1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Hybrid Battery Failure at 67k miles

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by texasboy77904, Aug 23, 2016.

Page 1 of 2
  1. texasboy77904

    texasboy77904 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2012
    92
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Was driving about 60mph. Tried giving a lil more gas then the car sputtered and wouldnt accelerate. Car started shimming around and then died.

    "Hybrid system overheat" then "Low traction battery" popped up on the dash.

    Had it towed. Toyota tried charging the hybrid battery but wouldnt hold a charge.

    Good news: Toyota is replacing the old hybrid battery with a brand new hybrid battery under warranty.

    Bad news: The car was left in neutral by the tow truck and Toyota techs couldnt move the transmission position out of neutral with the dead hybrid battery. They wont know if anything else failed until the new battery is installed.

    Seems pretty low mileage for the hybrid battery to fail no?
     
    #1 texasboy77904, Aug 23, 2016
    bisco likes this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,166
    50,060
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    absolutely. heard of a few, but usually older cars i think. better now than after the warranty. texas heat is bad for them, but not that bad. are you the original owner?
     
    #2 bisco, Aug 23, 2016
  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,525
    8,429
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I didn't know Toyota has HV battery chargers, good to know
     
    #3 JC91006, Aug 23, 2016
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,166
    50,060
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    back in the day, before they were common, they were so expensive, toyota had one per region, and you had to wait for it to show up.
     
    #4 bisco, Aug 23, 2016
  5. wirelessjava

    wirelessjava Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2015
    103
    20
    0
    Location:
    Union City, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    III
    What year was the Gen3 and were you driving it everyday or occasionally or 15K miles per year?
     
    #5 wirelessjava, Aug 23, 2016
  6. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

    Joined:
    May 22, 2009
    9,083
    5,798
    0
    Location:
    Undisclosed Location
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Interesting.
    Yep, that's a very early failure.

    I suppose the good news is you get a brand new hybrid battery.
     
    #6 The Electric Me, Aug 23, 2016
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,525
    8,429
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Maybe this really is an inverter problem......so they'll give you a new battery and then later discover it's not a battery problem.
     
    #7 JC91006, Aug 23, 2016
    The Electric Me likes this.
  8. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2005
    3,686
    699
    2
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Vehicle:
    Other Electric Vehicle
    Probably to early to determine the root cause of failure
     
    #8 mrbigh, Aug 23, 2016
  9. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2014
    2,642
    1,140
    0
    Location:
    Northwestern S.C.
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Good point, considering that inverter failures to be sudden, while batteries normally deteriorate gradually.
     
    #9 CR94, Aug 23, 2016
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,166
    50,060
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    wow, that would be a real black eye for the dealer. i wonder what toyotas requirements are for battery warranty authorization.
     
    #10 bisco, Aug 23, 2016
  11. texasboy77904

    texasboy77904 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2012
    92
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    My Prius is a 2011. Daily driver.
    Im praying that the battery is the only. Guess Ill find out in a few days.
     
    #11 texasboy77904, Aug 23, 2016
  12. texasboy77904

    texasboy77904 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2012
    92
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Also my concern is how it failed so early in 5/6 years.
     
    #12 texasboy77904, Aug 23, 2016
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,166
    50,060
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    did you notice a decline in mpg's recently?
     
    #13 bisco, Aug 23, 2016
  14. texasboy77904

    texasboy77904 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2012
    92
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Not much.
     
    #14 texasboy77904, Aug 23, 2016
  15. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,525
    8,429
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    If you're getting something expensive for free......don't question it. Just accept it and say "ok, if you say so"
     
    #15 JC91006, Aug 23, 2016
    m.wynn, Okinawa and texasboy77904 like this.
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,166
    50,060
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i think the cause, like any defective product, is a bad part or workmanship. even toyota isn't perfect.:oops:
     
    #16 bisco, Aug 23, 2016
    texasboy77904 likes this.
  17. texasboy77904

    texasboy77904 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2012
    92
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    New Hybrid battery now installed. Transmission is now shot. :(

    Options:
    1. $4500 for a new and installed transmission.

    2. $1500 for a used and installed transmission.

    3. Call it quits and trade it in for what its worth.

    Total bummer. Extended warranty would have been great about this time.:confused:
     
    #17 texasboy77904, Aug 23, 2016
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,166
    50,060
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i would go for the used tranny. how many miles on it? do they think the tranny got damaged because it was left in neutral?
     
    #18 bisco, Aug 23, 2016
  19. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,525
    8,429
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Hey you got a new battery for free, even though it wasn't the problem.

    Now I would contact Toyota corporate for a free tranny
     
    #19 JC91006, Aug 23, 2016
  20. texasboy77904

    texasboy77904 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2012
    92
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Their only "guess" is that it was left in neutral when the tow truck picked it up. It was towed from the front not the rear but I had to manually push it in reverse in the neutral position from my parking spot so the tow truck could then pick it up from the front.

    67k on the original transmission.

    Im still wordering if my insurance would cover this issue.
     
    #20 texasboy77904, Aug 23, 2016
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 2