seeking advice regarding red triangle on 2006 Prius with 179K

I would buy another NEW battery

SM-N900P ?

 

If it were me (and it will be eventually), I'd look strongly into this option: Toyota Prius Gen 2 Hybrid Battery, Unlimited Mileage Warranty | GreenTec Auto

 

i would try to find a new battery for a little over 2k and someone who will install for a few hundred.

 

The warranty that many refurbished batteries come with are not really FREE. When a battery fails again, you have down time (lost work? towing?). Need to remove the battery to send back. Pay for shipping, possibly both ways. Then wait for an available replacement (days or weeks?). Then reinstall. Rinse and repeat again when the warranty battery fails again. A single failure again can cost you thousands in the Free warranty.

If you're lucky enough to have the installer live close by, they will charge you a labor charge and possibly mileage charge to get to you with another warranty replacement.

SM-N900P ?

 

I wouldn't, like JC1006, I'd go Toyota New.

 

Agreed but maybe you didn't notice this batt has NEW cells not used. It's still labeled remanufactured due to the external components.

 

I didn't see anywhere where they say the battery has new cells. I did see "... rebuilt with 2nd Generation Remanufactured Cells ...", whatever that really means.

 

No, actually it says "new generation cells" in the title but now I see in the description it does say remanufactured cells. My bad. So I guess "new generation" means the higher spec Gen3 cells? Either way it comes with a 3 yr warranty.

I agree the more expensive Toyota bat will be the most trustworthy but it will only come with 1 yr warranty. The OP wants to soldier on for 3 more years so which way do you roll the dice?

 

OK I knew I had seen them advertising new cells but it was on ebay where I saw it: Toyota Prius 2004 2009 Remanufactured Hybrid Battery – Gen 2 with New Cells | eBay

So I'm not going crazy....... yet. The price includes a $750 core charge that is refunded when you ship your old batt back to them. It comes with a 4 year/unlimited miles warranty.

 

That price is something else - US $3,435.15! Even minus the core refund of $750. A new one from Toyota is considerably cheaper.

 

i have read that you can't buy new toyota cells.

 

Probly Chinese knock offs if they're really are using new cells.

 

Greentec is notorious in playing with the wording of their batteries. When they say "new generation cells", it does not mean NEW. With the new Generation 4 out, that wording actually is false now.

 

Boom! No brainer now. That's they way I'll go then with my 06 when it comes time.

When looking at Toyota batt prices online, some include the core charge, some don't so beware.

 

Toyota New is around same price 2000-2300 is the cost at select socal dealers.

 

I believe I read that the 3 year warranty is valid only if installed by the Toyota dealership. So if you plan to install yourself or take it to an indie shop, you're back to a 1 year warranty. Just worth noting, because it can have a significant impact on the price.

 

Yes. There was a similar battery thread going on then (last week) where that infor was posted/confirmed. If you or an independent garage install, then it's only 1yr/12k.

That thread had a scanned PDF from a dealer as proof. Although I certainly don't doubt the sincerity of the member who posted that picture, I want to, like the saying goes, trust but verify with an actual link to Toyota. The current webpage for parts warranty is a blanket 1yr/12k statement for all parts. <edit> That Toyota USA webpage is currently down so maybe (hopefully) they are updating it with the new warranty info.

 

Oh i thought when they painted the HV Battery case that fixed all those possible problems?

Newer car is less maintenance though you get hit with higher depreciation. Brand new you'll looking at $3000+ deprecation per year which would likely exceed maintenance costs of used vehicle.