Prius has been sitting for 5 years

I do think there is something in the Owners Manual about maintaining a minimum of usage.

I'd have to side with Toyota on this. Even if they did NOT cover it.
It's kind of common sense that if you let a battery like the HV battery more or less sit unused for 5 years it's likely to deteriorate and fail. I do think that level of inactivity would be construed as abnormal neglect of the system.

If the fuel lines became clogged after sitting 5 years would you expect that to be covered?
I'd say no, because you'd realize that outcome was nearly inevitable after the vehicle was treated that way.

I don't think Toyota should be held to warranty coverage on parts with a vehicle that while NOT being used extensively, also isn't being maintained regularly.

 

The minimum usage is probably to keep the car in good running condition......not as a way to void your warranty. This would have to fall under neglect.

 

...I don't recall a single USA instance on PriusChat where Toyota nixed the HV battery warranty on grounds of abuse. We did have one case in Israel where Toyota did not honor the 12-month warranty on a replacement HV batt when the Gen2 owner killed it by running out of fuel and battery.

 

Though all the people involved may not be guilty of neglecting the car, I keep wondering why someone didn't think about a "new" car just sitting for that many years. Was the car legally in limbo? Was no one allowed to power it up? Just curious.

There was a case not too long ago where a woman died in her car, in her garage. All of her bills were on auto payments out of her bank account. She traveled a lot and the neighbors didn't think it unusual that they did not see her. Neighbors mowed her grass and shoved the snow just to be nice. She was found dead in her garage after about six years when the house foreclosed. It was an amazing story to read.

MUMMY MYSTERY: New information on body found in garage after 6 years in Pontiac - WXYZ.com

 

Assuming for the sake of this sub-topic the Hybrid Battery does not pass the Health Check I recommended, there is no verbiage anywhere on line or in my handouts that says non-use is called abuse or non-use is grounds to deny the Hybrid Warranty...CARB or non-CARB state.

 

As someone else said earlier, the very low miles in this case is a real risk verses a normal low mileage vehicle. It will probably turn out to be a terrific vehicle though. Please keep us updated.

 

You have found the deal of a life time if the price is right!

 

Ok, I honestly I don't know.
But this is also a pretty unique situation.
Not a lot of reported 2010 Prius being found with only 5,000 miles of usage in 5 years. Coupled with being inactive for long periods.

I do think if push came to shove Toyota might question warranty coverage.- Maybe not.

As long as the battery is working? I suppose it's not a problem.

I hope the OP stays in communication and let's us know how the Hybrid Battery behaves or rebounds and IF it ever does come down to having to seek warranty coverage.

It would be an interesting story to have a Hybrid Battery that has seen that little usage, and then see how it does behave and how long it might last.

 

Not 5 years, but: our 2010 was manufactured in Aug 2009, and when we purchased in Nov 2010, there was about 10 km on the odometer. 12 volt battery was knackered, but the hybrid battery has behaved totally fine, to date. That's only 15 months idle, and starting with a brand new hybrid battery, not one that was run for a while and then sat idle.

Anyway, If OP can get the car on the road before purchase, take it for a decent drive, just observing the hybrid battery's state-of-charge, how it performs, will help.

 

I have seen cars at Carmax that were 2012 PIPs with only 5k miles and 12k miles when I was searching for a car to buy.

Also, I am pretty sure warranty is cover on what is advertised: 36k or 3 years warranty and the 60k or 5 year warranty, which ever comes first.

... And whatever the battery warranty is...

 

...also we only see a small fraction of cases here, so my comment of no reports on PriusChat of USA warranty refusals is just anecdotal and based on my memory (yikes!). But I think we can say Toyota has been relatively cooperative

 

Well? What is the end to this joyful Christmas Story?

Should we have tears of joy for this Christmas story?

 

Well.................

 

Maybe for you but I'd rather find this! Paris collectible car auctions: Barnfind Ferrari 250 GT California Spider sells for US$18.45 million

 

Well????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

OP last seen here in November 2015: JimInTn | PriusChat

 

maybe it turned out to be a bigger problem that he thought?

 

I couldn't help but to notice this topic had no conclusion. So I thought I'd chime in with my experience as I bought my 2009 Gen 3 Prius in July 2015 with only 8500km on the clock (5,281 miles)!! It is a Japanese import and I was mainly concerned about the HV battery as this was ridiculously low mileage for it's age. The dealer gave a 6 month warranty though and it was a decent price so I took the leap and bought it. It's been a joy to drive and on long trips I have achieved 58.8 mpg. I live high up in the hilly, windy City of Wellington New Zealand and in the depths of winter my mileage drops to a hideous 37.6 mpg (especially when loads of small trips are made). At first I was worried because so many people were trumpeting how amazing their fuel economy was but after 6 months of careful observation it was plain to see that hills and cold weather play a huge part when it comes to consumption.

As for issues there has been nothing major. I did take it in to Toyota for it's first service in December and they changed the oil and ran some checks. No concerns apart from a small leak in the hose that feeds the windscreen washer. I got that replaced.

Funnily enough today, after returning from a 4 day family camping trip in which we used our other vehicle (a trusty 1997 Hiace Super Custom) I jumped into the Prius and it didn't start first time (ready light not on)!! I made a 2nd attempt and it started (phew) but half my dash was dead, this was the side that shows fuel consumption etc (d'oh!). It drove ok though and I got to where I needed to go. When I re-started the whole dash showed. I strongly suspect that the 12v battery is on it's way out so I will get that checked. I've read plenty about this issue here in the chat forums & have drawn my conclusion from this.