TOYOTA now has 5yr, unlimited km warranty (-and, conditionally, 7yr, with 10yr on Hybrid Battery)

Now if only they bring that to America

 

3 years 100k KM is poor? I’ll take it. It’s 3 years / 60k KM in Canada.

 

Everyone always worries about the HV battery. I still have people who never even rode in a Prius that I know ask me if my battery went bad. Toyota has created a "Battery Anxiety" just like people that drive electric have rang anxiety.
If they made the battery cheaper and a no hassle change I think Toyota would sell more hybrid cars.

 

Yep, many still have battery anxieties with Hybrids, but I do believe it has toned down. Battery pricing does continue to decline, as production ramps up. Reliability and longevity continue to improve as well, with the more real-world data that is available. I do find it amazing a large portion of the population still do not understand the difference between a Hybrid, EV, and PHEV. But I digress.

I was one of the “unlucky” ones who had an HV battery failure in my ‘06, but the car was almost 8 years old and 273K KM on the odometer at that time. The car had already saved me about $8K in gas compared to my prior gas-sipper (~28 MPG 1996 Integra LS) I was driving before that, so I figured it owed me nothing, even if I going with the worst case option, which would be splurging for a brand new pack from Toyota (~$3500).

Rather, I did my research and found a private shop that would rebuild it for $1200 instead. Did that instead and it bought me another 3 years (120K KM) before it failed again (and rebuilt a second time for $600 as a repeat customer). Very few issues aside from scheduled maintenance, car never stranded me, even when the HV failed!........

... and the overall experience and realiability is the reason I bought another, with a plug this time.

 

I feel sorry for someone who buys a used Prius and then find out it needs a HV battery. Mine paid me from the day I bought it new but used, buyer beware.

 

I gather Australia has different laws than US/EU and holds manufacturers to 5 yr of coverage whether they offer it as policy or not? Subaru also just announced 5 year basic coverage down under.

 

Interesting...may I know which shop you had it rebuilt (if that isn't too much to ask). It's always good to have this information ready just in case. Thanks!

 

Absolutely, it is called Autodex, in Concord, Ontario, north end of Toronto. Number is (905) 660-0556, Mony is the man.

It’s a bit of a drive from Ottawa, but well worth it if you need major repairs, like a battery rebuild, or engine swap, etc. He actually specializes in salvage Prius salvage projects, buying damaged cars for cheap, repairing and selling for great prices (with full disclosure, including “before” pictures. So also good to reach out to him if you are shopping for an inexpensive Prius.

Great guy.

 

Awright... it's in my contact list now. I don't mind the drive, I look for excuses to drive. But if ever the day does come, the real question is how far the car would go lol. Anyway, thanks. Could be useful someday.

 

You’re welcome, just make sure you call ahead, as he is mostly a 1-man shop, but he does have another guy that helps him. He does have clients that come from long distances (Quebec and elsewhere). Cheers!

 

A hybrid battery replacement with a new battery costs about the same as an automatic transmission replacement of a standard car with a used transmission, and both are equally likely to happen.

A Prius transaxle is unbelieveably reliable, so really just look at a hybrid battery replacement the same way you’d look at a transmission replacement in any other car. You really only have to worry about it if you plan on taking it to 150k miles or more, and just like auto transmissions, plenty have gone 200k miles or even 300k miles.

 

I’d wondered if there might have been a change to the warranties planned, since the U.S. version of the Warranty & Maintenance Guide (PDF) wasn’t available when the other manuals for the 2019 Prius were first posted. It’s available now, though, and in the chart on page 12, I don’t see any major changes since 2018, when the durations of the California emissions warranties were reduced.

I imagine an unlimited-mileage warranty in the U.S. market would have a serious problem of adverse selection. Unless other automakers were to follow suit, people who know they will drive far more than usual would buy the cars just for the generous warranty, increasing the warranty costs substantially.

 

Has there been a thread survey here in priuschat of how long peoples battery actually lasted? Additional useful information would be what kind of driving they did, the temperature in their area, and preventive maintenance that helped longevity, and the state of the battery before it died.

 

all you have to do is move 7000 miles. I'd like to move there. Think how often & expensive & how long it would take to go see your in-laws.

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