After sitting for 6 days at an airport, my hybrid battery has died. I can barely accelerate and there's heavy fan noise coming from the back seat (along with triangle of death, check engine and (!) symbol). From reading posts (mostly 2013 and older it seems) people in similar circumstances have had mixed results with remanufactured/refurbished hybrid batteries. My issue with paying $1500-2000 for a remanufactured battery is the warranty of 6-12 months doesn't seem sufficient, plus many places charge additional labor to fix/replace if the remanufactured battery fails. For a new battery, Toyota quoted me over $4,000 before labor. My question: has anything changed in the marketplace that I'm not aware of regarding battery options? My 2005 Prius has 191k miles. Just did brakes and new tires within past 4 months. The car isn't worth what a new hybrid battery costs. I'd be tempted by a remanufactured battery but the cells (as I understand this) are at a minimum, 8 years old at this point. I drive the car quite a bit for work on a weekly basis. If I don't replace the battery, I have about $10k to spend on a used car. Before this happened, my plan was to buy a newer model (used) Prius at some point. Now I see too much risk as most will be near or past the 100k/8 year battery warranty. Any suggestions as to what I should do / look into would be extremely helpful. Thanks
There are very few people I would trust for a refurb and they aren't in the area. Did you look at Dorman's warranty? They are sold through Advance Auto Parts and NAPA stores sell their house brand. The NAPA brand has a 3/36 warranty. A refurb may contain Gen2 or Gen3 cells. There's no guarantee they will be newer than the ones you have. Is the Toyota dealer's price before or after the core charge? I thought the Gen2 pack was $3939 including the $1350 core charge (which you get back). Are they trying to sell you new computers as well? Have you called other dealers for pricing? If I were planning on selling the car within a few years I'd probably lean toward the refurb. If you are expecting to get another 12 years out of the car then the Toyota dealer is the way to go. The warranty on the battery installed by the dealer should be 3 years.
Thanks for the reply Jim. I spoke with Dorman earlier this afternoon and with installation I'd be close to $2700 if I'm remembering right. Only the first year of the warranty covers labor. The tech wasn't very reassuring, seems to be a steep price to pay for a refurbished battery that provides mixed results. I'd love to get two to three more years out of this car. It's a hard pill to swallow either way. I'd hate to junk an otherwise perfectly good car, but almost $3k for a remanufactured battery with no guarantee of success seems steep. I didn't bother calling other Toyota dealers as I figured with labor, I'd still be in the $3-4k range, which to me is too much to pay at this point. I'm 50/50 on spending on a used car or just risking the cash with a Dorman battery.
call around for new battery prices. if you like driving an old car, put in a new battery, and when that car isn't worth it anymore, find a newer one that needs a battery, and swap it.
That is way too much, the price should be nearer $3,000 all up including labor and taxes. +1 on on shopping around. I believe the list price on a new HV battery is in the region of $2,200, so use that as a guide.
I called three more Toyota dealerships and all three were right around $2,600 with one year warranty. Here's where I'm confused: I thought the dealership is selling replacement Hybrid batteries new? One dealership said the battery would be remanufactured, another said they would be "reusing the casing but everything else with the battery is brand new." Is Toyota still making new cells for the Gen II? I asked if I could purchase a Gen III battery and was told no (thinking I'd swap the battery like Bisco suggested with a newer model in the future). What questions should I be asking the dealer to get this clarified? Buying a new battery, if possible, would probably be the route I go at this point. However from what I was told it sounds like I'd be getting the same remanufactured battery as Dorman offers, only with less of a warranty. I drive a lot of miles for work, depreciating the car quickly, so it makes more sense to buy used. Is age a bigger risk factor for battery failure as opposed to miles driven? If so, I think I'd accept the idea of buying high mileage Prius if it was only 4-5 years old. Thoughts?
Some of the things you have been told are outright wrong. It is a shame there are Toyota dealers that just do not do their homework. Batteries supplied by Toyota are new, except in CA where there is a tie up with a 3rd party that refurbishes HV batteries for Toyota CA. These batteries have a -84 appended to the part number. These -84 batteries do not have new modules, but recycle reconditioned modules. All other batteries are factory new with all new modules. Whether they recycle other hardware, not sure. Warranty on Toyota installed batteries is 3 years or 36,000 miles. It would not worry me if they reused old cases. Technically the original cells used in the Gen II are no longer made, but the newer modules used in Gen III's are backward compatible and are used to build the new Gen II batteries. Even if you were to get a "remanufactured" battery from Toyota, it would still be a better choice than get one from a 3rd party rebuilder. Yes, a regularly driven Prius with higher miles would be better as far as the battery is concerned, but you still have higher miles on the running gear to weigh that up against. An older low miles hybrid, seems to be worse for battery wear.
I am thinking my hybrid battery is dead.. and I found this place... you can get 1 or 2 or 4 year warranty batteries and they will come to where you are and put it in... greentecauto try looking that place up
