Will it cost me all the money i saved in gas to get a new battery?

Is your battery bad? Too bad that you're feeling lousy but, I'm feeling great. My 2001 (with supposedly inferior batteries) went 121,000+ miles and 12 years on its original battery before it got runned over by a reindeer (sorry, KY coming out of me). My 2005 has gone 152,000+ miles and 9 years on its original battery (still going strong). My 2006 went 117,000+ miles and 7 years on its original battery when I traded her for the Camry Hybrid.

I personally don't know what you're worried about but, you sound like a Prius hater that just wants attention. I find it extremely hard to believe that your 2011's battery is bad but, if it is, it is still under warranty. Is this even a real post, or just a hater that wants to stir things up and get attention?

 

You need a new math teacher .

OK.
Maybe that's a little harsh, and I apologize if the question was sincere instead of just sincerely ill-stated.....but if you bought a 2011 Prius new and
you've driven it enough to blow through your battery warranty, you can't help but to have saved enough in gas and repairs to re-battery a G3.

Your battery options are:

New from the dealer - about 3K
Re-manufactured - varies from $1500 to $2000
eBay - varies from $700 +
Junkyards - varies from about $300

If you're "feeling kinda lousy" about having to replace the battery in a 4-5 year old car with more than 100,000 miles, then whatever you do...don't buy a VW....or any of a number of other cars that I can name.
$2000-$3000 car repair bills are not exclusive to Priuses.....and you might be surprised to find out how much driving a non-hybrid can also be even when gas is $2 a gallon.

Oh yeah....
You are checking your oil about every other tank, right?
If not?
You're worrying about the wrong part of the car.


Good Luck!

 

Batteries can be fickle things, but Toyota has done a good job of designing the system and standing behind it with a good warranty. I don't have any battery-anxiety. There are more than enough more important things to worry about.

 

If OP's battery is shot after 3 years regardless of the car mileage it would remarkable.
I'm willing to wager OP is trolling.

 

I don't think the OP is trolling, he probably does not understand the hybrid warranty is 8 years / 100k miles. Not the regular 3 year / 36k miles

 

And if he mis-understands the warranty -- so what, so long as the battery is fine.

Or maybe this is his first Toyota, and he thinks the car components will die the day after the warranty expires. Poor, traumatized GM car owners.

Anyway, to anybody uniformed: the traction battery lasts 10 - 15 years if not abused. A lucky few will go longer, an unlucky few will go less. The smart owners will take simple steps to make it very likely that the car ends up dying from old age, unrelated to the traction battery.

 

If he comes back with something constructive, then he's not a troll.

If he doesn't, then he is.

I know where my money is

 

In a separate post he wrote that he's seeing a big change in SOC after it's been parked for a while.

Very possibly legit, but doesn't spend all day at work on his computer, browsing PriusChat

 

Ahh.. so he has jumped to the conclusion that his battery is dying ?

He should go back and post in the original thread to get troubleshooting advice. Since he posted there that the car has 36k miles, JC is right and he is confused regarding warranty details. So even if the very unlikely is true and his traction battery is having problems, it will be fixed for free.

 

The other post is over a year old, he really doesn't hang out at Prius chat

 

My last GM, over a decade ago, had a complete power steering failure, with one week left on the warranty. That would've been just as expensive as replacing the battery. You get the idea. My '07 Prius went 94,000 miles and had one warranty repair, the inverter pump. My '13 Prius has 26,000 miles - no repairs. My wife's '07 has 98,000 miles. No repairs. As we all know, on the Gen III's the last software update was to prevent an inverter failure. Rightfully so, many of us were concerned that the inverter is expensive, more so than replacing the HV battery. What did Toyota do about our concerns? They sent a letter stating that they are now covering the inverter for 15 years, unlimited mileage! If you are serious about your concern, it is misguided. Any vehicle can leave you with a large repair bill, but I truly believe that you are worrying about nothing.

Don't block your battery vent next to the passenger rear seat, don't activate a space heater on top of your battery, and don't worry about something that is covered for 10YRS/100,000 miles!

 

Reindeer or caribou live in Kentucky?? And they ran OVER your Prius?? Did you , like, get run over by Santa and his gang on Christmas Eve or something? Or did you just have too much egg nog and make that all up?

 

If you own The Prius long enough?

Then eventually Hybrid Battery Replacement does become a cost of ownership.

If you bought it new, or as a nearly new used? Then I think you can expect many more years than 3. In CARB states, a new hybrid battery will be warrantied for 10 years, or 150,000 miles.

If you are likely to trade in before then? Or can afford a new vehicle before that period of time, then Hybrid Battery replacement never really should become an issue.

If you own an older Prius with no warranty attached? Then YES you should figure in for the potential cost of a hybrid battery replacement. I think of it as a singular "potential" expense, and I don't necessarily compare or attach that expense against the "fuel savings".

If your transmission goes out on a regular ICE vehicle do you immediately factor that repair or replacement against any fuel economy the vehicle provides? I don't.

 

10 years/150k miles hybrid warranty should cover you for a long long time. Not worried at all and didn't go into this thinking that I will have to replace the battery.

 

...if it was purchased in a CARB state.

 

OP, the only one that knows if you saved enough is you. Look in your bank, account and if there is at least $2500 in there, then you saved enough.

 

One perk , my dealer gave , new prius purchase from them , life time warranty on the traction battery
On less item to think about

 

Can you provide a copy of the lifetime warranty? If it was a verbal warranty, good luck with that one.

 

New rule- If the OP doesn't show up after 40 replies...we wait

 

40