Red Triangle of Death

Chicago may be tricky but I find these cars with new hybrid batteries were the brake actuator just went out and that's the last straw for whoever's pulling the straws and they send the card of the tow lot so I can either take the battery out and put it in one of my other cars or if the car is in real good shape I can fix the brake actuator and keep that car because the battery is new see how this is playing out now folks have trouble with those decisions and then they have real trouble when the camel's back is thought to be broken which is easy for lots of people to get to that determination and then they send a car with all these brand new parts that they bought in the last few weeks months or whatever because they just can't seem to manage how they're going to see their way to do this one more time oh well something to think about this is happening a lot in the southeast I don't know much about Chicago these days been many many years but look around I know a battery rebuilder here locally little hand me a battery for 450 bucks it's balanced working and whatever at the time he hands it to me so far I've had a few of these last over a year I'm on one and one or two cars right now the least of my worries

 

I’d say the decision is more personal than scientific.
If your goal is to minimize spending, repair is often the best choice.
But if you don’t DIY, it can get expensive.
If reliability is what you’re after, it depends on what other rides are in your wheelhouse

 

IDK Gen2s at all, but in general...

It's very reasonable to expect at least 250k miles of low-maintenance life out of these cars, minimum, if well maintained. So, you got at least 65k miles left in that car for the cost of a battery. That's pretty cheap driving.

But, it's even cheaper. Pay for a Copart membership and bid on this car, it's the first total wreck I saw in the Chicago area, but I expect there are many more:

https://www.copart.com/lot/40902154/salvage-2006-toyota-prius-il-chicago-north

I don't know what wrecked Gen2s go for, but that one will be sold at scrap value, my guess is around $1000. You can watch live auctions of similar cars on their site.

Anyway, once you win, pick up the car, pull the battery and the catalytic converter. Sell the cat to get most of your money back. Keep the battery. Pull any other parts you like - I get nice tires and interiors this way - and haul the rest to the metal recycler to get another couple hundred dollars.

While you don't know how much life is in the battery, there is a +90% chance, IMHO, that it's good - it was driving at the time of the wreck. Just don't buy one that is wrecked near the battery.

You can go inspect before the auction - mostly to confirm that the OEM cat is there. If so, just don't bid more than the value of the cat and you can't lose. SYK, Copart (you can also check IAAI) don't like you working on the cars in their parking lot, although I've gotten away with it. Again, don't know G2s, but I can yank a battery in less than an hour. If you have a battery sawszall, the thieves can steal the cat in a few minutes. I've done that and just hired a tow truck already in Copart's yard waiting on another car to haul it straight to the scrapyard. That makes it kinda a break even on the $200 you get from the scrapper, so I actually just gave the driver the title of the car and let him keep the scrap money. Everything I kept fit inside my Prius driving back home - free parts!

 

Unless you are advanced diy, expect the brake by wire system, water pumps, hv battery, 12v battery and parts of the unique coolant heating system to fail going forward. Will each fail in the next six months? Probably not but most can be an unexpected expense and a reliability hit over the next 50,000 miles.

These items can add $5k-$6k to your cost of ownership. Other issues that are common at high miles are oil burning, gauge cluster fails and suspension parts.

Finally the catalytic converter may suddenly be liberated at your expense.

 

If you are willing to give it shot, the Prolong systems might help with the expense of the HV Battery. It could be that only one or two modules have been compromised and it may not take much to get it back up and going again. But the rest of the potential repairs are also a valid point.

Here is a link the the Prolong website. They are a battery reconditioning tool that could help make you battery last a bit longer, but the company also sells some high-quality used battery modules in case you have a some fail on you.

Hybrid Automotive – Extending the Life of Your Hybrid

Garrett

 

Failures are inevitable at some point, but no one can say when

 

I got the red triangle of death one time and it turned out that I didn't have the door shut all the way. Is your light staying on or did it just do it that one time? If it's staying on I'd check the door switches before paying a mechanic to search for a problem.

 

good and cheap are an unlikely combo, but it might be a risk worth taking, depending on your situation

 

start a new thread with that title. there are threads here with the good and bad of different reconditioners.
unfortunately, it's all based on personal experience. some get lucky while others don't.
greenbean is mentioned a lot. stay away from falcon