Well, I explained what happened. Just got back from a deployment etc. The service manager won't be back until Monday. I talked to a guy that has been there for 10 years. He said that they would do an in house discount for about $2600 out the door. Then he said "let me check on Monday with the boss and maybe he'll give you half off... he could say no entirely though." I asked about a good will warranty and he said there was no chance given that I just bought it and have no history with Toyota besides buying the car private party.... which I totally understand The car has 91,000 miles and the warranty was confirmed to be 8 years/96 months... currently it is expired at 112 months. Overall they've been extremely helpful and even let me keep the car there over the weekend. It's also my understanding that even $2600 is a killer deal for a new battery through a dealer. They said they don't do any house type of refurbished battery. I still think I'm going to call HQ on my own to see what they have to say about the situation. I got the diagnosis from them. I'll post the codes in a few.
[QUOTE=" He said that they would do an in house discount for about $2600 out the door..[/QUOTE] FYI: My Toyota dealer (Longo) offers two types of battery: 1) New Hybrid Battery ($2600 + installation + tax) or 2) Reman battery with new cells (about $400 cheaper)
You may not have a history with Toyota, but the car via the previous owner (the County) does and you have the documented history from the guy you bought it off. It does count for something, so be sure to emphasise this when you talk to Corporate. I believe these genuine Toyota remans (with a -84 part number) are only available in CA.
Good Luck. Whatever happens. I think the potential silver lining, is that if you invest into a new Hybrid Battery, you might have yourself a pretty good situation going forward. I might ask the dealership for their "opinion" on the condition of the rest of the vehicle.
I wanted to provide an update. Toyota HQ wouldn't do anything for me. I called multiple people. They said due to my short term ownership and lack of proven brand loyalty they wouldn't help. To an extant I understand because the car is out of warranty and I just bought it. With that said the whole brand loyalty thing is not a way of making new customers repeat customers imo. The dealership on the other hand really helped me out. I dealt with the assistant service manager. They had no reason to cut me a deal, but the guy felt bad about the situation. I ended up paying $2400 out the door for a brand new battery. It also included a filter being replaced. I was in front of him when he arranged the bill/service.... he literally said "this guy's in a rough place ....do everything you can to cut the bill." They didn't even make a profit off of it. Needless to say I'm extremely grateful. The dealership has a new life long customer and I'll definitely recommend them to people. I'm now easily getting 50mpg and enjoying my car. It runs much smoother now.
Having driven to Florida 6 times in the last 12 years, please post the name and city of that dealer. Should we be anywhere in the area and need our Prius serviced I would be more than willing to take the car there and pay a little more for that kind of customer service. And tell them what led me to use their dealership.
Thanks. I'll add it to the little notebook I keep in the glove compartment of trustworthy places to go if we need to while traveling out of state.
Thanks for the update! 2.4k is a pretty good price for an OEM battery. Really good....but not so ridiculously low that one would suspect that maybe they gave you a used battery at a new battery price. They either did you a solid of they're really good at being crooks (sorry, my cynical nature with dealers!) So.....I'd probably start saving for some of the other long term maintenance (CVT drain and fill, plugs, etc.) and monitor to see if you're car is a drinker or a smoker. You don't have to get anal about it. Just pop the hood every thousand miles or so to see if your oil volume is not getting lower. Get with somebody in this forum before you approve any further maintenance besides oil changes....and enjoy the MPGs!!! Good Luck!!! I'll keep the dealer in mind if I need something in the middle of FL sometime.
Going to keep that dealer in mind. I live not too far from there so it may be worth the trip if I keep my prius