Hello, I am looking to buy a used Prius.I have found one I am interested in looking at but it has the regular battery replaced with a lithium battery. Is this a good thing,or should I keep looking? Here is the post.. Up for sale is a 2012 Prius Two with 49,xxx miles. This has been by far the best car I have ever owned. Only reason I am selling it is because I bought a 2016 Prius. Anyone that has owned a Prius knows how amazing they are. I average anywhere from 54 mpg to 60 mpg in the city or on the highway. I have upgraded the stock battery to the lithium battery which is the same as the 2016 models. This makes the mpg better than the stock model since the battery charges faster and can be driven longer on only electricity. Thank you for advice you have! Laurie
I work on hybrids for a living and I'm not clear exactly by what they mean they upgraded it? If it is a full replacement of the hybrid battery, then that is not an easy feat. If it is simply a supplemental add-on on battery, then that is easier, but still a challenge. This could be very custom and therefore not supported anywhere should there be a problem after the sale. If it was bought from a after-market supplier, then I'd want to check out the system's reliability. Many of the companies that did these types of system are out of business and their products are no longer supported. Now if the seller means they simply replaced the 12v battery with a lithium one, that is a different story. If I had more info I could chime in with some more advice. Feel free to post more info or a link, or send me a private message or even feel free to call me if you'd rather.
sounds very fishy to me. Why replace a good NI-MH stock battery with lithium at less than 49k miles. Based on solely that information alone I'd pass on it.
I have to agree with the warnings others are giving you. There may well be a problem getting service and/or repairs in the future. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
welcome! if true, it might be a first. would you mind plying them for more info? curious minds want to know! i also wonder what they did with a perfectly good 2012 nimh battery with only 50k on it? what the price?
Camera dude, I think you are right. They explained what a plug in is. Not that they personally modified it themselves. The phrase ".... I have upgraded the stock battery to the lithium battery...." is what threw me.
2012 was the first year of the production plug-in Prius. The first thing to look for is on the right rear fender, is there a small round door. Push it in and it should open revealing a standard plug-in connector..
Ummm.... I kinda doubt there is a lithium battery in there. Maybe if I get bored I'll call the guy. Of course I'm always willing to be wrong and learn something new. Here is a link to the ad 2012 Toyota Prius Low Miles - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale And the rest of the ad... " I am the second owner. The original owner was a family friend that passed away. She took extremely good care of this car and so have I. Oil has been changed every 3,000 miles instead of the factory recommended 5,000 just to be safe. It has a CLEAN Oregon title and has never been in an accident. I put new tires on 5,000 miles ago and had the alignment done as a preventative measure. A few weeks ago I took the car to Toyota in Salem for a tune up. Everything checked out great. Only thing they recommended was get the transmission flushed as a preventative measure, which I had them do. This car is turn key ready and will be an amazing car for a very long time. If you have any questions or would like to come look at it please call me at (541) 806-2000. I work as a firefighter so it may take me 24 hours to return your call. Thank you"
doesn't look like a plug into me from pics (maybe I missed it but I looked twice). I'd run away from this car because of his battery statement AND he changed the oil every 3k instead of toyota recommended 5k? Toyota only recommended 5k oil changes for like 6 months for the 2010 models. ever since then its been 10k recommended oil changes. This guy has no idea about cars, let alone a prius.. run away from this
he calls it a prius two in the ad, so, not a pip. the lithium upgrade is a very strange comment. i wonder what happen to our o/p.
Also, the PiP has silver door handles and the strip under the spoiler is silver. I can't say for sure that that's true for every model year, though. Mostly, though, there's no charging door on the right, rear side of the car. Not a PiP.
For third gen, Toyota Canada still recommends 6 mo or 5000 mile (whichever comes first) oil and filter changes. Regarding the car and it's battery: I'd really want to have a closer look; something is not adding up. Just a hunch: the car had original battery, owner is confused somehow.
