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Brand New Battery for 1st Gen Prius

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by tsarah, Jan 5, 2016.

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  1. tsarah

    tsarah New Member

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    2002 Prius
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    One
    Hello,
    I have a 1st Generation 2002 Prius and I love this car so much. I am just shy of 150k miles and the battery needed replacing. I know little about cars, but tried to research my best options to keep myself in a reliable vehicle for the lowest cost. I had no choice, but to go to the dealer to replace the battery and felt that the $3500 investment was my best option to get me through the next 2 years while I am finishing school. Less than 2 weeks after I was back on the road I was involved in an accident and my worst nightmare has come true. I have less than 100 miles on a brand new Toyota Prius battery and my car is deemed totaled. The insurance company is offering me $3500 for my Prius and to keep the car with a Salvage title, but estimates to fix the vehicle are $4600. I know nothing about vehicles, but I think it would be hard to find another reliable vehicle for $3500 and I don't think I can acquire the extra $1000 to repair my Prius. I also waiting to find out if the vehicle would safe to drive since the front axle was damaged.

    Does anyone have any insight of what they would choose if they were in a similar situation? Toyota wont take the battery back, but is there a market to sell it to another party for close to its full value? I'm in Ventura, CA and there aren't independent repair shops that work on hybrid vehicles like there are in Northern or Southern CA.
    What about recycling the battery for the CORE value?
    Is axle damage something that one should not consider for repair work? Could I have this repaired and still be safe driving myself and daughter?

    Thank You!
     
    #1 tsarah, Jan 5, 2016
  2. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    Pictures would be very helpful for telling you how repairable it is.

    I bet you can easily find a Gen1 with a dead battery and have your battery swapped in for under $3500. Then you can probably get a couple hundred from a junkyard for what's left of your car. Heck, the junkyard might even swap the batteries for you if you give them your old car.
     
    #2 vskid3, Jan 5, 2016
    bwilson4web likes this.
  3. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Four
    I would likely do like vskid3 says and look for another Gen 1 with a dead battery. That would be your most economical route. Beyond that, I might look for a Gen 2 for around 5K or so. They are out there.
     
    #3 usnavystgc, Jan 5, 2016
  4. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    A quick kbb check shows that they're offering about $1000 more than the private party value, so there's probably not much to be gained there. I personally would only value a new battery as being worth about $1000 more than an all original car.

    I do agree that a non-hybrid may be a better option if you don't get another Gen1. If it doesn't even have 150k miles by now, it sounds like you might not drive enough for a hybrid to make sense. A similarly priced Civic or Corolla would still get pretty good mileage and not be as finicky.
     
    #4 vskid3, Jan 5, 2016
  5. luckyboy

    luckyboy Member

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    Honestly the problem here is you invested too much into your used vehicle and that doesn't make it worth more. If you had the time you would have seen there were other options into repairing your prius battery and/or using one from a lower mileage junked vehicle with many ions a few miles south of Venture. You may get the insurance co yo offer a little more if you document your recent repair but in California they are only required to give you replacement value which is probably around $3500, maybe a tad more with the new battery but I wouldn't expect more than 4K. They core value of the battery is only a few hundred.
    As far as the damage it depends, you might be able to do a ghetto repair and salvage title it yourself but its certainly not worth spending $4500 to repair. The insurance co will also deduct the value of the scrapped car from their offer if you keep it.
     
    #5 luckyboy, Jan 5, 2016
  6. DRACO

    DRACO Member

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    Sorry to read your troubles OP.

    When you wrote axle, is it the front or rear axle/s? Was the chassis damaged as well? The reason I ask is, if the chassis is damaged replacing the axle new/used may not fix the issue of a bent frame and car will never drive straight and will be compromised in a future accident.

    I am sure you can sell the new HV battery but it will be 50% less than what you paid for it, unfortunately.

    Yes, pics would help.

    Jim
     
    #6 DRACO, Jan 6, 2016
  7. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

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    2003 Toyota Prius

    That's a Craigslist add for a 2003 in Lake Hughes, CA with a bad battery. They are asking $900.
     
    #7 strawbrad, Jan 6, 2016
    DRACO likes this.
  8. DRACO

    DRACO Member

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    OP, go take a look quickly, that is not a bad deal and you will have money left over to boot.
     
    #8 DRACO, Jan 6, 2016
  9. Brian in Tucson

    Brian in Tucson Active Member

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    Never to be heard from again. . .
     
    #9 Brian in Tucson, Oct 15, 2017
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