Dorman Battery Experiences

i guess the secret is to make the process profitable, while keeping warranty service at a reasonable level. easier said then done, i wish them the best, this is good for all electrified cars. i don't see why the mfgs don't see the value in taking this question mark out of the equation.

 

Your last sentence is interesting. Do you mean for car manufacturers to get into battery refurb?

 

not likely. but i think they should come up with a way to take battery anxiety out of the equation. if reduced cost is all they can come up with, then so be it. i just think it's something that inhibits initial buyers. even if they are convinced that on the whole, the batteries last, and even if they live in a 10/150 state, there is still concern for some.

 

AS far as manufacturers getting into any business it usually takes the form of a approved company that will build to spec a product or part which meets the min OEM quality agreed upon. You find that in starters, alternators which are rebuilt and have the name: reman for remanufactured. Rebuilt engine are another sample. But in the end - its all about providing a product which is LE$$ than NEW but in essence is almost as good as new in most cases. People like REDUCED costs...it lures them...
The thing is that NOW there are choices to make instead of OEM list price. The bad thing is that if too many come on board there will always be some which the price is way too low and suspect to making shortcuts to the product in question.
They KNOW that people buy on the notion of percieved value with the discounted price but they equation in the return RMA's as the cost of doing business. Its all business 101 and it works for the most part (no pun intended) until the reputation gets too low and a break even point is starting to rear its ugly head and then bankrupsy eventually. Such is business for some.

Note: This is not in any way directed to the Dorman Company - just an example of business 101 in the autofield

 

You can't beat the. Warranty and price of a dorman battery compare to Toyota price and 1 year warranty.That's my toughts

 

if you could buy a new battery for $2,000., or a doorman for $1,500., which would you choose?

 

New is my answer to Bisco.


iPhone ?

 

deleted

 

1305. For dorman total price after core

 

okay, but my question still stands. i think it may depend on the circumstances, age of the car, your needs, how long do you expect to keep it, how much hassle are you willing to put up with, are you diy or paying someone to install, etc.

 

New for me no question ask

 

i think i would go new, in most instances. maybe if i could diy and enjoyed it, the distributor was local and easy to work with, i was only keeping the car for the length of the battery warranty and money was really an issue, i might go rebuilt.

 

The 12V battery analogy is poorly chosen. A 12V lead acid is in a constant state of deterioration dependent on temperatures, depth of discharge and time at max SoC. There is no reliable way to recover capacity of a 12V battery as it deteriorates.

With NiMH chemistry and battery building, it's more than just replacing bad modules, balancing and matching. They are conducting reconditioning efforts on individual modules that eliminate the voltage depression inherent in short-cycled NiMH cells. If no damage has occurred as a result of weak/strong cells being cycled outside their 40-80% SoC range, then module capacity can be reliably recovered to varying degrees.

In most cases, these "reconditioned" modules experience a significant extension of life, though they will deteriorate at a rate similar to their previous life. Since the starting capacity is lower, they will hit the unacceptable threshold sooner and run the risk of cell failure sooner or require reconditioning sooner than when new.

It is not uncommon to be able to recondition underperforming modules that have voltage depression but are otherwise healthy and achieve a reconditioned capacity of 70-90% of rated vs. the 30% that they may register as-removed.

Steve

 

Hi Steve
What is you thought on maintenance will a battery benefit from be recharge or balance on a regular basis if so what you recommandation?Just got my car 2 week ago car is 2013 V with only 21000 mile so still warranty but I plan to keep the car for long and we all know they mostly only fail after warranty expire...... sorry I suffer from battery insecurity since my previous car was a HCH 08 and suffer from a mostly dead barely fail 6k miles after warranty expire so I get rid of it. Should we benefit to alway connect car and keep battery charge at all time? Im not familiar with this type of battery chemistry so dont really know what is best for them thank

 

Like Steve said, it is possible to re balance the cells within the Toyota modules and regain 90-95% of their rated capacity. The problem is that due to age the cells within the modules have varying resistances and rates of self discharge. For this reason it takes a few years for the cells to again become out of balance and require cycling to get their SOCs back in line with each other. If not re balanced the pack will again fail because one of the 168 series connected cells got to low and shorted out. If you buy a rebuilt battery you either have to accept that it will last 2-3 years at best or you have to do regular maintenance with some type of grid charger to keep it healthy.

If you plan to keep your car I always recommend a NEW battery over a rebuilt. (And rebuilt batteries is what I do) Everybody gets hung up on Toyota's 12 month warranty but the fact is that a new battery will absolutely last another 8-9 years AND it will add resale value to your car if you plan to sell it.

I think re builders are in the perfect position to offset the high dealer prices on new batteries. What we do in our shop is take all of the weak and failed modules that we remove from customer batteries and consolidate them into core batteries that go back to Toyota in exchange for new ones. By doing this I don't have to buy parts batteries from Ebay or junk yards and it ensures that the bad modules are being properly recycled. Since we aren't paying $800 to $1000 for every parts battery we are able to sell and install new batteries for wholesale cost minus a few hundred dollars. We fluctuate the installed price for new batteries between $2000 and $2400 depending on how many bad modules we have piling up and need to get rid of. Most people find this price much more manageable than the $3700 dealer cost. Anybody should be able to go to the parts counter at their dealership and get a new battery for $2500, to me that makes more sense than the $1400 to $1800 that some rebuilt batteries cost.

On Dorman batteries, I think it's great that they offer a 3 year warranty and stand behind it no matter what. If I were choosing between the larger companies I would definitely choose them. The two Dorman batteries that I have installed were both built from Gen 2 modules (one on a Gen 1 and one on a Gen 2). I personally don't think that they would be able to source enough late model Gen 3 modules to support their demand.

Matt

 

Hi Steve I read again all the post and I see no recommendation on maintenance for well working battery mostly so I assume no maintenance is not recommended and wait for it to fail crossing finger

 

On what fact do you base your claim that a replacement Toyota battery will last 8 or 9 years .no fact just speculation. Hence why only one year warranty?

 

No it's not speculation. I think it's pretty well established that new Prius batteries last about that long, if not longer. It's simple really, the replacement battery you get from Toyota is exactly the same as the original battery that came with the Prius when new. The fact that the majority of 2004, 2005 and 2006 model Prius are still running on their original HV batteries is ample evidence of the stated longevity.

I agree that they could lift their game on the warranty, but 12 months is simply the standard warranty for most replacement car parts. Take for example the water pump in my Prius. It's now over 10 years old and still working perfectly, so I'd assume that most water pumps will last many years like this. However if I had to buy a new one from the dealer, it would only come with a 1 yr warranty. It doesn't mean that they only expect it to last for one year, in fact I'd expect it to last 8+ years to be honest. But just the same it would only come with the standard 12 month warranty. Exactly the same deal with the HV battery.

 

Sorry not true gen 2not manfactrued any more not the same as orgnail

 

Hi Kinglew. Can you please post your evidence that the new replacement HV batteries from Toyota are giving significantly less longevity than the OEM batteries originally supplied with the prius as new. I personally have not seen or heard any evidence that this is the case. If you have some evidence or information in this regard could you please share it here.