Prius II Lottery Loser (battery issue)

Yes, any of those three options are reasonable and your choice will depend upon how long you intend to keep the car.

 

i like those options. personally, i would do the cheapo and send it along, but if you really want to keep it, go for the new one. i suppose you can weigh it out vs buying another car minus what you might get for yours.

 

OMG, all I can say is this. It sounds like you have been through a lot. Looking at your post's over the years you have been here it seems you are unhappy to say the least.

EDIT: I almost forgot, I have to add this to the post! "Thank YOU for your service in those two wars that have been ordered by powers to be that should not have the power they do". Service is a great thing, but starting wars that are truly unfounded is NOT a good thing. Remember GW told us stuff about "weapons of mass destruction". In the end it was concluded there were none. So what else have these leaders lied about! End of Edit.

If the car is giving you that much trouble, then why won't you get something else?

FWIW, I am no spring chicken either. Since I have no idea just how old you really are, all I can say is this. Don't let life and Satan drag you down in the gutter. Learn how to move on and be positive about it. Life is too short to be depressed all of the time.

I myself am disabled, would have been a former Viet Nam Veteran if I would not have been turned down by the US Air Force when I enlisted at the time of 18 years of age. I was born with a heart murmur. I currently ambulate with a cane, haven't worked since November 7, 2007 and survive solely on my "disability" checks that Obama wants to take away. But through all of that I try to maintain a good spirit and firm belief in our Lord.

So, with all that said - Hang in there dude. If you act the way you are and think the things you do (negative) your life will be negative. On the other hand if you think and act the other way, it will be different. I am speaking from personal experiences that I have lived through. FWIW, my life has been NO bed of roses either, so don't think that when you read this. It is all in how "you" perceive it and how you react to it that governs how you live. Quote from the bible. "You reap what you sow". I read that as - it works "today" and it will also work in the future...

Take care dude, cheer up. Today is a present, and tomorrow is the future. Make it the best you can and live your life to the fullest.

Ron

 

I think as time moves along that more companies will spring up to do the mobile work you are talking about. From what I have seen and heard so far all of this is "fairly new stuff" so it takes awhile for the service end to catch up with it. I imagine 10 years or so down the road every mechanic out there will be "hybrid certified" unlike today where there is only a handful of them.

If your battery is not in real bad shape, you might consider trying to make the trip to Cali and have someone down there fix it for you. Or if you are not comfortable with that, call the folks down there with the mobile service and ask "how much".

Like Patrick Wong said, your options are great. Do what is comfortable for your budget.

A new battery will probably last longer than the rebuilt/reconditioned one will.

The rebuilt probably would last longer than a pack out of a donor car (wrecked Pri from a salvage yard).

Best of luck to you,
Ron

 

I disagree with this. A rebuilt pack has been reassembled and attempted to be balanced the way an undamaged pack was. Depending on the skill and care of the re-builder, you are better off with a pack from a wrecked car that was working as designed. The newer and lower the miles the longer the pack should last. Newer is more important than miles in my opinion.

Whichever way you go, have your battery cooling fan cleaned while it is all apart getting the new battery installed. The extra heat from an inefficient fan is probably one of the main reasons you are in this situation in the first place.

 

If I needed to replace a 2G traction battery, I would look for a used 3G traction battery, and move the 28 modules into the 2G traction battery case.

Like this:


I agree with the suggestion that a "remanufactured" or "reconditioned" battery is only as good as the process used. It is questionable whether some of those processes add value beyond replacing obviously failed modules and hoping for the best, especially in those instances where a "house call" is included in a very low overall price.

 

What option did you end up going for RexLex? Is it a new or reco or salvage yard?

 

Do read this thread. Its full of valuable info on rebuilding your pack!

Gen II Prius Individual Battery Module Replacement​

How to: test each module, charge each module, balance the entire pack.
Recommended charging equipment and charge settings.
They make it seem super easy! Just time consuming: 3-6 days depending on the number of chargers you use.

I wish you guys the best in your rebuild.

 

diito, please read the above link. you will be doing yourself a disservice if you think you can just replace cell. and your friend's side business will become bad business. all the best!

 

Please tell us how this is so... We all know that a Prius is no better for the environment than a Ram, Tacoma, whatever.

 

Who even said it was about the environment? Prius median fuel economy on fuelly is 47 MPG, the Ram's is 15 MPG.

Even though the OP was very unlucky to only get 40,000 miles in this case, do the maths and you'll see that he still saved about $7000 on fuel. That's double what even a brand new battery is going to cost him, so bisco's comment was spot on in my opinion.

And btw, whenever anyone starts their argument with "we all know", it usually means they've got nothing in the way of real facts or evidence.

 

i always thought there was a direct correlation between mpg's and air quality? and also carbon footprint.

 

If Yoda said something like that he would have said, "Butthurt I sense …"