I have a 2001 prius 130,000 miles, the main battery and inverter are shot, dealers quote $6-8000. This is totally unacceptable. What are my options? Used parts and where can they be gotten? Can a motor from an echo be put in the prius? Sell it for parts? If so where?
Ebay. Do you have another vehicle for transportation while fixing the Prius? How long have you had it? I've never heard of this being done. But do you feel comfortable with doing your own work? Prius batteries go from $500-$1,000 from salvage but it is a 'pig in a poke.' I doubt the inverter is bad but the battery can be checked fairly easily. If you decide to 'do it yourself,' you'll need the second volume of the Prius Repair Manual. They show up on Ebay or you can order one from Toyota. Replacing the traction battery is easier than replacing an engine. Perhaps Ebay but I suspect not for much. Shipping would probably eat up any payment. Bob Wilson
We do have another vehicle Thanks for the reply We've had the prius since 2004 If the car was from the 60's I would do it, but cars with computers are beyond my skills I've had two dealers (Toyota) tell me the inverter's bad A dealer mechanic told me (this morning) that the prius frame and wiring harness are different. So I'm guessing this (putting in a conventional motor) would not be cost effective either. It sucks that one can have a good vehicle and be worthless at the same time. Raven W
Any of the 2001-03 Manuals, volume II would let you see what is involved. IMHO, don't let the computer fool you. It is no more or less than another crappy, two-barrel, carb in terms of complexity. Did you tow the car or did it drive itself? You know how best to value your time and money. IMHO, it is not that bad if you have time to shop and a place to do the work. You might consider getting the manuals and if you don't like it, sell them back again on Ebay. Just a thought. If you have a change of heart, visit the Yahoo group, "Prius Technical Stuff" and we've got a group, many who also post here, willing to offer advice and 'lessons learned.' Your choice, Bob Wilson
First-poster Raven, sorry you have been hit hard. Another possibility is to call Toyota at 800-331-4331 and see if they would share cost of post-warranty work. We have had both successes and failures with this in the past. For sure they won't say yes on the first call so you'd have to keep after them. It would be great to swap in a known-good HV battery and then see what diagnostic codes persist in your Prius. But this would require the assistance of a nearby donor vehicle at least. Anyone near Georgia interested in the possibility?
I have 01 and 03 with issues right now so i can feel your pain. You might like to hear this. LKQ sells used with warranty battery for about $1k, inverter for about $500. It doesn't work they will swap it for you or give you a refund. Check with them before your order to be sure. Swapping the battery is not that difficult. You are going to need a helping hand as that sucker is heavvvvvvvvvyyyyyyyyy. I did it myself and almost broke my back. You are going to need a helping hand to lift that thing in and out of the trunk, trust me on that!!!!!!! Just a few wires and some nuts, bolts remove no big deal. Inverter is no big deal either but you need to remove the safety plug at the battery in the rear or you will get zapped. Bleeding air using Toyota procedure sucked. I figured out an easier, faster way myself. You are going to need to bleed air out of the inverter as coolant to cool it flows though it. All said and done I have my doubt you are going to tackle the job yourself but if you do there you go with what i wrote. The helfty charge at dealer is mostly pure profit and we all know how that is. The Prius is modular built in system and subsystem so it is quite logical and easy to troubleshoot if you have the manual and a code scanner. Dealer they have all that. For the rest of us oh well we have ourselves with this forum On this subject i got the battery, inverter code to go away but i still have the tranny issue unresolves at this point in time. Yes I do have bad luck with Prius and i am relying on this forum to help me figure it out. 01 and 03 both tranny issues at this point Fortunately for me i have other car and on the opposite of the scale. That is I am driving a diesel Benz on used veggie oil that i make myself. Simpler technology and greener than the complicated Prius
