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Yep…it’s the battery. Not even a year after being replaced.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by SlimeballCruz, Jun 23, 2023.

  1. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    Okay. So been having troubles with my car. I have some other posts on here you can reference back to if needed, but I'm just going to start off with the diagnosis.

    All my lights came back on, so I got my car into a dealership outside of St. Louis. After a few hours these were the codes he got pulled up:

    P0A80 Replace Hybrid Battery Pack
    P3021 Battery Block 11 Becomes Weak

    P0420 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold bank 1 (I'm not too worried about this at the moment. I'm in St Louis so cat problems are just always going to be a thing needed to be replaced. I just have a cheap amazon one on there currently).


    So the dealership asked me where i got my battery replaced at. I told him where (this auto shop is highly reviewed shop here and is probably one of the most trusted work in our area), but I also mentioned that the mechanic bought the battery he put in my car from a Toyota Dealership. They bought the battery on 9/29 and they installed it into my car the first week of October. The dealership told me to go back to the auto repair shop I had my battery done at and ask if there was a warranty on the battery when he bought it from the dealership.

    Unfortunately for me, lol my luck, they have been on vacation the past two days/this weekend. So I currently cant get ahold of them until Monday.

    The guy at the Toyota dealership said my car is okay to drive at the moment, I just am not getting the efficiency I need. But he mention just to be aware to not let them Domino effect. I don't know how to tell the signs that its doing that? Is a Prius ok to drive with one bad battery block?
     
    donbright likes this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Very unusual for an oem battery to fail that soon, I wonder if they were being truthful.
    If it will start, you can drive it. Idk what he means by domino effect, the only risk you take is getting stranded if it fails completely.
    Hopefully, the installer has a deal with the dealer for the 3 year warranty, otherwise, it’s only one year unless installed by a dealer
     
    JohnPrius3005 likes this.
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I'd start preparing yourself to do everything possible to be the worst nightmare of this "most trusted work in our area" shop. They clearly didn't sell you a brand new OEM Toyota pack, but are scamming you with a used rebuilt pack.

    If you want proof you or friend or family member needs to pull the cover off the pack and get the serial numbers off the top of each of the 28 modules. That identifies date of manufacture and if it was a brand new OEM pack they'd all be made at the same time in the past year or so and would be in numerical order. I'm willing to bet you got a hodge podge of different aged modules that are used.

    However if you go into this shop in well prepared to escalate your issue to owner of shop, to a Better Business Bureau complaint, as well as a state attorney general complaint and hopefully you have a friend who's a lawyer who can back you up with a letter on their letterhead. That way when you go after these scammers you're gonna call their bluff so well they'll realize they aren't gonna win against you and make a deal to resolve everything.
     
    donbright likes this.
  4. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    That is the question what was the cost at the time for this battery refit whatever got fitted I don't care what did it cost that tells you right there pretty much what went on
     
  6. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    when the dealership guy said domino effect, it seemed like he meant more battery packs would fail? Right now he said it’s just battery pack 11? I’m sorry I’m not the most informed on this at the end of the day.

    the place that installed my battery finally opened today and I drove my Prius there and told him what’s going on and I asked about a warranty. I didn’t really get an answer from him about a warranty, but he is concerned and had me leave my car there. So I guess we will see. I had to get call an Uber and get to work.

    I don’t want to believe this shop was being shady, because like I said this local shop is really highly talked about in our city when it comes to their work. But I guess you never know. I just hope it’s made right. My car only has 120k on it so the hybrid battery I replaced 8 months ago was an investment for me. :/
     
    bisco likes this.
  7. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    I would have to find the paperwork, but is was over 2k to get it fixed. And it was 8 months. I got my car back from them the first week of October.
     
  8. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    Just replied, but I would have to search for the paperwork for the exact amount. I have just moved so things are still hidden away in boxes. But it was over 2k when it was replaced and the exact week I got my car back was the first week of october.
     
  9. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    Well whether its his fault or not, he said there was a warranty on the battery. He's just currently looking for one now for me. So at least he is fixing the mistake. Thats the update as of today.
     
    donbright and PriusCamper like this.
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    good news!