If you've replaced the main G1 traction battery, please tell us here!

That's it, Optimus. All who bought their NHW11 Prius used can take the VIN to a Toyota shop and get the full service history. At least this is how it's supposed to work.

 

I just did that with BECK TOYOTA and two service managers/workers cited "Freedom of Information Act" prohibits them from releasing that information to me. Plus, they say that the recently-installed steering rack by the previous owner, the warranty on that terminates once it's sold. So, there is no warranty for ME, the new owner, even though it's just a few weeks old.

So, how does one go back to an OFFICIAL Toyota service position on these things? Who does one call?

 

Wow, the Freedom Of Information Act requires the government to release official information requested. You just got lied to. Call Toyota USA.

 

I'd be curious to know how much difference the Prius G2 NHW11 owners noticed from just before the battery needed replaced, to having an entirely new battery.

I am still unsure as to how to judge my newly-acquired 2001's battery-motor/charge cycle thingy.

 

About 3 mpg.

 

Okay, so 4% or so.

 

1. year 2001
2. miles at replacement 109,000
3. whether you bought new/used/Ebay etc.... new/dealer
4. general reference to who did the work (dealer, non-dealer shop, yourself, etc...)
A dealer in Central Texas will probably do the work.
5. symptoms you had. Triangle of death appeared and it was driven to dealership. No loss of power. P3006 codes indicating cells not reading even. Several were very low.
6. amount you paid parts/labor or if it was warrantied. Just missed the warranty. I'm not sure if the computer needs to be changed on it or not. If it does, the total will be $4700.

Dealer claims the catalytic converter needs changing too because of codes and the check engine light being on. Another repair shop said the output of the convertor was fine, but the oxygen sensors seemed to be giving the wrong reading. I don't have alot of faith in my dealership. Money doesn't seem to be a consideration at all with them.

 

1. 2002
2. ~88,000
3. Bought car at dealer; it was a 6-month old dealer "rental"/loaner.
4. Dealer
5. Car died; turtle icon on screen
6. Warranty, $50 deductible. New battery evidently has 100K+ warranty, from the ~88,000. Should be good to go for a while.

 

*

 

1. year: 2002 Prius
2. miles at replacement: 131K
3. whether you bought new/used/Ebay: New
4. general reference to who did the work: Dealer
5. symptoms you had: Hybrid warning light on. Car was driveable, Drove another ~200 miles before I replaced the battery. However seemed like the battery would drain lower than usual not always re-charging immediately, occasionally resulting in sluggish acceleration from a stop....but would never completely drain and always still re-charge. I was getting 49-50 mpg (true mpg, 50-51 mpg on the info screen) before the warning ight came on. Afterwards I tended to use more gas to make sure the battery would be re-charged.
6. amount you paid parts/labor or if it was warrantied. This is interesting....
First dealer quoted me $4479 (tax incl'd), claiming the HV battery cost ~$3400+tax. 2nd dealer quoted $3100 for the battery and installation. 3rd dealer quoted $2650+tax (~$2810 total). I went with him, had to wait 4 days for the battery, as it was on back-order...I guess it's a hot ticket item now (all the dealers would've had to order the battery). Got it done today. The battery itself cost $2100. Don't know why the discrepancy in price w/ the 1st dealer. The dealer assured me that it's a new battery and went so far to say all the local dealers would get the same price and didn't know why the other dealer quoted so high.
My big problem with getting a new HV battery is that it is only warrantied for 1 year like all Toyota components, I heard this from all three dealers.

 

Do any of you have a month-by-month or tank-by-tank MPG record AFTER the battery was swapped?

Data from the Dept. of Energy fleet studies, one other battery swap user, and data from my battery refurbhisment studies indicates there is about 2-5 MPG improvement for the first 3-4 months that then decays to a steady state mileage for the rest of the battery life, until near the end. But I would be interested in anyone else's MPG data to see if this pattern is repeating or limited to the three known vehicles and my bench batteries.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

1. year: 2001
2. miles at replacement: 101368 (how 'bout them apples)
3. whether you bought new/used/Ebay etc....: Used, from a wrecked 2003 w/ 46k miles 170 miles away. I had to pick it up as the yard wouldn't ship it (HAZMAT), but that ended up shaving a day off the repair time. It wasn't the closest salvage battery available, but I liked the year and miles the best. I am actually surprised to see 5 other traction batteries within 2.5 hrs of me with prices of $400-800 (and the $800 offering is a high-priced outlier).
4. general reference to who did the work: Dealer. Dealer had no issues with installing a Toyota used part.
5. symptoms you had: Same symptoms I've seen posted-- fast full/empty battery fluctuations using full range of the icon; quick engine restarts on any type of demand; wanting to constantly charge a full battery icon with high engine RPMs; hybrid MIL lights (codes P3006, P3000(123)); soon after (within 400 miles), I started noticing power loss/hesitation and then within the next 50 miles the brake MIL with engine-brake-style revving to dissipate regenerative energy (code C1259) came on after deceleration from the highway. At this point top speed became 35-40mph and it was tow-time. Codes P0303, P0304 and P3191 were also pulled indicating engine restart/misfire problems. P3191 may be HV-related, but P0303/P0304 are likely showing a need for new plugs.
6. amount you paid parts/labor or if it was warrantied: Original estimate was $4500 to include new battery at ~$2800 and HV ECU at ~$1100. I ended up only springing for $500 for the used battery and $375 for labor. I declined replacing the HV ECU, and that seems to be the right call to this point. I just got the car back this morning, so I'm basing this on the dealer's 40 miles of testing and my own 25 miles.

I would've pushed for some warranty or "good will" negotiation if I hadn't been able to find an acceptable used battery. But, the newer 2003 battery which I hope has improvements beyond the 2001, reasonable cost of repairs on a 100k+mile-vehicle, and the fact that I had indeed crossed the warranty line make the battery replacement rather easy to swallow. Plus, I kept the original battery and now have replacement modules available if/when this battery goes.

 

2001 w/110K
Red triangle of death and engine light on
No noticable differance in power although the charge indicator shows full more often
I have recieved a qoute of 3650 before tax...

 

Update on price qoutes... Called three dealers and here is what I have been qouted so call around as they clearly are not all reading from the same book

dealer1 3,650
dealer2 4,480
dealer3 2,722 (2,299 for the battery and 423 in labor)

 

Polyrocks, would you ask Art's Garage in Oalkand and Luscious Garage in SF what they'd charge? Both are indie shops in your area with good reputations.

 

Art's garage qouted me 2,800. I called my dealer and they matched the price so I'm getting the battery and 120k service plus transaxle fluid change for 3440.

 

Call Toyota North America Customer Service 1-800-331-4331

Year: 2001
Miles at replacement: 190,000+
Bought at dealer: November 2003 16,990 miles
Symptoms: Display Red Triangle with !, Grey Square with "PS", Automobile symbol with !. Instrument panel showed "Check Engine".
Drive train felt like neutral, engine revved a bit, no response to accelerator, car moves at 12 - 15 mph, headlights get really bright. Stop, turn engine off, restart and car runs normally for 45 to 60 minutes before failure occurs again. Repeat restart until got home. To Mechanic next day. Duration of normal operation gets progressively shorter. Codes indicate main battery failure.

No Salvage yards with batteries in Kentucky. Ones that have them won't ship (hazardous material) and won't supply any information about age or miles. Mechanic orders battery from dealer for $1959, one year warranty. Delivery took more than two weeks. Total repair cost $2320. I have a good mechanic.

Toyota has a recycling program. Took two calls to Toyota North American HQ to get information to dealer. Dealer is supposed to pay $150 for used battery. He has picked up the old battery, but I have not received any money yet.

 

1. 2001
2. 113500
3. new from dealer [Longo]
4. not done yet (shopping for a good price -- see below)
5. 1st: check-engine triangle [on car, not battery]
2nd: took to dealer to diagnose; told code 3006 (?)
[battery cells vary by too much cell-to-cell]
3rd: brake light (!) and high engine revs; no power to the wheels
6. dealer quoted $3600 ($2600 for the battery, $1000 for labor)
asked a friendly mechanic about it; he looked it up online and found the dealer's cost was only $1300, and the labor to apply to the task was only 2 to 2-1/2 hours
found a battery on e-bay for $750, (and he's even local!) but no response back for details (warranted? cost for him to install? etc.)

 

2005 rebuilt salvage
48,050
replaved with used
autobeyours c,1050

too many people tried to start running hv battery beyond recharge