Toyota hybrid battery-No longer available-Coud be permanent

Please let me know when you're ready to sell that 08.

 

Many think this is just a shortage. Remember that Toyota has used interchangeable NiMH modules on many of their vehicles. Thinking that they would have them available for their newest vehicles but not older ones that use the same modules doesn't make too much sense. You could buy a newer battery with the same or more modules, put the new modules in your old Prius, and put the old modules in the new battery and take that back as the core.

 

The last time I saw a Toyota replacement Gen 2 HV battery, it had been manufactured using Gen 4 modules. This was probably about a year ago or less.

 

I noticed that both Gen 2 and Gen 3 batteries are "No longer available." It seems kind of fishy that they'd quit both generations at the same time just because.

 

until toyota makes an announcement, or puts 'DISCONTINUED' in the parts book, i'm going with covid

 

You think Toyota is just going to walk-away from selling over-priced parts for the 15 million hybrid cars they sold world-wide?

 

I believe it could happen and will happen someday. Of course that depends on what's best for Toyota. Would they make more money if people stopped fixing up their old hybrids and just went and bought a new one? How many people actually buy OEM batteries for their 15-year-old cars with 200,000 or more miles on them?

 

That's not how the industry is structured:

"As much as people obsess about negotiating the lowest possible price for a new car, that’s not where car dealerships make the most money. That would be the Service and Parts Department, where you’re probably not going to be able to negotiate a cheaper hourly labor rate for work that’s not covered by your warranty. You’re not likely to get very far with your best offer for a replacement transmission or a set of tires, either. The Finance & Insurance Department, where dealerships are open to negotiation, is also highly profitable. Financial results for the six publicly traded, new-car dealer groups in the United States show that to a great extent, dealerships are in the business of selling new and used cars so they can service them and finance them." The Surprising Ways Car Dealers Make The Most Money Off You

 

But the manufacturer, not the dealerships, is the one who makes the call when parts are no longer, well, manufactured.

It looks like I can't get a block for my Prius anymore either, even though a dealership would just love to charge me $7,000 to put one in my car or at lest sell me one with a hefty markup.

 

Toyota can't sell what Panasonic no longer makes, having retooled for lithium, having only one intermittent customer for large nimh, Toyota, that wasn't ordering, or willing to pay escalating prices to keep an old tool line updated with newer manufacturing methods. Toyota had a "clearance" sale on the nimh inventory during covid, that pretty much tells you, they wanted them gone.

 

I thought Toyota still used NiMH in even many of their newest vehicles.

 

Yeah bordering on ridiculous... Even the first years of their hydrogen fuel cell failure of a car in the Mirai had NiMH instead of lithium. Suspect this is because Toyota has way more patents for nickel-based and not much for lithium-based.

 

Just get a MARAI and some electrolysis equipment and make hydrogen at home using the sun and drive for free.

 

All i know is, in the midst of a pandemic and a shipping crisis, you dont have a firesale on potentially irreplaceable much needed inventory, unless your business plan does not see these potential dealer repairs as critically needed.

 

I hope they kept enough to handle future warranty replacements.

 

Warranty replacements? I'm one of the 75% of Americans that can't afford a new car. If they can't keep parts for older vehicles, we'll be screwed.

 

If they can't meet their warranty obligations, they'll be forced to compensate affected customers in some manner. Such as providing some vehicle that does work.

 

I understand that. But I also have a used car with zero warranties that I want to keep until

1. It's paid off.
2. I can save a bit to put a downpayment on something.
3. Used car prices allow me to actually buy another used car at a used car price, not a used car a new car price.
4. I find another car I also like.

There's a chance that in that time the HV battery will die. I'm not sold on aftermarket batteries yet. Not having an OEM option means I could be forking over dough for an expensive part that'll last a couple years, then die again.