Is it reasonable to approach the question of replacing HV battery as the equivalent of paying ~$3K for a good used car? This is an ‘05 with 210K miles. Independent mechanic suggests it’s time to replace the car. They checked if terminals/connections just needed cleaning, and decided the battery is done. Quote is $3,200 from dealer, although I’m going to call a few directly. What I’m unsure about is whether more expensive repairs are inevitable at this point? Maybe the frame eventually rusts out? Feels like the odds of buying an ‘08-10 Prius and needing to replace that battery in a few years are pretty high. I ruled out any refurb battery sources unless I’m going to sell the car - and count on a buyer willing to roll the dice (I would disclose the refurb battery). Unfortunately NexCell does not have 2nd Gen Prius batteries in stock. Thanks!
yeah, i think any old prius is going to need some repairs, so there is risk, but you have to weigh it vs something newer and more expensive. having to use a dealer certainly puts you behind the 8 ball
You buy the battery online through the dealer That's how you get the lowest price You don't pay the dealer to put it in your car hopefully you can work around that I guess if you absolutely must then you start getting into the age of the car the problems and the cost you're paying for repairs maybe a Prius isn't for you maybe a little $3,000 '09 Yaris will carry you forever It's expensive to get good fuel mileage Why bother e fuels are coming down the pipeline internal combustion engines got another 20 more years at least so you're in good shape Why worry with it unless Cincinnati Ohio is rust bucket USA your car should be in relatively good shape You can see by reading here the battery the brake actuator are about the two most expensive things left on the car The gas gauge dash if it goes out for all of those parts and problems can you buy another complete car with lesser problems and parts needed that's what you have to figure The maximum amount of the repairs were talking about even if you pay the dealer and go overboard is about 5 grand or so what are you going to get for 5 grand for a little bit less about an '09 Yaris like I said.
It seems dealer is only source for a new battery. Learned about NexCell from other threads but they’re out of stock.
You're worried about paying dealer and maximum retail for every operation done on your car I don't think you want to buy a battery where you're not going to have the reliability of the 8 to 10 years and no worries.
I’m not particularly worried about it. Just trying to weigh the decision. One thing I don’t like is car shopping, so I’m inclined to get the new battery.
If you can buy a few wrenches and a quarter inch drive metric socket set and things like that most of this stuff is really easy to do and it doesn't take records amount of time to do like changing the battery's not a bad job I get my girlfriend or my buddy who's over visiting to help me lift the battery if I need that sort of thing to move it from the trunk of the car to the work table or whatever I don't really but if I needed that kind of help my girlfriend can help steady one end of the battery It's not that kind of heavy or anything an old man like me with a bad back and another guy like me with a bad back and lift it out and set it on a table I do it by myself with a bad back I don't give a hoot. Then once it's up on said table and what not You know it's an hour's worth of work to undo all the nuts and the bus bars and clean stuff and general housekeeping that sort of thing. But here you'll just be taking the core out taking the front end in the computer off the battery and using that as your core so when you get the new battery all you're going to do is bolt the front end on it add a wire to like supposed to be tighten a couple of nuts set the battery back where it goes in the car add the wires from the car to the inverter tighten them up put the service plug back in so on and so forth might want to look at a few videos before you tackle this goes pretty straightforward or you can pay the people the $300 once you do this one time and you think to yourself man I was going to give up $300 for pay somebody to do this and you may think wow maybe not.
agree on car shopping. why won't the independent mech who checked for corrosion install a new one for you?
They will after ordering from dealer. Don’t know if their install qualifies for the extra year on Toyota warranty, although highly unlikely that’s ever needed.
After reading through more threads and considering the risk of something like a transmission failure or other repair taking the car out for good, decided to go with the Green Bean 3-Year warranty. I view it as buying three years to keep an eye on the used car market and find a replacement!
Then really read and understand the warranty as you may very well need it. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
In your shoes, I'd probably go the dealership installed route. It's extra, but there is the warranty, and there's no core charge, and there's no third party (so no finger-pointing), and in a month or two your budget will be back on track.
I may jinx my car by following up on this, but enough time has passed that I'm feelin' lucky... For the benefit of others who will have the same question, I've had a good experience with the Green Bean battery so far. The job was done 9 months ago. They required me to pay for a new 12V battery in order to receive a warranty on the HV (the 12V is sourced from O'Reilly with their warranty). I bought their 3-year warranty. The agreement seemed reasonable to me. It does state you must drive at least 2,500 miles per year to be eligible for warranty service. The technician told me that not replacing the 12V leads to a lot of their replacement jobs, fwiw. There was some odd engine behavior during the first 1-2 weeks, such as jerky starts/stops. The only other unusual behavior was the HV charge meter on the console display would never indicate a completely full charge. It would often fill all the bars except the top bar, and I tried a few times coasting down long hills, etc. to get that top bar! Finally gave up on that and figured it wasn't an operational issue. A couple months ago, it finally gave me a "full charge" reading. Maybe that had something to do with the computer adjusting to a different set of HV cells. Time will tell if it was the right decision - tomorrow morning it'll probably act up because I made this post. Still expecting to replace this car before long, so not terribly worried about it. I'll disclose the replaced battery, although the warranty is not transferable except where required by law.
05 w 220K on er is not even 1/2 life Yet. Only thing gonna take it out is possibly rust cancer. It's a Corolla with battery. One theost reliable in existence.
I put a new dealership purchased battery in my '05 Prius with 268,000 kms on the clock, best move I ever made. Simple procedure to remove the old battery and install the new one, and a heap of You Tube videos to guide you through every step. Why replace a faithful beast that works well with an unknown .... just like tyres and wiper blades, things come to the end of their service life, would you consider fitting used tyres or wiper blades? T1 Terry
Well, I would if it was 2 or 4 tires off the same vehicle, even wear, and a couple years of life in them. I'm not scouring the car part lots for that kind of thing these days, but it's not beneath me either. To me, there's no unilaterally right or wrong answer with these kinds of things. You weigh the pros and cons and make the best decision you can. I do enjoy the Prius. Might choose to upgrade to a newer model, though with a growing family having more space would be nice. Haven't decided yet!