I'm looking at purchasing a 2008 prius with 5,000 miles on it. Garage kept, maintained and the mileage is not a typo. Is the battery life on these things based on mileage, or years? A 12 year old battery sounds like a problem right around the corner even though it only has 5k miles. What are your opinions on this? It is a Touring and I can pick it up for less than 6k.
Out of all the research I've done online before buying mine, it appears the battery lasts a long time with most owners reporting over 150k miles and their batteries are still going. I'm hoping that is the case with yours and mine. I just purchased a used '09 with 63k miles on it. So far everything works as it should and I'm averaging 42 mpg between city and highway according to the display. I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it is to drive. Cost me $14 to fill the tank. Just can't beat that!
I would grab that car, assuming the rest of it is in mint condition, which is the way I read it. Price-wise, I would pay $7000 - $2500 (for a new battery) = $4500, maybe a bit more if you feel charitable. Years. You may very well be right, but it is not something to get overly worked up about. I would get a reconditioning kit and give the hybrid vehicle (HV) battery a series of conditioning cycles before even starting the car.
… and heat. If the garage was extremely hot for weeks at a time, then that would also shorten the HV battery life, but I would still expect it to last a few more years. The little 12 Volt battery (under a little cover in the trunk floor) is probably weak or dead. Since it is needed to start, but not used to crank the engine, you will probably not notice if it is weak, and then it could go dead and strand you at an inopportune time. So you should charge it up and test it (or have it tested) under load. The gasoline in the tank might cause problems if it is too stale. The tire rubber might have become hard and brittle. A 2008 Prius with good batteries and low miles is an awesomely dependable and economical car. I think it's worth it.
Sounds terrific!! As for the battery, there are three main factors: heat, time, and cycles. Heat -- well the garage might help keep it from getting as hot as it might outside, but it'll be hot longer since the garage also takes longer too cool. Still, I'd say that's in your favor. Time -- Even thought it's about 12 years old, many traction batteries last way longer than that, while a few don't even make it that far. I, like @dolj, would get a reconditioning kit and run a couple cycles on it. I have a Prolong from Hybrid Automotive – Extending the life of your Hybrid for my wife's '07. They have very basic setups as well as professional and in between. Cycles -- Batteries wear the more you charge and discharge them. You're WAY ahead here!! I think I'd try for $5,000 on that one. $6,000 might be a little risky but you could compromise and spit the difference.
Summer heat is often bad for a battery, so years matter. Now the bad news. You will read stories about taxis that went 500,000 miles and never had battery issues. A taxi works 24/7 and is being charged all the time. Your car has been sitting uncharged for over a decade. So I am not hopeful about how long the battery will last. On the other hand the rest of the car could be in great shape if it was garaged. Assume you need all new fluids: Engine Oil, brake fluid, both coolant loops, transaxle ATF WS, etc.
Most very low mileage Gen 2's I've seen (usually first owner is elderly) have been priced very high. Then add $1600-3,500 for a NEW battery depending on source (hint high end is from Toyota dealer). If that still makes sense/cents to you, go for it. Gen 2 is still a great car.
Welcome to PriusChat!! Possible flood victim? Best sure to run the VIN for free at https://toyota.com/owners and then again at carfax just to be safe.
I work on the corporate side of Toyota (distribution). The garage (shop) that this car was kept in is air conditioned. If it wasn't in the shop, it was in our parking garage. The starting battery was replaced a month ago. This car was used for training newly hired Toyota technicians on hybrid technology by our technical training team. It has literally been under the care of Toyota technicians since day 1. Given the resources available to me, is the reconditioning something that a dealer could perform for me?
Sounds like a sweet deal!! I've never heard of one that would recondition. Every report I've heard, they said no. But then it's so easy that unless a person is disabled, it would be almost embarrassing to not do it yourself. It really is easy.
I would consider strongly pursuing a "goodwill" hybrid battery from them or at the very least a significant price break for a case of new modules (aka cells) as the other original electronics are still used and switched out of the original case. GOOD LUCK!
The battery is over a decade old. So regardless of miles on it, it is old. Very old. It will fail, so just set aside money for that. It will cost you $2,500-$3,500 to have a new one put in for you.
A local dealer has already offered a trade in value so lowering the cost for myself would be a conflict of interest. Getting a new battery under goodwill would be an abuse of my position. A car is not worth anyone's career! I do get OEM parts at dealer cost, but it's still not an expense I care to mess with. Thank you guys for the info. I think I can make a decision from here.
I had the option of buying a 15 year old Honda CX650 Turbo (!) in the late 90's that was used in a technical training program with under a 1000 miles on it. Still not sure if I should have grabbed it... (Price was much steeper than your Prius though, I think in the range of the original sales price in 1983...). Let us know what you decide!
A new battery is only $1800-$2000, call around to a few dealers. Follow youtube I installed mine the first time in only about 2 hours taking my time.
I can't see you could miss with this purchase. I recently bought a 2006 Prius with over 200,000km on the clock and it was still on its original battery. It did fail after I bought it but not immediately and the replacement was easy and in my case, not expensive because I bought on from a dismantlers yard that turned out to be a new generation pack with the newer cells and the newer battery computer. If you can buy a genuine battery at dealer trade, then you can't loose on this deal. T1 Terry
