I have a 2001 Prius with 97k miles and dying hybrid batteries. I'm trying to decide whether to cut my losses and get rid of the car now, replace the batteries and sell it, or replace the batteries and hang on to it. I bought it 5 years a go with 50k miles & it's been very reliable. I've been loosing power & it's been acting strangly lately. I took it into the dealer & inspection codes P3000 and P3006 came up & they found abnormal voltage ranges in the hybrid battery. The estimate for replacing the batteries is $3k. My concern is whether the other parts of the car are reliable enough to last a couple of more years. I understand that it can cost several grand for the inverter and for the transaxle. Any thoughts on the reliablity of these other components?
I would! Very low mileage for one thing.You may want to check out other places that repair the weak cells. May be half the price. Check some of the threads of late for company's that do these repairs. H
In this, as in any decision like it, you'd have to weigh the options: Option 1: get rid of the car (maybe difficult with the battery situation) and then pay $300-$400 a month for a brand new car for a few years. Even $300 a month for one year adds up to $3600. 2 years would be $7200, etc... Option 2: Pay probably closer to $2000 with a different alternative (re-involt) or try and talk the dealer down or try and take it to another dealership to see if they cut a deal with you. The ultimate decision, would be, are you still able to find parts for the vehicle? This is why I got rid of my 1997 Ford Taurus. I know you can find parts for Prius on the Internet, but the local dealer can still order the parts as well... Let us know, what you end up doing...
It would help if we know what part of the country you are in because there are independent hybrid shops. These can often provide the same or similar service for less. But you asked about: inverter - we've seen a number of inverter failures this past summer and some of them may have been due to failed or failing inverter coolant pumps. We are still investigating but the inverter coolant pump that runs constantly was redesigned in the 2010 Prius to have two instead of just one bearing. One curious aspect has been the number of 12 V DC-to-DC failures. Sad to say, we've had no luck getting one of the failed inverters for analysis. These have often been replaced by salvage units which is why knowing if you are near an independent hybrid shop makes sense. transaxle - we've seen a few of these but no solid pattern. We have seen successful transaxle swaps (search for orange4boy.) It is about as bad as any other transaxle swap but again it helps if you have a hybrid shop. When I say a few, I mean a couple per year but it varies. We do recommend changing the transaxle oil more frequently than the 60,000 interval in the shop manual. Testing suggests 30,000 is a better change interval. I fully understand the issues of keeping an older car rolling versus going new . . . so we did both. I have my 2003 Prius and it is perfectly fine for my local commutes. I continue preventative maintenance and experimental work. But we also have a 2010 Prius bought last year. So $3,000 would be a nice down payment on a new car, Prius or anything else. But there aren't many that can get the 52 MPG I consistently get. So one thought is to call it a $3,000, 52 MPG car that like any other, may fail someday in the future. BTW, you might take a look at the Consumer Reports rating for use Prius. I believe it still goes back that far. GOOD LUCK! Bob Wilson
I guess it depends on how much you like the car. You can possibly get a new battery (or refurb) installed much cheaper than what you were quoted. But even at $3,000 that isn't too bad considering you can easily get another 100,000 or more miles out of the car at that point. If you are thinking of selling it, you need to consider this. The car will be worth about $3,000 to $4,000 depending on what kind of shape it is in. If you replace the battery you could get $6,000 to $7,000 for it. But that essentially just covers the cost of a new battery. So it might be easier to try to sell it without the new battery.
01-03 Toyota Prius Upgraded HV Battery Pack: eBay Motors (item 140468026790 end time Oct-29-10 16:52:05 PDT) Sadly we do not know where you are, so I can only show a page of installers. Our Installers Taylor Automotive installs for $282
OP: if you have been diligent about coolant maintenance they I would replace the battery without a second thought.
