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Battery failure on '02 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by beantown1900, Sep 23, 2006.

  1. beantown1900

    beantown1900 New Member

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    Well, one night the indicator came on and I noticed and electrical smell in the car. Luckily I was in the driveway and shut the car down immediately. I had only driven the car about 10 miles that day. Had it towed to the dealer and they called me to say they were in contact with Toypta Technical Assistance. They called me the next day to say that this was the first case (!) of a battery failure in a Pruis!!! Now this is an '02 Prius, and I had purchased the extended warranty, but that would not have mattered - 87000+ miles on the car and it still would have been covered up to 100,000 miles, at least that is my understanding.

    The dealer was great, in fact they lent me a brand new Prius, no questions asked or hassling or arguing at all, fully decked out with 6000+ miles on it to use while the boat comes from Japan with the new battery!!! They estimate a two week delivery time!

    And, in a true case of serendipity, I had the Prius for sale when this happened and I have to tell you, the folks that have called have actually been HAPPY that the battery went out since that seems to be the most worrisome thing to them all!!! Funny! Now, here is what they told me about the replacement - the warranty on the replacement is only good for the balance of the 100,000 mile warranty. The warranty does not start over, which is understandable! (too bad they did not want to buy the car for analysis! LOL!)

    Think a new battery increases the value of the car?

    Anyway, a battery failure has happened and now I wait to see how the car acts when I get it back.
     
    #1 beantown1900, Sep 23, 2006
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Maybe that was the first at that dealer, it's certainly not the first in the US...

    We're aware of at least a handful of failures some for reasons that seem likely and some for unknown reasons. Any ideas what could have contributed to the failure on your car? What driving style do you have, what kind of commute (highway, city, etc?) Dealer say anything else about it such as corrosion on the terminals? Did you have the recall work for the sealant on the terminals?

    And yea, like a car with a new transmission or a new ICE a new battery on a used Prius should increase its resale value.
     
    #2 efusco, Sep 23, 2006
  3. beantown1900

    beantown1900 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Sep 23 2006, 05:03 PM) [snapback]324017[/snapback]</div>

    The car was used for a lot of long trips, and then daily 40 miles per day for trips to work. They did not talk about corrosion at all, and yes, I did have the recall work done right away. My driving style is gentle, I am a "coast to a stop" and "gentle on acceleration" - really makes a difference in gas mileage! The car was regularly serviced.
     
    #3 beantown1900, Sep 23, 2006
  4. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Wow, then that's an odd one for a failure that early. Your trips sound ideal for battery preservation (ie no extreme discharge/recharge cycles like bumper-to-bumper driving or mountainous driving). And it seems they would've mentioned if you had corrosion when you went for the recall if that was the issue.
     
    #4 efusco, Sep 23, 2006
  5. longterm

    longterm Member

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    2012 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Base
    I have a 2007 Prius with 19k miles on it; on July 29th, my battery failed.

    I was at the grocery store; when I turned on the car, my transmission light, brake light, engine light (I think), and a large triangular warning light all came on.

    I quickly realized that, although the car drove almost normally, that the engine wasn't shutting off at stop signs. Also, the transmission acted very strange, and the brakes felt odd. Other than that though, it actually seemed to work okay.

    I brought the car to the dealer; after a half-hour diagnostic, they informed me that my battery was defective and would have to be replaced.

    No problem, I thought, I have an extended warranty, and the battery's warranteed for 100,000 miles or 8 years. This won't cost me anything more than inconvenience...

    Wrong.

    The company from whom I bought the extended warranty doesn't cover rental cars for batteries... that it was the large hybrid battery didn't matter--they refused to pay for a rental car. So I rented a car from the dealer, thinking that I'd only have it for a couple of days.

    Two weeks later my battery still hadn't arrived. I was leaving town for a week, so I turned in my Toyota rental, returned a week later, to find that my car was STILL not repaired after 3 weeks. The battery was coming from Japan... the thought of a container ship coming across the Pacific sent shivers down my spine.

    Finally I got my car back on August 25th, my birthday. I insisted that someone reimburse me for rental, since the Toyota dealer had sold me the warranty policy.

    GREAT ENDING TO THIS STORY: The local dealership, Alexander Toyota in Franklin TN, agreed to cover all the car rental costs, approximately $600. I'm waiting for my check, but am confident that they'll do as they've said.

    Car runs great again... great to have my Prius back after four weeks.

    So I guess I'm one of the unfortunates whose battery went bad...
     
    #5 longterm, Aug 29, 2009
  6. northwichita

    northwichita .

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    Re: Battery failure on '02 Prius

    Longhorn bull horns on hood
    Giant tires
    Suspended 14' up
    I want to see that.
     
    #6 northwichita, Aug 30, 2009
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