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Looking at an 08 Touring, possible bad battery

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by tmccord12, Feb 5, 2024.

  1. tmccord12

    tmccord12 New Member

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    I’ve been eying a 2008 Touring that is priced well below blue book value. The dealer claims that it has a bad “hybrid motor” based on the fact that they were driving the car and then it just “stopped running”. To me this sounds like more of a bad hybrid battery issue, I haven’t seen much about the electric motor failing. It has 143,000 miles so definitely at the age where it might need a new battery. The dealer didn’t pull any error codes for whatever reason, lazy I guess. Anyway, doss this sound like a bad hybrid battery? The price is right and I could definitely get a new battery in there and have a sweet ride for a good price.
     
    #1 tmccord12, Feb 5, 2024
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Hybrid battery problems sometimes show up as error codes for inverter or motor-generator... So that could help you getting it for a good price. It's very rare to almost non-existent that Gen2 Prius fails because of inverter or electric motor. With Gen1 or Gen3 its a different story, but not with gen2.
     
    #2 PriusCamper, Feb 5, 2024
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    "just stopped" cannot be diagnosed off the top of your head. plan for the worst and hope for the best.
    i hope the price is very, very good, and you can diy.
     
    #3 bisco, Feb 5, 2024
    Danno5060 likes this.
  4. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    To me, this sounds like the inverter overheated and the car shut down to protect the inverter from being damaged.
     
    #4 Brian1954, Feb 5, 2024
  5. tmccord12

    tmccord12 New Member

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    I put a code reader on it and it threw up the P0A80, saying the hybrid battery needs to be replaced. When I was looking at the battery status via the Dr Prius app it showed 230 volts, but a SOC of 0%. Surely this is a case of a bad hybrid battery?
     
    #5 tmccord12, Feb 5, 2024
  6. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    It could just be a case of bad data.
     
    #6 dolj, Feb 6, 2024
  7. MCCOHENS

    MCCOHENS Member

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    Find a tech and pay them for a real evaluation. Worth paying for. So far you don't have actionable information and no one on this forum can do it remotely. Find out where the toyota dealer techs go for lunch and make some new friends.
     
    #7 MCCOHENS, Feb 6, 2024
  8. Danno5060

    Danno5060 Active Member

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    "Stopped running" is too vague. Did the engine fire up when you read the codes?
     
    #8 Danno5060, Feb 6, 2024
  9. tmccord12

    tmccord12 New Member

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    Yeah it fired up just fine. And honestly, the stopped running thing is what the salesperson told me, and considering they haven’t done any work or don’t want to do any work to this car, I don’t know if that necessarily what happened
     
    #9 tmccord12, Feb 6, 2024
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would avoid surely, and go with might be
     
    #10 bisco, Feb 6, 2024
  11. Danno5060

    Danno5060 Active Member

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    If that's all the interest he's got in the car, he shouldn't get more than 1/2 of what he's asking.
     
    #11 Danno5060, Feb 7, 2024
  12. tmccord12

    tmccord12 New Member

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    Just a little update for anyone interested. I ended up pulling the trigger, was able to snag it for $2500. Swapped out the HV battery for a fresh one and now I have a nice little Prius. I’ve already put a few hundred miles on it and everything is running great. Definitely a gamble but so far it was worth it
     
    #12 tmccord12, Feb 10, 2024
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  13. Danno5060

    Danno5060 Active Member

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    Nice. When a dealer doesn't take the time to get to know anything about what they've got, they leave themselves wide open to someone that does.
     
    #13 Danno5060, Feb 10, 2024
  14. tmccord12

    tmccord12 New Member

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    That’s definitely how it seemed. More interested in getting the car off the lot than properly diagnosing its issues. I’m surprised too because they could have probably made a nice little profit by replacing the battery. Anyway, did a basic service today —oil, filters, new plugs (which it badly needed). Should be good to go for a while! Thanks to everyone here for the guidance
     
    #14 tmccord12, Feb 10, 2024
  15. Danno5060

    Danno5060 Active Member

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    Welcome to club Prius. With a little guidance from YouTube and the people here, a good DIY mechanic should be able to get quite a few miles and years out of your 08.
     
    #15 Danno5060, Feb 12, 2024
  16. ColoradoCrow

    ColoradoCrow Active Member

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    Welcome and great find.
    I would have an OEM Invertor pump ready to go. $165 at the dealership They failed in my wifes 08 at 110k and Mine was 124K So I just replaced it early. Both were Colorado Cars. Oddly now that we live in Kansas with humidity the SOC has been much much better. No idea why. I have a extra Hybrid battery on stand by.
     
    #16 ColoradoCrow, Feb 17, 2024
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