Bought a Falcon battery before coming here.... follow my journey

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by JerzyBoy973, Sep 5, 2019.

  1. JerzyBoy973

    JerzyBoy973 New Member

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    I recently purchased a 2006 Gen 2 with a dead traction battery from a friend of mine. I started looking around locally for a replacement and came across Falcon. I thought, "Great!! These guy are local and they provide a warranty!!" So on 8/22/29 I pulled the trigger, I drove up to their shop with my core in hand and took posession of my replacement Gen 2 battery, built with Gen 3 cells. I was ecstatic, until I removed to cover to find filthy cells and corroded contacts. I wasn't expecting a brand new battery, but I at least expected it to look "touched". The website shows cleaned nickel plated contacts and set a standard that this thing did not come close to meeting. So I called Falcon and they assured me that I had the right battery and they'd stand behind it if anything happened. So I installed it ... on 8/22/2019... and on 9/4/19 my red triangle is on with a P3000 and module #6 showing up as the culprit on my scanner.

    I called Falcon to alert them of the failure and Mark has been responsive thus far. I'll be taking it up there soon to have it swapped out and I'll update this thread with my experience.

    Prius Battery.JPG
     
    #1 JerzyBoy973, Sep 5, 2019
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  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Welcome to PriusChat!!

    Why didn't you go with one of the new options?

    Did you clean the HV battery fan when R+R'ing the battery?
     
    #2 SFO, Sep 5, 2019
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  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    The image of the product you received is absolutely horrendous. You see all kinds of leaks on the bottom battery case. If you can get a refund, that's what you should be doing.....before you regret it some more and refund period is over.

    No professional refurbished product should look like that, and it lasting a week shows what you'll be up against if you don't get your money back and move on to a more respectable rebuilder or NEW battery
     
    #3 JC91006, Sep 5, 2019
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  4. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    You paid almost 1200 bucks and It didn’t even last 2 weeks? Hope you paid with something you can cancel
     
    #4 Skibob, Sep 5, 2019
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  5. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    This is awesome...I laughed so hard I may actually puke.

    Not at the OP, just about the battery...

    Please post some of the serial numbers from the tops of the modules. We can decipher that for an actual manufacture date. Are they actually Gen 3?
     
    #5 TMR-JWAP, Sep 5, 2019
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if they don't give you your money back, call your cc company, the attorney general and yelp reviews.

    and even if they do, the ag's office should be made aware of their scam

    see the longstanding thread here on falcon ripoff
     
    #6 bisco, Sep 5, 2019
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  7. JerzyBoy973

    JerzyBoy973 New Member

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    The idea of having Gen iii cells appealed to me :(

    I checked the fan and it was squeaky clean.

    Yeah, I'll have to go this route if I can't get it resolved.

    I'll post em when I pull the batt this weekend (y)

    facts
     
    #7 JerzyBoy973, Sep 6, 2019
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 6, 2019
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Please use the multi-quote function.
     
    #8 Tideland Prius, Sep 6, 2019
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  9. JerzyBoy973

    JerzyBoy973 New Member

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    Update:

    So I got the battery up to Mark at Falcon. After looking it over the problem was almost immediately apparent. The bus bar bolt @ module #6 was loose. He had his guy check all of the bolts with a torque wrench, they double checked everything and sent me on my way. I installed the pack right there in the parking lot and drove home 45 minutes with 0 codes. I did the Dr. Prius app battery test and life expectancy test and everything checks out.

    I saw people saying he doesn't communicate but he always took my calls and didn't give me any grief in getting everything sorted. I'm happy.
     
    #9 JerzyBoy973, Sep 11, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2019
  10. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    And the corrosion issues? You're ok with that?

    Any serial numbers?
     
    #10 TMR-JWAP, Sep 11, 2019
  11. JerzyBoy973

    JerzyBoy973 New Member

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    Didn’t get a chance to get any serial numbers. I pulled the batt right there in the parking lot.

    I’m not super bothered about the corrosion. I’ve already decided to clean that up myself when I strip the interior down to do my rear struts in a week or two. If there’s any leakage or seeping after that point the. I’ll obviously have a bigger issue.
     
    #11 JerzyBoy973, Sep 11, 2019
  12. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    You seem quite handy with this stuff, you could've just bought the new battery for $1600, install and forget about the battery for the next few years.....
     
    #12 JC91006, Sep 12, 2019
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  13. JerzyBoy973

    JerzyBoy973 New Member

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    I really do wish I knew about the $1600 batteries. My dealership wants $1900 and they won’t price match. I did inquire before going to get this on rectified yesterday. But Dr. Prius gave this batt a good life expectancy so I’ll keep my fingers crossed lol.
     
    #13 JerzyBoy973, Sep 12, 2019
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  14. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I'm surprised nobody mentioned it, it's not a bad deal for New aftermarket batteries, and you can sell your old modules on Ebay to recover some costs. It's not the same as original Toyota OEM batteries, but so far it's held up pretty well for members who have bought them.

    The refurbished battery you have will be good until one of the modules fail. So you might just have to keep claiming the warranty until it ends.
     
    #14 JC91006, Sep 12, 2019
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  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i'm glad he's at least communicating, please keep us posted, all the best!
     
    #15 bisco, Sep 12, 2019
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  16. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    My guess is he didn’t check here before he bought his battery. He bought the battery last month and signed up here this month.
     
    #16 Skibob, Sep 12, 2019
  17. JerzyBoy973

    JerzyBoy973 New Member

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    Yup I signed up after I purchased the battery.
     
    #17 JerzyBoy973, Sep 16, 2019
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