It's been a long time since I posted. My 2006 Prii has been trouble free up to now except for an inverter cooling pump which was covered on warranty at about 80K miles. Then the big one hit, the dash lit up like a Christmas tree with multiple fault lights including Red Triangle of Death and the red car w/exclamation point. I had just pulled out into traffic when this hit, and I felt the power go into degraded mode at the same time. I limped back to the parking lot, called the dealer, who said tow it in. Got the diagnosis next morning, bad traction battery w/ $3200 repair cost. The next bad news was that HV batteries are all on back order, with an ETA 2 or 3 weeks out, in mid-April somewhere. After rolling the service people around for a while, they checked with the zone manager, who authorized a free rental vehicle until mine was fixed. The loaner vehicle turned out to be a 2011 Gen 3 Prius, base model. It was like getting into an alien spacecraft, nothing was like my Gen 2 Prii. The dash layout and controls are totally different. I will say, it seems to get better mileage than my Gen 2 does, which still averages a solid 49 MPG on the daily commute. Anyway, after dumping all this money into a 150K mile vehicle, are there any other heavy hitter failure modes that I have to worry about? I would like to get another year or so out of the old 2006. PS- the dealer only offered $3K as a trade-in on the 2006. That made no sense, so we're gonna get it fixed. A new HV battery ought to be a good selling feature huh? Also going to have the original 12V battery replaced at the same time. Infidel
YES!!! new traction battery will be a HUGE plus!!! However, could have went a cheaper route and got a battery from Reinvolt or the like and have it now and at least $1k-1500 to put back into your pocket over the new toyota battery.
I would have dumped the car, taken the 3k ftom the dealer and gotten a new one. $3200 to fix a car with 150k miles - no way! Whats going to go next and how much is that going to be? Better to go with the high percentage shot.
Uhm... I do believe the warranty is 10 years or 150K miles on the traction battery. 150K miles is nothing on a Prius so you are right to keep it.
I would have installed a battery from a salvage vehicle. It's not obvious that the new battery is a selling feature that will allow you to realize a higher resale value. You may still get only $3K (or less) when it is time to trade the vehicle. If your transaxle or inverter fails, those will be quite costly especially if you rely upon dealer service. If you decide to sell your car in a private party sale, you might get more because of the new battery - or not. Probably at minimum the car will sell faster compared to a similar vehicle without a new battery, but who knows whether you'll actually get more money. Unfortunately, the CARB warranty requires that the vehicle be originally sold and registered in CA, and continuously operated in that state. Similar terms apply for other states whose state governments were wise enough to adopt CARB regs.
A $3k repair bill is nothing to sneeze at, but it will covered within 6 - 10 months of new car payments and then you have good chances of years of trouble free service. Like Patrick, I would have looked into used battery/repair options first, but I would not hand over the car for $3k as a trade-in. AZ heat is hard on traction batteries, unless some thought and effort is taken to look after them. There is a lot of good information in the forums on this topic.
The one other "heavy hitter" failure I've heard talked about occasionally is the transaxle. Especially if the fluid hasn't been changed as regularly as it should. You'll probably get many years without a transaxle failure (odds are on your side), but since you asked...
I'm no fan of stealerships. There are a bunch of other people, including myself, who would pay a grand or so more than that no problem.
You are covering one of the major 'heavy hitters' as badly jump starting the 12 battery can blow a $4000 inverter. I would have put in a reInvolt HV battery and a Optima 12 volt battery, but it is hard to second guess that. Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs Optima DS46B24R Optima battery direct fit replacement for Prius 2004 +
the dealer just told you this and you did not get a 2e opinoin? maybe its just the oem battery ECU and not the battery pack it self. and maybe he is going to replace the cells? or also a good working oem battery ECU? there is a lot to ask about i would do that.
Battery ECUs don't go bad. Replacing a single cell is unlikely to be an effective long term fix for a vehicle in the Southwest. It isn't too late to get a pack from a junkyard.
i did read about dealers replacing ECU's when at first they got a battery warning but the battery was fine OR they wanted to replace the battery where the problem was only a ECU but maybe that where incompetent dealers?
You could have saved a thousand or more buying from ReInvolt or a salvage yard, but, eh. Even $3200 would not get very much of a used car or cover many new car payments; repairing this one was the right decision. That's my plan when the time comes.
The battery ECU part number has changed. I have yet to see any meaningful difference between early and late model versions. But a dealership loves to see this, because they can justify tacking on another $1000 to a battery replacement bill by including the updated ECU in the repair.
Taking 3k for a trade in is a terrible deal, for the simple reason that a Reinvolt battery for 2k and then your Prius would sell for 7-8k+ private.
About trade in value. Believe or not, when I try to buy a new 2011 Prius in Chicago, the trade in value of my 2004 Prius with 157K trouble free mileage was $4000. Of cause I said forget it.
I thought about the salvage or remanufactured battery option. But by the time you pay for a tow and installation labor, I didn't want to risk going with a questionable product. Most of these seem to be in the $1000 to $1500 range, so it's still a worry, if somebody has just changed out a couple of damaged cells in an old battery and called it a rebuild. PS- on this Gen 3 loaner car, what is with the low seating position? I almost need a booster seat to see over the steering wheel. Is there some kind of up and down adjustment? This is a base model, and there is no owners manual in the glovebox. Infidel
Isn't there a height adjust lever on the left side of the seat? Yes, from the test drives I've had, it does feel like you sit lower in the Gen 3 or that the interior around you is up higher vs. the Gen 2.
