Battery Life

unfortunately, it's all over the map. most likely 150 - 200,000, but the heat of texas puts you at a slight disadvantage.

 

Time and lack of use are generally the big battery killers. Sounds like yours gets plenty of use and it'll only be about 6 years old by that time. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

That's a +ve comment. Even if you have to spend say $1-2K to replace the battery, drive it for a couple of years, wait till the kinks are worked out of the Gen IV, then buy it. Say $2K is what you have to spend, that's $83/mth. That's still cheaper than a car payment!!

 

I have a 2005 with almost 300,000 miles. It has just recently started to act like battery problem is starting. It has been a good car. Has been used as a truck, four wheeler, to feed horses in pasture, dirt roads , you name it, the list goes on. My only regret is it may have lasted another 100,000 if taken care of. My husband can't drive and it has hit every pot hole available in the road. Going to get it checked out to see what problem is . After reading this forum first I will check brakes,tires,etc. That I've seen recommended. It has been kicked by horses , side mirrors bit off by my camel and numerous bangs and still really doesn't look that bad. I'm going to miss her if not fixable but I have hope. In the meantime looking for another good deal on one. My dad says it's the tuffest little car he has ever seen.

 

It certainly is a survivor of nature elements...

 

all the best!

 

DoMo324, relax. The warranty is 10 years/150000 miles in CARB states and Toyota stuffs the same battery in every car. They aren't paying many warranty claims and there aren't owners standing in line for battery replacements so relax.

If it was a GM I'd say trade it now while it is still running because you are due for electrical or air conditioning problems or a new engine.

 

Admittedly my Prius is young enough that it isn't really a concern yet.
However, I'd say The Prius HV battery is one of those rare things I apply a "Sgt. Schultz" attitude towards. I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing.

I think anticipating failure or predicting failure is near to impossible. So I'm just not going to worry about it, until I have to worry about it. To the OP I'd say, assuming you have no symptoms or warning lights, you could easily expect that the HV battery will just keep on performing, potentially until 2016 and beyond. As noted, Prius are sold with an 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty outside of a CARB state and a 10 year, 150,000 mile warranty if bought and registered, owned IN a CARB state. And I'd say majority results seem to suggest those are very reasonable baseline expectations for the life of the battery, with most going well beyond warranty.

Unfortunately, once you are past warranty, you are past warranty. But I think it's pretty binary. The Batttery is going to work, until it's not working. And you'll know when it isn't.

If your plan is to upgrade in 2016? Just keep driving. The potential for failure always exists. Honestly? It existed the moment you bought the vehicle and drove it off the lot. If it has been working fine, and IS working fine? Then you don't have a problem. I think keeping the battery fan clean and clog free is about the only maintenance I might worry about.

 

You could think of it this way.

A new battery would cost in the range of $2000 for a Toyota part, brand new. You -can- install them yourself if you like. The car would still be paid for.
A new Prius would cost in the range of $20,000+. Just the tax is close to the cost of a replacement battery (though I'm not sure of the taxes in TX).

If the battery failed and you bought a new Prius the old one would be almost worthless with a dead battery. So you would probably want to replace it before selling it anyway.

What I'm saying is the car is still worth putting that kind of money into if you had to.

Of course, all this talk of battery failure is dangerous.

 

A 2010? And you're worried? My 2005's battery went 9 years and 238,000 miles before it never failed. That's right it didn't have any problems other than lower battery capacity, wasn't drastic though.

I still replaced it because I found a deal to good to pass up. I sold the working battery for $250 to get back half of what I paid for a 2008 battery. The whole thing only cost me 250! Isn't that great.

My sister 2005 That was actually built in 2004 is still going strong with no signs of battery deterioration, that battery will soon be 11 years old! She was a life guard so it sat in hot sun by a pool all summer, with no window tint. Amazing!

I think you're way over thinking things. If I thought my 2010 prius battery would soon fail I sure as hell wouldn't drive a prius. I would probably consider it a piece of garbage. But as we all know, it's not!

 

DoMo324, my first thought after reading your post, this must be your first Toyota. My '10 is coming up on 130k miles and I'm not worried yet.