Hi - my son's 2002 Prius w/ $124K miles has a P3006 code showing. We're told that cell #14 is bad and have the following options: 1) New Toyota battery w/ a 12 mo. warranty installed for $2,100. 2) Refurbished battery w/ a 12 mo. warranty installed for $1,400. 3) Replace faulty cell for $400. Need help choosing which option. Obviously #3 is the most appealing but is it a domino effect that once one cell goes out the others quickly follow? We paid $2,500 for the car a year ago and probably would sell when he leaves for college next year - so aren't looking for a "forever" car. TIA
Welcome! New to this forum, so you probably haven't read the discussions of what to do about the HV battery. Distilled down, the current battery is over 15 years old. All the cells are old and probably on their last legs. If one cell is bad, probably others are on the down hill slope, too. Kinda the same with remanufactured batteries. All the cells are at least 15 years old. Greentec offers reman'd batteries that use newer generation cells and charges $1995 and has a facility in San Dimas. Warranty is 3 years. (800) 773-6614 Factory batteries use all new cells and when installed at a dealer have a 3 year warranty.
Prius's make great student cars, very safe, get decent mileage, and are somewhat fun & easy to drive. If you're planning on selling it, sell it now as a fixxer upper. Even with the fairly low mileage, its value is under $3000 and putting a bunch of money in it for a years worth of use doesn't make sense. If you and your son come to an agreement that he'd be willing to drive it for a couple of years or more in college, then by all means spend the money for a new battery. Probably it will need a new inverter coolant pump as well, but if it's in good shape physically (no rust) they're definitely worth keeping and enjoying. Best thing is they don't look cheap and don't resemble later model Prius's
#1 Option is your best option. Warranty, OEM certified techs which isnt really a huge leap there, and it will be a battery with new ECUs, cabling for the rear and new contact nuts for the cables. So looks like your decision in the end.
OP never to be heard from again. Erik, you're right if having a Gen 1 long term is the goal. If cheap transpo is the goal, the attractive option is to sell it to someone who cares more. She only paid $2500, putting $2800 or more into it doesn't make a lot of sense to non fans. My suspicion is a new battery and dealing with the usual dry climate wear problems, the car could easily last another 10 years. But I'm nuts and do love my 02 about as much as any car I've owned. My 02, btw, has a traction battery that was replaced in the fall of '13, so I'm about halfway to that 10 year goal.
