Will it cost me all the money i saved in gas to get a new battery?

Well we have had very few if any cases of Gen3 batteries going bad at all in the US.
You are warranty covered in GA for 8-yr 100k miles.

Realistically, assume the gas savings you have now, triple that because you need to go say 9-10 years to see a problem ...now subtarct Prius maintenance costs...usually works out pretty good.

 

If I called Toyota for an estimate, parts and labor, it would be nearly $3k. Apparently there are cheaper ways to get battery replaced / fixed. Consumer Reports did a survey this year finding only like 5% battery failures in 2002 Prius. More like 2 and 1% after that and down to .1% recently. **

Civic Hybrid had 8 to 32% failure rates in CR survey for 2002 to 2010 models, yikes!

Saved in gas over what? Let's say a Corolla or Civic. They're likely 32 MPG combined.

You're probably in an 8 year / 100k mile battery warranty state. Keep in mind these batteries are very reliable.

Average cost of gas is a guess, let's $3.75 / gallon avg. over 8 years. So, Prius is 375 / 50 = 7.5 cents per mile, Corolla is 11.7 cents / mile. You save 4.2 cents per mile.

So, in 100k miles, you run out of battery warranty. (.042 $ / mile) x 100k miles = $4,200 saved in gas over the Corolla (or Civic, etc...) More than enough to get the battery and some left over to help in cost diff between the two cars.

For someone who doesn't drive much, say 6k mile / year, after 10 years, they've only saved $2,520 , not as good.

There's a lot more to look at with maintenance costs too, but decent rough estimate.

 

If you sell the car now, you'll be ahead

 

Check out third party places that might service packs...Dallas has one, so I bet Atlanta has one way cheaper than a dealership

 

you can get it rebuilt for around $900, my 04 is still on the original battery, check the 12 volt in the trunk

 

Let's pretend you have a Prius with 100,000 miles, (or 10 gears) how likely are you to use new parts? A remanufactured battery with a 3 year warranty is available for about $1700 installed, if you are adventuresome, you can eBay a used battery for $900 and install it your self.

 

I smell BS or a troll or someone up to mischief.

The OP has a 2011 car and is complaining the cost of replacing a battery negates the savings in fuel. If they're within the 100k mile warranty then there is no worry on replacement costs and if they're already over 100k mile then they will have saved a lot more than $2,500 in those 100,000 miles.

Nothing to complain about there.

 

Perhaps they are just really bad at math. Honestly, if you are having issues, give details. Toyota (not the dealer) often goes the extra mile.

 

A better question might be, "how do I calculate whether my Prius saved or cost me money?"

 

The warranty on the HV battery in the US is 8 years/100k miles OR 10 years/150k miles depending where you live. That sounds a pretty damn good warranty to me.

The warranty on the HV battery in the UK is 5 years/100k miles BUT can be extended for free upto 11 years UNLIMITED mileage whilst using a Toyota dealer for servicing. Our warranty laws are different and include commercial use.

I'd love to know why the OP has a concern. I'd also be curious which manufacturer he is comparing his car against which offers similar warranty?

 

did you buy a prius to save money? hahahahaha, you should have bought a bicycle.

 

Can't argue with that.

I haven't saved money by buying a Prius, but I still get the satisfaction of getting 50 USMPG.

 

It takes the better part of six years until fuel/maintenance/repair savings exceed upfront costs.

 

six years?!? by then you'll need a new battery.

and don't forget gasoline deflation.

 

If payback were the only factor, a bicycle beats them all.

 

a used bicycle. too much initial depreciation on a new one.

 

That's nothing. I read on the internet that the inverter craps out after two years, and you do not even want to know how much the El_cheapo_made_in_China Flux capacitor costs.

Debatable.
As a poor college student I made it through 6 years on one pair of sandals. No punctures, either.

 

You got me there. No debate necessary.

 

Too bad. I thought you were going to play the 'time is money' card. I was ready, though: a race on ice!