G'day there, Scott here from Australia, how's it going? I just bought a 2006 Prius a couple of days ago and don't know much about them. I'd never even been in one before. I have flicked through a couple of posts and read things that may be useful like the doctor Prius thing to put on your phone, maybe a code reader software could be needed one day. I rang Toyota to price a HV battery before I bought the car and I was happy with the price. It's just under $2000 if I trade my old battery in. But as I know nothing about these cars is there a guide or a video explaining how I should be driving the car and what I should expect from the car. Maybe things like does the HV battery like "this" better than "that" Thanks for your time reading and thanks for any thoughts you may have. Cheers Scott
Welcome! I don’t have a link, but there are lots of YouTube vids on hypermiling and ‘pulse and glide’ techniques you can’t drive in any way to harm or help the battery, but make sure the cooling fan is clean, and the intake grille unobstructed. it is a good idea to park in the shade when you can, and get the windows tinted. the battery doesn’t like soaking in the heat all the best!
Thanks for the welcome mate. I didn't know about the cooling fan and grille so I will check it out. I think I have seen a solar powered extraction fan one time that hangs off the window of a parked car and can keep the cabin cooler than if all the windows were up while parked. Might be worth looking into along with tinting the windows I also used my phone to get on to this website and found a newbie section that I can't find on my desk top computer so a bit more searching and reading on my phone will be a good idea.
@john1701a is a long time member here and he has a boatload of videos on his website that cover all the generations of the Prius. John's Stuff - Toyota Prius and more Dig into the "Prius info" section in the left column and you'll be busy for weeks!
Aussie dollars mate. He said he could't give me an exact price until I told him the chassis number, but he gave me worst case. He also said he may be able to do slightly better once the time comes as he wasn't trying too hard on the price.
Great, thankyou Jerry I've just had a quick 10min look around that website and will keep going back to check things out and learn a bit each time. I've only had the car for 4 days but find my self wanting to drive this one rather than the Prado which uses heaps more fuel
Huh, that sounds like it is too good to be true. Is that for a genuine brand new Toyota OEM HV battery, or does the guy moonlight on the side doing reconditioned batteries?
I rang the local Toyota dealer that I buy spares for my Prado from. The spare parts dude told me that the batteries had just come down in price a couple of months ago. I spoke to the bloke who I bought the car from today and he said when the time comes to buy a HV battery to ask Toyota what their warranty is. He seems to think they only give 1 year warranty which may indicate that it is a rebuilt battery. I have my doubts about it being a rebuilt battery, but I guess I don't know for sure. Regarding the final price the spare parts bloke remembers me form when I had to buy a couple of batteries for my Prado and got them to drop the price from $250 each to $170 each. So he knows I will check to see the best price he is able to do on the HV battery one day.
True in the USA, but not necessarily the case in other jurisdictions. The length of the warranty is not a good indicator of whether the battery is new or reconditioned. It will pay to ask and be sure. One year or three years is pretty moot. Statistically, If an electronic part works for a year, it will go its intended life span.
