Traction battery dead after accident.

I've been reading a lot about cars seemingly get bad hv batteries after a trip to the body shop for a few weeks. I always think in the back of my mind......."Was the battery swapped"? I only say this because this week I went to a body shop and I saw 6 Gen 2 prius cars there (possibly salvage fix ups).....so if one of those had a bad battery, would the body shop swap it with a customer's?

I can't believe your car was not totaled. You should've backed into a wall afterwards to finish it off!!

 

force them to replace the battery pack if they are not going too total the car.
odds are it has internal damage from the impact or was weak to begin with.
driving the car daily would keep it charged so you would not have noticed.
ask about the diminished resale value of the car with a wreck on its history.

 

Im shocked they put such a high value on it in the first place.
its almost 6 years old and a new prius (on closeout) with all the toys is only $25,000 then we get the tax credits to bring it down to around 22,000
maybe you will get lucky and they will total it.

 

Maybe someone at the bodyshop left it in "N" ?

 

First off, a NiMH battery fully drained by self discharge will not be damaged. If it was fully drained by a load it can be damaged by cell reversal, but the battery computer is supposed to prevent this. It's in the box the battery is in. A NiMH battery will not be damaged by any chemical deterioration at full discharge.

It's possible they left the car in "ready" and while sitting on the lot it drained the fuel tank (running the engine intermittently) and then the traction battery when the engine wouldn't start. Again, the battery computer is supposed to prevent this.

IF they left the car turned off, there is nothing that can drain the traction battery. There is a relay inside of the enclosure that disconnects -both- positive and negative terminals from the car. There is also a ground fault circuit that will disconnect the battery if either terminal is connected to the car body (by crash damage, for example).

Leaving the car in "N" will cause the traction battery to be drained, but again, the internal computer should prevent -total- discharge.

Once the Toyota techs. have recharged the battery they can do a test of the modules to see if any were damaged by cell reversal. I would insist they do that test. They probably won't know what cell reversal means, but they will be able to see dead cells in half the modules.

Those Americans reading this thread should keep in mind this is a Canadian car, and they cost more (in Canadian dollars) than a US Prius. Yes, about $10,000 more. The tech. package starts at about $35,000 for a 2015.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to hear the the battery wasn't drained at all but the orange safety disconnect wasn't completely engaged or the battery is not hooked up properly (perhaps it was removed to complete body work).

Based on your damage picture and your visual of the traction battery case I doubt the traction battery would need to be replaced.

 

Mote likely that the orange
Safety plug has been dissangaged for a reason and somebody forgot to reconnect it as it should.
Or probably in purpose for your benefit of insurance purposes

 

when i had my '04 in for bodywork, they drained the hybrid battery so low, they had to order the special toyota charger to start it. not sure how they caused it to drain so low. then when they said it was ready to pick up, the 12v was dead.

 

What body shop? I'd want TOYOTA doing ALL the work if someone else was at fault.

With a 3rd party repair shop, you don't know who you're getting.

 

so if it starts they will say its good???
that's unacceptable.
my 2005 sits all week and has 4 bars when I run it on weekends and that's an 11 yr old battery baking in the florida heat.
Id refuse to accept the car with that battery in it.

 

3rd party is mostly china replacement parts and ex con labor...any major body work kills the resale value of the car

 

i think there is only one, it's just a master warning light.

not sure how it works up north, but i think it's time to call your insurance company, fill them in and demand a total wreck.

 

+1

The time Toyota's put into the car has probably surpassed the value of the car. Remember, you have a right to a car restored to the condition it was in pre-accident. Drive train problems on a car this complex will cost $$$ to fix.

 

Do whatever you can to have the car totaled. In my past experience, repaired cars are never right. Gremlins always pop up later.