So I have had a 2006, 2011, and am currently sporting a 2013 Prius. My question is, I am looking At a 2001 Prius, that has only 72k miles on it. It has no error codes showing. I called the dealership and records indicate nothing but regular maintenance and a 12v battery replacement. How long should one of the 1’st gen hybrid packs last? Is it more decided by charge cycles or do these batteries generally go bad after such and such period of time?
Short answer: 8-10 years, 100,000-150,000 miles. Reference: A Jonathon Klein article in "The Drive" that got the answer from Toyota. Typical, Toyota designed the battery to last just long enough to outlive it's warranty. Be careful when buying older cars. Don't get one that flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Many people didn't report their flooded cars. They just sold their cars and got rid of them. Car dealers redistributed them all over the country. If you've owned two Prii before, you are not a newbie. I bought my first used Prius around 2008. I got a 2006 with around 30K miles on it. I got the Carfax. It went new from the Toyota dealership to one local private owner. Then it went to the used car dealership that I bought it from. The battery lasted me the typical time, about 110,000k miles. I could not get it covered under warranty since I was not the original owner. I did not get a new battery from Toyota. I am not filthy rich. I had the battery tested and reconditioned for 1/3 the price. An example of such a shop: Walko Automotive, they used to be part of a hybrid chain called The Hybrid Shop of Virginia. There should be many hybrid battery shops around now. They tested every cell in the battery. They told me two were dead and needed replacing. The rest had enough life to be reconditioned. Depending on how many cells are dead or dying, will let you know if reconditioning is a good option compared to new. Reconditioning was a good option for me. They replaced the dead ones. They drained all the cells and recharged them, evenly and slowly, to make them efficient again. It worked great afterwards. The shop gave me a one year warranty. I drove the car until it was over 200,000 miles. The next time in failed, I decided the life of the car was over.
they can last 'forever'. that would be an anomaly though. if it is really a 20 year old oem battery, you may have found the unicorn. all you can do is plan for repairs, many repairs, and hope for the best.
I agree that you should be cautious about a GEN 1 with the original hybrid battery and should anticipate needing to replace/recondition it at any time, which would not likely be worth the cost. But generally any 2001 car, or older, that you purchase used is a shot in the dark as to how long it will last or how many repairs will be needed. That being said I have a 2005 GEN 2 with 240,000 miles with the original hybrid battery. I purchased it new so I know the car, but I also understand that the hybrid battery could go at any time and I will have been very fortunate to have had it last this long. I believe it is the exception, not the rule.
While counting miles, personally I take %10 of highway miles for that type of situations. Because a highway drive provides optimal conditions for a car and minimizes wear and tear, also cleans the engine Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Totally agreed, the heat kills the battery. And the other cause of heating is dirt. Just keep it clean and also put the filter on the cooling vent at the rear seat, which is sold separately at dealers for ten bucks Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Hello. I have a 2011 Prius, can you please tell me where the air cooling vent location is on the rear seat? Thanks!
