixed, but now I've spent $2700 for a car that still might not work. Please advise! Any suggestions would be helpful!
welcome to priuschat, if you post the diagnostic codes, it will help the experts here to sort this out. how many miles per year are you putting on it? all the best!
There are numerous cheaper options for you. They vary based on what you're willing to do but, many places will rebuild your battery. I recommend getting ahold of PC user "ericbecky" and he will help see you through this. The first dealer is out of his mind, the second dealer is more reputable. There appear to be two installers near you that will install a remanufactured HV battery (see this link Dorman Hybrid Drive Batteries - Installers). One is in Sandy UT and the other in SLC
This is the very reason I'm against people buying high mileage Prius cars, they can break at any time and the repair bills are in thousands of dollars if you depend on others to fix it. You are in a pretty bad position with a $7000 outstanding loan. Yes you can try and get a new battery but that will not fix the catalytic converter issue, that would be more money to fix. As mentioned already, you can get a rebuilt battery from Dorman, that should be under $2000 and hopefully give you good 3 years of service (it has a 3 year warranty). Maybe at that time, you can sell the car for something else with lower miles.
The other codes are likely from the battery going out. I highly doubt the cat converter is bad but, I've been wrong before.
You owe so much money on it, I don't think you can afford to NOT invest into trying to keep it viable as a vehicle. Because there is so little middle ground here, it's either invest or basically lose it all. Can you afford to lose it all and move on? Can you afford to invest into the repairs it needs? Because you owe so much, and it's such a high mileage vehicle, you are unfortunately stuck between the proverbial Rock and Another Rock place.
I don't know. A vehicle throwing codes, that at the very least needs a new Hybrid Battery? With over 200,000 miles on the odometer? I think you'd be hard pressed to find a private party buyer that's going to pony up 3 grand for that situation. But if the OP could? That makes it only a $4000 dollar loss. Still substantial, painful but far more palatable. If I could get 3000 or more for it? I might cut my losses. Honestly? I just feel sorry for the OP, that's a tough situation, there really is no good answer.
There are many battery rebuilders that would buy this and flip it. Over in TX about 1/2 year ago, a member/rebuilder here bought something similar listed for $3999......and they thought it was a steal at that price.
I won't debate this. I never have been in this situation. You could always advertise the vehicle for sale, and see what happens. Nothing to lose in doing that. But even recouping $3000 grand or so....it's still a bad situation.
I am going to take another tack. The 'repairs she needs' are not related, what is odds all three went out at once? I bet her 12 battery is so weak the computers are throwing spurious codes.
2 dealers looked at it, both came back with a minimum of hybrid battery needed. You are probably correct, not all the codes would apply but all of them require a significant amount of money to repair. I guess you could check the 12v first, disconnect the negative to reset and go from there.
In your situation I suggest that you ask the opinion of Patrick Wong on this Forum. I think I would follow his advice.
That applies to any vehicle- something funny happening, check the battery. Here's an odd one; My Dodge Ram with Cummins diesel was popping headlights like Pringles. The 2x batteries were only 3 years old, but I changed them out. Another 2 years and 130k went by without another lightbulb blowing. Not a Dalek
All this speculation... Is the OP ever coming back to update us? I almost bought a 2006 well maintained, 195k freeway miles Prius. Before I could get the agreed $5500 to the seller, the windshield was hit and developed an enormous crack. Seller wouldn't budge on the price. Sooooo happy I walked away, with all that I am learning here. Good luck carconfused, and here's wishing it's mostly the 12v for you.
I agree with usnavysgtc, your hybrid battery is probably failing and that is causing the other fault codes that probably are not real. Your right in the window for needing a new battery, the last 3 that I replaced were in 05 and 06 models with 200K to 210K miles. I don't think your Prius is at the end of it's life, my daily driver right now is an 06 with 250K miles and it runs perfectly. It also got a new (rebuilt) battery right around 200K. I wish you were in my area and I could help you out. Our repair policy is that if we believe your hybrid battery has failed we will put in a new one, if that didn't fix your car we will put your old battery back in (if you want us to) and you would only pay $150.00 for the labor and mobile install. It's better than throwing $3500 at it and not knowing if it will be fixed or not. Try to find a good battery rebuilder in your area that might work with you. I know that there are at least 3 of us in Texas and when you search google you can find us. If you do decide to cut your losses decide what you want for the car and put it on the forum. I would probably give you $3000 for depending on its physical condition, I'm sure there are other Prius repair guys around here that would also like as shot at it before the dealership tries to steal it from you. Best of luck with your Prius, Matt Sauer Owner/Operator Texas Hybrid Batteries, LLC Fort Worth, Texas
Not to go off topic too much but it's definitely good not to have paid 5500 for a 06 with 195k miles. I got mine with 100k miles for 5500 with a brand new HV battery. It just takes some patience to wade through all the savage Priuses in SoCal.
