2006 Prius with dying HV battery - OK to drive?

make sure you got plenty of gas, but you need to ask in the gen3 forum if its safe to drive.

 

i would say it's safe to drive to the dealer for a new battery replacement under warranty.

 

You'll have to decide if you are comfortable driving the car given the driveability symptoms that you described. I would not say that the car is "safe" to drive if the powertrain could at any moment shut down.

 

Residential streets perhaps.

 

disconnect the battery, make sue 12volt is charged, hook it back up, head out early, say a prayer, I drove 90 miles, besides the 40, to get it diagnosed. Have aaa card or someone to call. I wish you the best.

 

You can drive it but wouldn't call it "safely".
At any moment you could have the same failure recur.

Each situation is a bit different. As brucebee noted, he went 90 miles. The other day I had a customer who couldn't go two blocks.

 

Watching the SOC really made no difference at all.
You could have had it blocked out and you still would have had the same results when driving.
The battery's health was going to be the same.

Comparing price of a NEW battery to a rebuilt is not a fair comparison.
Of course a refurb is less than new, but it is not the same product.

It has nothing to do with uneducated customers.

Not everyone wants to buy and do their car's oil change.
Not everyone wants to buy and change their car's spark plugs.
Not everyone wants to buy and change their car's transmission.
And not everyone wants to buy and change their own hybrid battery... including you.
All these things are possible if you want to do it. You could have saved more money by doing it yourself for free.

 

As Eric said, you are comparing new (unused) to a refurb. And paying $400 to have someone install a battery can make your deal look pretty sour if you end up invoking your warranty.

I hope you let us know how the Dorman/NAPA purchase works out for you over the next couple of years. This is the only refurb I personally would consider because I would install myself, but I still have my doubts about it. E.g, how long does it take to get a new battery under warranty ?

 

go with green tech, their warranty is top notch, and they move quickly to satisfy unhappy customers.

 

That is just ridiculous. Even a Toyota dealership will often install a brand new battery for about $3000.

 

All shops take some markup on the part. As they should. It's how they stay in business.
Usually it is somewhere between the wholesale and the retail price.

In my region, $2,700 is a bit high for a refurb Prius pack. But some areas have higher overhead or markup than here in Wisconsin.

 

Odd, I thought their service was through labor and expertise.

 

Mechanics do not sell the parts for the same price they get them for. The same with a plumber or electrician. There's always an added markup

 

I guess I've been around businesses so long I never thought that perhaps people didn't know that fact.

Glad it came up for discussion.

 

it's only a matter of competition. the could sell the part for below cost and mark the labor up higher. all that matters is the bottom line, and how does that compare to the next guy.

 

I think it has to do with running a business. There's overhead costs associated with running a business. Whether it be a warranty offered on the parts sold, or the time/gas in getting the part. There has to be a markup.

It's like hospitals that charge you $10 for a Tylenol pill, when they get it for $.25

 

right, but at the end of the day, the amount cash in the drawer is the same. i suppose you could advertise low cost batteries, or labor, then hammer them on the other.

when my plumber sense his bill, there is a price for parts, and a price for labor. i have no idea why.