Hello, I have a 2005 Prius with about 85000 miles. I am wondering if I'll have to replace the expensive battery soon (100K). Has anyone had to replace their battery yet? If so, what was the cost? Thanks, Scott
are you talking about the traction battery or the small startup battery? The Traction battery (the expensive one) should last the entire life of the car. The 12V startup battery should last about 3 - 5 years.
Hello...I also have a 2005 (55K miles) and the hybrid battery failed me last week. Let me back up....About four months ago when I bought new tires, noticed the gas mileage dropped by 11 MPG. Thought it was the tires but now I realize that the mileage dropping was probably a gradual thing and I no longer incessantly checked the mileage as I did the first couple of years owning the car. The new tires motivated me to check the mileage again as I was expecting a mileage increase, not decrease! Gas mileage since has stayed low at 32 mpg when it used to always be 44. Then last week, it seemed like every light on the instrument panel came on when I was in a drive-thru. Called the dealership and they said I should be able to to drive it in (about 4 miles away). They explained that the VSC, ABS, and some of the other systems warning lights were illuminated because those systems are shut off when the computer senses certain problems, I guess to conserve energy. The problem was hyrbrid battery failure. They said it would have cost $3,000 and $500 labor had it not been under warranty. My warranty is 8 years or 100,000 whichever occurs first. I am going to check the mileage for a few more weeks but after reading up on the battery posts here, I realize now that the 12-volt battery likely is weak also. The dealership tested and on the ticket it says, 'OK at this time" regarding the 12-volt, but, my numbers with the vehicle signal check are just under the normal range. I could probably get by without replacing it for maybe 6 more months, but the gas mileage is suffering and from what everyone says on here, five years is better than average life for the 12-volt. Weren't the HV batteries about $4,000 when the 2005 models came out? Seems like the price is dropping some for them. Neither my 12-volt or the hybrid battery were ever drained. Seems like I read somewhere that you could damage the hybird battery by letting the car run out of gas as the car can only go a very short distance without the gas engine to recharge. On the way to the dealership, I put the display on the energy usage screen so I could see what was happening. The gas engine was running even when I was at stoplights and the HV battery status bar only had two bars and it never increased. Guess it was at least not completely discharging, although that probably would have been soon. I had the a/c running hard because here in the south in September, you use a lot of a/c 8 months out of the year. I'll have to evaluate in three years as the expiration of the warranty approaches, whether to get a new Prius or take the risk and keep the one I have which has given me no other problems.
Hi All, A new Prius Gen II Traction Battery is $2400. Anybody try to sell it to you for more, walk away, and let Toyota Corporate know about it. A used Prius Gen II Traction battery , like on Ebay is 1/3 to 1/4 that cost.
I would want to know if the 12 volt battery has good connections. I periodically check my 2005 to see if the bolts are tight to the ground lug on the battery and the vehicle. Also check for corrosion around the connections as well as the lugs that hold the positive leads to the 12 volt battery. Since the traction battery charges the 12 volt battery, maybe, just maybe there is a loose connection which would be a big chore for the traction battery to charge through. When I replace my 12 volt battery (every 2.5 years) I spray battery terminal corrosion protector on both the positive and negative lugs of the 12 volt battery. I have noticed that when I have had my Prius at the dealer, they sometimes return it with two purple bars on the display. They probably never check to see if the doors are closed when they service the vehicle. Our 2005 Gen II has 138 thousand miles on it, and today I drove about 120 miles and averaged 49 MPG on the display. I drove with cruise control around 62 mph average while talking on the ham radio and listening to the car stereo at the same time. My Optima D51 yellow-top 12 volt battery appears to be doing a good job. good luck with your traction battery and please keep us posted here on P-Chat.
my daughters 04 has 75,000 miles, the 12v looks like brand new, connections are perfect and she averages 55 mpg. i should have her replace the battery, but she wants to see how long it will last.
I would strongly advise you to consider the ReInVolt battery, it is used but inspected and can be installed for $282 over the cost of the part in Sanford NC. 2004-2009 Toyota Prius Hybrid Battery Pack.: eBay Motors (item 140474185941 end time Nov-14-10 04:04:34 PST) (I would also strongly advise you to break your posts up into more paragraphs, but that is just the Grammar Nazi in me) Login | Facebook
Since the vehicle in question is still covered by the hybrid system warranty, it would seem best to take advantage of the warranty and let Toyota pay for the battery replacement. If the car was not covered by warranty, I personally would take my chances with a salvage battery from a newer 2G, for $600-$700 or thereabouts.
Doh! You are right, I totally missed that the Prius was still under warranty. (You have demonstrated mechanical aptitude here, swapping the HV battery is not beyond your skills, perhaps it was the lack of paragraphs, but I did not consider advising Rick to do home repairs)
