I tried to buy a new traction battery from toyotapartsbarn.com but they said I'm not allowed to ship my core battery back to them unless it is packaged for shipping by a certified Prius tech. I asked whether a prius tech could tell me what it is I have to do, and explained that I've had traction batteries apart in the past (I rebuilt one a few years ago from two used batteries) and I'm familiar enough to understand what the guy is talking about, and he said that if the battery has been apart, they might not accept the core at all. As it is, the battery I want to ship back was rebuilt by falconhybrid.com, and when I explained that it sounded like I was backpedaling from my claim that I had taken the battery apart. He said that even if it was taken apart by a professional rebuilder, they still might not accept the core, and it would still have to be prepared for shipping by a prius tech. Has anyone bought a new battery from Toyota this way? It seems like the price of the toyota battery has come down recently ($1700 + core) and it makes as much sense to me to buy an new one as to buy a remanufactured battery. But it doesn't make any sense if I have to eat the core.
While I'm here, I should mention that I have a collection of dead gen 1 modules. Nobody seems to be willing to take them for recycling, and toyota told me to throw them out. Any ideas?
Hold them for three months and if I don't make an offer, put them in a cardboard box left outside the door of the nearest "Batteries Plus". Bob Wilson
