Prius Battery Replacement Kit (GenII/GenIII) with NEW custom cells

I guess I will just keep this post handy for when mine kicks the bucket. The most important thing to me was to get the gas engine with the lowest miles possible. I see this to be the weak mechanical point of the system.

 

It’s a scam, most Prius batteries last more than 10 years.

 

Actually, Bob, it is not a scam. It sounds very similar to what had been offered through Toyota UK to British hybrid owners for quite a few years now.

The UK scheme extends the warranty on the HV battery for one year up until the car's 10th anniversary of sale. So if you do the health check the day before you essentially get 11 years warranty on the HV battery. As long as it passes the hybrid health check testing, if it fails during that year, the battery is replace under warranty.

I'd be interested to know if what is offered in The Netherlands matches that, it sound to me it does.

 

Except 99% of the batteries last 10 years or longer. It’s an aftermarket warranty scam.

 

Because you think has little value does not make it a scam. Look up the meaning of the word.

If you think it has little value, just say that and your reasons why.

Even though the majority of batteries (and I think 99% is a bit generous) are lasting a good long while, there are plenty of documented failures inside 11 years. There would be a lot of people, especially those new to hybrids, who would feel like £40/€40 is money well spent for peace of mind. Incidentally, that fee is only due if you do the HHC separately. It is free with an annual service.

 

what is a scam? more like insurance?

 

First off you are assuming the deal for the guy in the Netherlands is the same as the deal in England. Based on his post it does not seem to be the same as it only goes up to 10 years, not 11. Then if you will note they test the battery first and only will give the deal to batteries they certified, you think if they see something out of wack they are going to give out that deal? Also as I stated 99% of Prius batteries last more than 10 years. If you want to think of it as piece of mind for 40 pounds, euros, whatever that’s fine. I’m still going with scam.

 

If there is near 100% confidence you won’t have to pay it’s a scam in my book. Why do you think they test the battery first? You think if they have doubt the battery is going to last a year they will insure the battery?

 

i guess r-p could tell us

 

This Battery warranty is similar all over Europe. You get it a little bit wrong You must do the test before the car is 10 years old, then you are good till the car is 11 years or 15k km latter, whatever comes first. R-P said that his Prius is over 10 years old, so this is a no-go for him.

I have done this warranty extension for several times now, first the price was €25, then 50€, last two times it was free of charge as long you service the car at the Toyota dealer. I bring my own oil as they tend to charge €100 for the oil only, so the service it's is not that expensive (less than €200). I don't exactly know what they check, but I think they just read the data from OBD, I doubt they even open the battery compartment.

My battery is not in full health anymore, 2 or 3 years ago I noticed the "bars lost" when discharging from full 8 bars to empty. In normal use with only 6 bars there is no noticeable diference. Car drives good, fuel economy may be slightly down, but hard to measure.

 

What is the availability in the UK or Europe and prices?

 

You can private message @2k1Toaster here. I think the cost depends a lot on the shipping costs. He would likely need a more detailed destination.

 

Thank you

 

I only saw the offer in my junk-mail iirc and didn't pay too much attention to it. The link does have a FAQ and the 5th point on it is
- "Wanneer verloopt de dekking?" (When does the coverage end?)
Aswer:
"Als uw Toyota de leeftijd van 10 jaar en 1 dag bereikt vervalt uw recht op het kosteloos vergoeden van het hybride batterijpakket."
If your Toyota reaches the age of 10 years and one day, the right of a free replacement of the hybrid battery expires.

I haven't asked them directly and my Prius is from Februari 2009, so it is just shy of 10 years old. If it does extend the warranty to 11 years, it might be worthwhile, otherwise it is just throwing money away for 2 months of coverage...

I think my batterypack is sufficient, but far from good. I will discuss this in another thread.

 

Our 2004 Prius with 217K miles has been throwing the P0A80 and P3023 codes for awhile. I've been clearing them by disconnecting the 12V batt., and limping around...so...we just ordered the NewPriusBatteries kit from 2k1Toaster. I'm actually pretty excited about getting into the HV battery, because I'm looking forward to getting the personal experience with this. My wife and I bought this car when many people were afraid of the Prius, and the years have shown that we made the right decision. We also own a 2014 Volt, and are avid EV fans! We're very active in our EV club, and will be sharing this experience with lots of folks. I'll happily share the progress with this forum as well. This is really a cool idea! I really appreciate all of the great, thoughtful, comments in this 28 page thread -- especially Eric.

 

The removal, rebuild, and installation of this kit was such a pleasure! Our beautiful little buggy is back on the road, and driving like new. The whole process was pretty smooth. Ordering was easy. shipping took a bit longer than expected, but the box did travel over the Christmas and New Year's holidays (plus at least one blizzard). Nick's team actually got my box out of the door within one day. He has an updated instruction .pdf that augments the beautifully printed instruction book. I've got a few notes and photos that I'll send to him as suggestions, but this was really easy, and remarkably safe. If you're concerned about the risk of electrical shock or high voltage damage to your car, ease your mind. This is almost certainly a lot safer than working with gasoline in any machine. I did the job solo, but having a helper to lift the battery might be handy for some. Torque Pro really shows the difference between our old battery and our brand new battery. Our 15 year-old Prius now has a new lease on life, and we are thrilled!

 

So how long did you take frim the day the boxes arrived?

 

About the hybrid check the dealer offers:

Sitting at the dealer, drinking their coffee, eating their croissants and watinig for the MOT (APK in Dutch, yearly mandatory check to see if the car is roadworthy), and thought I would ask: indeed the coverage ends the day the car turns 10 years old. So having it tested today would give me ~35 days of warranty instead of 1 year since the car turns 10 on the 18th of Februari 2019 iirc.

 

It was a two-day job for me. I use ratchet wrenches, rather than an electric nut driver, which you usually see on the YouTube videos. I also took some time to clean the inside of my car since I was exposing areas that have not seen the light of day in 15 years. I also had to work out the transition from the old harness routing to the new harness, because it was not very clear (to me) in the instructions. I'm writing a suggested tip for Nick on that part of the procedure. He even emailed an updated .pdf of the instructions that arrived just before the box arrived. It's not rocket science. I took the paper instruction book and a sample module to a meeting of the Space Coast EV Drivers, and everybody was impressed. It is an excellent kit. I have since learned that he is now making kits for several other hybrids as well.