Dealer says I need a new hv battery

The one thing that I have heard about,, that perhaps someone with more experience can confirm,,, the cause of most battery replacement is due to bad connection between the cells. I suggest you find someone who can check the individual cells and the connecting cables.

Icarus

 

you got a 2001 so maybe its the bad cell connections (corroted busbars ) that is the problem

and also the car is a gen 1 prius with a 7 years old battery...
just maybe now you will see some more poeple replacing them..

thx for the DTC code.
i guess this will be the same for the gen 2 prius... P3019 will mean block 9 i guess
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found both diagnostic trouble codes p3000 (battery control system), p3006 (batteries levels are unusually different), p3016 (battery block 6 becomes weak), & p3018 (battery block 8 becomes weak) all stored
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Were you the only owner? Did you ever continue driving after running out of gas? And did you have the preventative maintenance done to protect the cells from damage later?

Knowing information like that could at least make the decision easier. Deep discharging and acid leak both shorten the life of the battery-pack. Other factors like routinely exposing it to +100F temperatures and climbing up mountains do too.
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The diagnosis seems reasonable. One possibility is to find an independent who can help you install a salvage battery. You've got at least two excellent choices in the SF Bay Area:
Art's Automotive
Luscious Garage | Hybrid Specialists

However Classic salvage battery prices are fairly high due to high demand (~$900 or more incl shipping) and who knows how long that replacement will last.
eBay - prius battery, Parts Accessories, Cars Trucks - buy and sell on eBay Motors

Another possibility is to buy two 2G salvage batteries and take the best 38 modules from those assemblies to populate your Classic battery case. That might be a better long-term solution.

 

Hi Jim,

I live at 1,100 ft elevation and have had two traction battery failures (covered under warranty) on my 2001 Prius and 2006 HiHy. I agree that frequent elevation changes will not help battery longevity. However I don't think that it will really matter if you choose to drive at 20 mph vs. 30 mph.

Pls let us know how you decide to have your car repaired.

 

Patrick Wong
with elevation you mean the long way down and up where you recharge the battery to full (70%) and heat it up a lot and goining uphill where you need a lot of assist

or just because you life really high and it got to to with pressure and stuff:

 

Hi FWD,

I think the issue is that elevation changes require greater drivetrain loads; hence the traction battery cycles up & down in charge to a greater extent compared to Prius that live a flatlander existence...