I'm having battery issues...

OK 170k. I need to pay more attention when it gets late.

From what I have read, it depends on what you do with the car, and how you value your personal time, and how long you want to keep the car. For instance, here is what Luscious garage is doing about HV batteries:
Luscious Garage | Blog | 2004-2009 Prius Hybrid Battery Options P0A80

If you want to try a DIY project and replace a cell, as several have, then it will be interesting, can save a lot of money, and not a great loss if another cell goes a year down the road. Just do the job, now easier, again.

The rebuilt packs from the professionals are variably warrantied, and have worked for many. But you will find the failures if you look around. If you don't plan on keeping the car for long, then it will probably save some money.

I would say, IMHO, if you are going to pay someone to do work, it makes sense to go with a new pack and keep driving for a long time.

 

Hey guys,

Well, I was almost set to go to the dealer and put in a brand new pack, when I came across the number for a hybrid rebuilder (Autodex) here in Toronto. I first found the name off the re-involt site, and had to do some further googling to find his contact info;

Our Installers

I spoke with Mony from Autodex in Concord, Ontario, and he rebuilds HV batteries for $1200 including 1 year warranty, which is a bit less than half the price of a brand new battery around here. Everything I have found about him and his business (which is not much) sounds positive.

Any fellow canadians who can offer a reference? I plan to go see him tomorrow.

Thanks.

 

Good luck Sarge, If this chap is associated or recommended by Re-involt then that would be quite a vote of confidence right there. I'm really curious to see Re-involt's new lithium replacement battery for the Prius coming out any time now....

 

Well, I went to see him about my battery issue, and he put the computer on the car to confirm the issue which is what he did. In fact, he said two modules were failing (12 & 14; whereas the Toyota report 2 weeks ago only reported #12 as failing, but it's possible it may have failed since, as I have driven the car somewhat). In any case, had a good lengthy discussion and saw some of the Prii that he was working on, and he seems like a really good guy. I have likely found my new mechanic going forward. ;-)

As an interesting sidenote, his shop is the same location which use be co-located (I guess) by Hymotion, which was the company that performed PHEV conversions of Gen 2 Prius. Interestingly, he drives one as his own vehicle (no surprise there), and since he lives close to his shop, he told me he only went to the gas station TWICE in the last year.

Anyway, I left he car with him, and I should have it back probably Tuesday or Wednesday. I will report back the results afterward.

Cheers.

 

Well, I got my car back today, and she is running like new!

He ended up replacing four cells in total (of the 28), and is running great, all for well less than half the price of replacing the entire pack. He also guarantees his work, and provides a 1-year warranty/unlimited mileage (same warranty Toyota would provide on a new pack). He's very straightforward and won't replace parts if not necessary and strikes me as a very honest guy and truly believes in his craft. He tells me he has over 60 references if I wanted them, including many customers who have bought multiple cars from him, one person bought seven!

He does great work and I would recommend him to anyone within reasonable driving distance of Toronto. His main business is in fact rebuilding wrecked Prius and selling them for well below market value.

I will definitely be bringing my car to him for future work, and will likely look to him when it's time for a new(er)
Prius, though I intend to squeeze as much life as I can out of this one... 273K KM and (once again) going strong.

 

Congrats!

 

Nice. When I started reading the thread, I was going to suggest checking with Re-Involt & their installers. Good to hear you wound up there and that it worked out well for you. We have just installed the PIS 10kWh system on our '05. Had the HV battery tested by a dealer first, and it checked OK, but we know it can go any time. When the time comes, we will probably do the same as you just did, and go with a Re-involt rebuild.

 

Thanks boone. It's been about a month since I had the repairs done, and so far so good. He did give me a 1 year warranty on his work, and also suggested even if it goes after that, that he would work with me, as he believes in customer service. I'd recommend him to anyone, and will definitely be going back to him for any further work.

I plan to go back to him in the fall to have a few minor things done, such as likely replace the 12V battery (still on the original after 7 years, so I figure I'm on borrowed time) and also finally put in a block heater, which is something I have thought about for a few years but never got around to having done. He did recommend it as a great inexpensive upgrade which can significantly shorten warm up time, improve fuel economy, and show ROI in no time.

 

Sure, a block heater improves mpgs but it will not have any ROI. It uses a lot of energy just to save a little energy (kw vs. gas). If your goal is to improve mpg, it will do that somewhat, but if your goal is to save energy, it will use more.

 

Hi techntrek,

Thanks for the response. I understand your point, and have never actually done the research or math with regards to energy consumption of each source to determine if it would in fact make financial sense; I simply made the assumption that it would eventually, but who knows. What is certain though is that warm up will be much quicker, which would be a nice benefit for heat in the winter here in Canada.

I know it's not a big heater, so I honestly didn't think the kwh it would take to run (especially if set on a timer before expected departure) would be really that significant, but on the other hand, the Prius really doesn't take long to warm up, except in extreme cold.

Anyway, I guess further study on my part is required... Thanks again for the feedback.