Hybrid battery "revitalization" - hybridbattery911.com in Georgia?

you're probably correct. my biggest thing with companies like this is, if the batteries are any good, why do you have to pay more for a longer warranty? seems to me they are just using that extra money to pay for the extra swap outs they are going to have to cover.
if i were in your position, i would decide how long i'm going to keep the car. based on the time frame, i'd go with a dorman, or new.

 

look around some more, but any reasonably qualified company will be similar to dorman. rebuilding a pack properly takes a long time. and even then, it's an iffy situation.

 

...anything which sounds "...too good to be true!" usually is exactly that!

 

Typically I don't like to give valuable time in response to a "shoot from the hip" post, but when someone attacks your company and your character when all you were trying to do is help them, the truth needs to come forth. Glad he left a "10%" opening for the truth to shine forth. The better route for this potential customer to have taken would have been to ask a simple request, "Do you have references"? Remember folks, the internet is an open forum to say anything, about anyone, at any time. This does not make it true. Anyone with a Hybrid Battery issue, please feel free to reach out if you need help, as we have many satisfied customers. We do not have one complaint from an "actual customer". We are more than willing to have you contact them directly and have them share with you their experience with Hybrid Battery 911. Thank you!

 

You may well be very legitimate but your post and your website does little to instill confidence to people somewhat knowledgable about their hybrids or being able to check with people who have been intimately involved with the Prius for a long time.

Posting your LLC certificate is meaningless. Anyone can file papers, pay the fee and get one. The OP acknowledged you are an LLC.

You cite no hybrid credentials whatsoever.

From your website all I can ascertain is that you swap out batteries packs, use something similar to a Prolong charger/discharger on the old pack and then install it on someone else's car while touting it as "100% revitalized", hoping that recharged old pack will last 8 months without throwing a code. Do you also stress to your customers that especially the older battery packs you install should be maintained regularly?

How about posting actual analysis of what that 100% means? Is it 100% of new (full voltage of each individual cell as originally sold by Toyota))? Is it 100% of what is your opinion an old used pack should recharge to (which varies from pack to pack)?

A lot of companies have offered similar battery replacements over the years. They seemed very legitimate but disappeared once enough warranty work cut into the quick money they had banked and cut into their supply of old packs they were acquiring for free through swapouts.

Sorry for being so skeptical but this Prius owner is. Unfortunately, because of the industry you have placed yourself in, you will have to stand the test of time and prove yourself before I would consider your services. You haven't even been in business long enough to have your initial customers' warranties expire and praise how well their batteries are still performing.

 

I'm not sure I'd consider this a scam, per se.

I agree with Srellim234 - from the website description, the service this guy is providing is most likely a Prolong reconditioning or something similar. But, by swapping out the battery pack, it looks like he's found a way around installing the Prolong battery harness that would be needed for future in-car reconditioning. This seems to lock you into using his service - which isn't cheap.

On the other hand, by pulling the old battery out of the car and then reconditioning it later, he is taking on the risk that some of the battery cells need replacing, or that the entire battery is dead completely.

When I was looking for a used Prius in the Atlanta area last year, I spoke a lot with the few car dealers here that specialize in used Prii. From those discussions, I found out that there's at least one company/mechanic in the area who diagnoses and replaces bad cells, and for less money than the cost of replacing the entire battery. I didn't get more details, but it shouldn't be impossible to find out more now.

So, as I see it, you have a few options:
1) Install a new battery
2) Install a reconditioned used battery
3) Install a used battery from a wrecked Prius
4) Get your existing battery diagnosed and repaired
5) Buy the Prolong Kit and resurrect/recondition the battery yourself.

I found two things on Craigslist that might be worth looking into:

Toyoto Pruis Hybrid Battery Repiar - $500 - auto parts - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

Prius HV Traction Hybrid Battery 04-09 Gen2 - auto parts - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

 

Places to check include:


The Hybrid Shop | Medlock Gulf


Hybrid Battery Repair $499

Greentec Auto Atlanta

Atlanta Prius - Prius 2004-2009 - Alpharetta, GA

 

True or not, I don't know, but it doesn't take much of a google search to understand how the OP was led down this thought path.

 

Jason...........all I can say is........well done.

My search had similar results. You nailed the write up..Just the facts, jack.

Honesty is the best policy.

 

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I came across this discussion today, now five years after you questioned the business model. They seem to have survived. They have 6 BBB complaints over last three years, and an A+ rating. They have modified their warranty model I can see. Although I expect to receive a product that has no problems, I understand that they are selling a product which is much like any other reconditioned product. A company can go over everything, honestly believe they’ve done all the right things, but in the end there are bound to be hidden issues sometimes. Some you should expect them to have found, but they are bound to also run into used batteries which have been damaged or abused by some creative dummy in a new or inconceivable way. I try to keep that in mind because I often will purchase open box or reconditioned items. In the long run I think I have come out ahead in the net of all the items.
It doesn’t sound unreasonable to me to pay $20 a month or so to get a battery for an 11-yo car for $1500. It would cost me $3500 at the dealership. It will be over 8 years before that would be a bad deal for me, eh? By then I’ll have a 20- year old car (actually, I hope I will have upgraded!) I read through ALL the warranty terms, and if it were me, would also exclude acts known to damage the battery. The reason mine died isn’t a problem with the battery, it’s because the combination engine blew up (undiscovered/disclosed coolant issues), and it sat unused a long time before we could put in a whole new engine.
So, I’ve been looking into their history and reputation. Have not found an unusual number of negative posts. Since this thread shows up when searching for complaints, but is primarily speculative, I thought it might interest someone how the speculation held up over time. I’ll come back after I get my battery to update again on how it performs.

 

Hybrid Battery 911 is not an honorable company. They claim to revitalize the batteries 100%. But as my story will show, this is not true.



In early November I had them replace the battery in my 2007 Prius. The cost for this was $1299. The technician did his job quickly and all seemed well.



After barely three months, by early February the battery had failed and my dashboard was lit up like a Christmas tree. My life was busy and intense and I did not get this problem reported to them until late March.



At every step of the process, I received massive texts which I had to wade through to determine what information was actually being requested. It used to be that auto parts stores like Advance Auto provided extensive free engine fault readings. Many have switched to lower quality equipment that does not provide the thorough information requested. I finally paid a local repair shop for readings and was told that they were not sufficient. After several hours of traveling to the next town over and trying several parts shops, I was able to get the information.



Let me add that I have an OBD II scanner and use both Torque Lite and Dr. Prius. Readings from my scanner which I sent, clearly showed hybrid battery errors and Dr. Prius clearly showed one blade of the battery to be failing. I was told that they do not accept any readings from Dr. Prius app. I have no reason to believe this information was incorrect.



They then said that I hadn’t driven enough miles to meet the requirements of their warranty and that I would have to pay $699 to get a replacement. I was aware of the warranty requirement but assumed it would be based on my average driving per year which should have been sufficient. I live in a somewhat mountainous area and the Prius is not a great car on hills in slippery weather so I also use my Highlander Hybrid frequently in the winter. But my comments about this fell on deaf ears. The Prius was driven every week and days it was driven would be at least 50 miles. This should be more than enough to keep a good battery in working condition.



I complained and was eventually contacted by the owner of the company who offered my a $200 discount to $499 but stated that they would not continue my warranty as they were sure my driving mileage would never meet their requirements. So they would give me another battery but I would be on my own with no reason to think the next replacement would be any better than the first. They also offered me an upgraded premier pack for an additional $1498 which added to my previous investment would basically have been more than the car is worth.



There was no reason for a good battery to fail after such a short time. I pointed out that I could have met their requirements by taking one long trip and then leaving the car parked for months, which certainly would have been far worse for the battery but they couldn’t even be bothered to respond to my remarks.



They sold me a faulty battery that was clearly not “100% revitalized” and are using the mileage as an excuse. And their claims for lifetime coverage are clearly false as they have refused to continue my warranty. And to get the lifetime coverage you need to pay $20 every month.



Don’t be fooled by their promises.

 

Yup, you got shanked. A battery built with poor modules that have too much self-discharge. If you dig a bit, you may notice most, if not all, the "rebuild" companies have a disclaimer in their wonderful warranties that it is void if the car sits unused for 30 days. A good module will hold a satisfactory charge for many MONTHS, sometimes even a year+, not 30 days. I've taken one of my batteries that had been on the shelf over a year, took it with me when I went to check out a 2005, bought the car, threw in my battery and drove to the house. No problem.