Dealer wants $6000 to replace hybrid battery...

yikes! mind sharing the dealer so we can avoid them like the plague? i don't think i've ever seen anyone over $4,500. or so.

you could try calling a few dealers if you're inclined to spend 3k on a new battery.

good news garage in cambridge has a good rep. you might see if they'll put in a new one, or a doorman. agree that a local warranty is no good to you in florida. if you buy it from a national chain and have someone install it, at least the part is warrantied.

all the best!

 

I have never read a post from anyone that paid that high of an amount for a new Hybrid Battery. That would be a record setter.

Never heard anything about having to pay to have a battery shipped to Japan. They don't "fix" your old battery they just give you a new one. Core recycling is handled here in the USA.

I would look up some threads, there are lots of them. But the general cost of a brand new battery at a dealership shouldn't IMO exceed $3500 at most. That's a high end estimate. Including labor, installation and disposal of the old battery.

I guess my thought is.....no reputable dealer should be trying to justify $6000 for a battery. Unless you have other issues attached?

I don't know how much longer you would like to keep your Prius, or what shape it is in outside of the Hybrid battery, but I personally think if you can afford it, and are planning on keeping the vehicle a significant number of years more, then a new battery from a dealership IS the way to go.

If you plan to keep it a year or two? You can roll the dice with a refurbished battery. Stories of people happy and having success exist as well as stories of disappointment and warranty coverage struggles.

 

he was kidding about japan.

$3,500. is closer to low end for a dealer.

 

the dorman from advanced auto has a 3 year warrantee for $1100 its the better deal even if you pay someone to install it.
I think a blind chimp can install a battery in less than 5 or 6 hours, the first time I rebuilt one it took 3 start to finish following the instructions on youtube... car back together and driving for a pizza
3 hours total

 

If I needed to replace a 2G battery, I would not buy a used 2G battery nor would I buy a "remanufactured" battery - as it is unclear what rejects were put together to make that reman unit.

Instead I would either buy a new traction battery from a Toyota dealership or I would buy a used 3G battery from a recently wrecked 3G vehicle, and move the 28 modules into the 2G traction battery case. The choice would depend upon the relative pricing between those two alternatives at the time that I face this problem.

I wouldn't get too excited about the longer warranty offered on a reman unit - typically you have to pay for labor/shipping and who knows how long you have to wait to get a replacement unit.

 

Completely agree.

There are however three wrinkles to be aware of for the owner thinking of buying a replacement, NEW battery from Toyota:

1. Some dealerships are picky who they sell to; or will demand local pickup or always shipped. Call ahead
2. The electronics and wires have to be swapped between cases
3. Expect to return the old battery or face an additional 'core charge.'

 

This is the first time I can recall giving advice that's contrary to Patrick, but I'd look for a remanned unit with a warranty.

If you're not comfortable installing it yourself, then a local independent shop ought to be able to install it for about two hours of labor ($200-400.)

My rationale is that your G2 is nearing the end of its service life, but you'll still want to invest about $1500 more into the car to get it drivable even if you're going to be replacing it immediately.
It will give you longer to contemplate the next car, and a running G2 always sells for more than a non-running one.

The Clark Howard advice for repair/replace is to repair out to about the real-world value of your car. I'm weighing the impact on your lifestyle of sustaining 4-5 major breakdowns in a year (this is number two, I presume) and whether or not putting $1500 into the car (price of a remanned battery) would move the needle $1500 to the right in the real world value of your car.
Getting an OEM battery or paying much more than about $2,000 on top of the previous repair might start to change the math a little.

Depending on the condition of your car, you might (probably now DO) have a lot of life remaining in this car.

In the words of Detective Harry Calahan: "............you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"

I'd do it, but I don't like making car payments, I have spare wheels, and I only live 3 miles from work.
Even if the battery is $2000, that's still only about a year's worth of car payments....and for many Americans.....not even that.

Good Luck!

 

See the post below on Toyota Goodwill warranty.
HV Battery Goodwill Warranty Listing - Toyota Prius USA | PriusChat
Seems to me Toyota has been granting similar cases (way out of warranty) about $2000.

But you gotta make the call to Toyota yourself. Ask if you could get out-of-warranty assist.

This dealer sounds really bad... I'd have half a mind to go elsewhere but presumably they will give the deal Toyota mandates. You wanna go to big dealer in good standing which make lots of sales.

Is the 2005 10-yrs old yet? This is a little drastic, but if not yet 10, you could register in MA and now you got a CARB certified car in CARB state...Toyota still says their internal rule is that it must have been bought in CARB state, but I'm not sure that holds up in court for a 2005. Also not sure you qualify to get it registered in MA, but if so that'd be an interesting tactic

 

If you had asked about this prior to authorizing the repair, I would have suggested that you have a used brake actuator installed which would probably cost ~$200 for the part, plus maybe 3 hours of labor.

The Toyota hybrid drivetrain is quite complex. When you consider how much could go wrong, it is amazing that most Prius quietly go about their business, carrying their owners wherever asked - with a very low failure rate.

However, eventually an older Prius will incur a failure from time to time. If you must rely upon dealer installation of new parts, an older Prius outside of warranty coverage can be costly to repair. If you can DIY installation of used parts where this is reasonable (such as the brake actuator assembly) then the older Prius will be very economical to own and maintain.

Therefore, if you are not in a position to DIY and do not have independent service alternatives that you can trust, it would be best to install the least costly replacement traction battery that will function, and then sell the car.

 

Well I didn't read the post very well did I?
And my sarcasm detector was totally off.

I think $3,500 is a fair estimate.
Read many threads within Prius Chat where averages are around $3000-$3500,

This quote is from an April 2014 issue of Popular Mechanics about the cost of replacing a Prius Hybrid Battery.

" Retail price for a new hybrid battery is $2589; with labor, it should be less than $3500 total. "

 

Agreed. And given the $6000 quote for the a new traction battery I wouldn't be surprised if the brake work was overpriced too!

 

Look if it was a Toyota dealer that did the $3000 job, call Toyota for Goodwill Warranty and tell them the whole story. Maybe they help you get whole.

What date was the car first purchased in 2005?

 

Yes, I understand that.

I've owned four Toyota Prius, starting with the 2001. I first recognized the need to learn about Prius servicing around 2006 when we were on a trip to Palm Springs in the summer with the 2001, and the car died. The local dealer cleared the codes and said if the problem happened again, have my home dealer replace the engine ECU. The problem did happen again and the ECU was upgraded per the TSB that existed at the time. Subsequently it was determined that throttle body cleaning will address most of these P3191 engine no-start issues. This is why throttle body cleaning is recommended for later generation Prius although they are less susceptible to engine no-start than Classic.

Then, the 2001 struts and shocks were getting marginal. I called around to see what the dealer service prices were, and decided that at $1K per axle it would be well worth my while to figure out how to do this myself. So I did, and subsequently posted on PC how to do this when I did the struts/shocks on the 2004. Over the years I've posted several "how-to" in this forum, as the 2004 needed this or that repair.

For me, Prius maintenance/repair has become a hobby over the past decade, and I like the idea that my vehicles are maintained in peak condition while maintenance costs are relatively low. I've worked on my cars ever since I was a teenager, and most brands have been much more troublesome than Toyota - especially the European brands: VW, Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW - I've owned at least one model of each - in the distant past when I was living the yuppie lifestyle in Silicon Valley and south Orange County (CA).

The 2004 will hit 200K miles in the next week or so, and I will post on that thread when I have my obligatory odometer photo showing that milestone reached.

The brake system is not covered under the hybrid vehicle warranty or the powertrain warranty, so it would be covered under the 3 year/36K mile warranty which has long since expired. It wouldn't hurt to ask but I would not hold my breath waiting for a "yes" answer.

 

Hints Regarding Replacement of 2G Front Struts | PriusChat

 

My Connecticut dealer (A1 near New Haven) quoted me $3400 a few years ago using the ECU from my old battery (a new battery from Toyota comes without a battery ECU). Some dealers want to use a new ECU which does increase the price a bit (but not to $6000!).

Why did you replace the brake actuator/accumulator and front pads at only 110k miles? My 2004 Prius still has its original brake actuator/accumulator an front pads at 277k miles.

JeffD