Prius battery life and replacement cost?

[Alabama]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Sep 30 2007, 11:21 PM) [snapback]519680[/snapback]</div>

holy thread revival!

Yeah also Toyota didn't really give a reason for the condition at 150,000 miles. Does Toyota mean the battery will fail or degrade a certain amount at 150,000 miles?
[/b]

Now that could very well be an actual question that just might deserve a little acknowledgment. LOL. Just kidding that's a good question, I don't know.

[gippah]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Maytrix @ Oct 31 2005, 01:22 PM) [snapback]147969[/snapback]</div>

All I'll add is that I certainly don't think potential battery replacement should be a consideration.[/b]

Why not? Paying $2500 (plus labor) for a car repair once the warranty is gone is something everyone should consider. Some people may be making payments on the car after it is outside of the warranty period.-

Most Priuses will not have battery problems during the life of the car -- at least for the first owner -- but does this mean that one should not consider this problem? If you can afford a $22,500 car but not a $25,000 car, that potential $2500 repair becomes a deal-breaker.

Most people get rid of their cars when they hit a repair that they perceive to cost more than the car is worth. A $2500 repair 8 years in is certainly going to be one of these problems and is worthy of consideration. And the fact of the matter is that no one here knows if the batteries will die at that point because the Prius hasn't been around that long yet.

However, what another user posted here is a good point. When most rechargeable batteries die, they do not die completely. Instead, they hold less of a charge. So very likely when these batteries start to near the end of their life cycles, they will simply be drained faster. This means less efficiency when trying to do 0-60 bursts and when sitting in traffic for an hour or more, but not necessarily a dead car.

[lenjack]

there is one poster here that showed a Prius with 317K miles on the original battery. Some big city cabs are over 240K.

[SoCo]

Neicy is right about the Gen 1 cars. Last week I was touring through a state park in my 2001 Prius, driving at a walking speed for 30 minutes or so and therefore, in electric motor mode only. That drained the battery which triggered the doomsday warning light. This slow driving evidently killed off the battery with just 67,000 miles on the odometer. The good news: I took the car in today and was told the eight year warranty expires in 3 days, the new battery replacement is covered at no cost. Whew.

I'm speculating that the prolonged slow driving killed off the battery, but perhaps the battery was failing anyway, and this was just the final blow.

Lesson for other Gen 1 cars, have the battery health checked before you hit the 8 years/100,000 mile marker, if it isn't already too late. I lucked out, another week and it would cost me, what, $3,000??

[Flying White Dutchman]

maybe low mile's on a prius is a bad thing?

[N3FOL]

That's it...67K in 8 years time. You need to drive that baby more often.

[rigormortis]

is toyota still replacing entire packs ? or are they replacing individual cells now?

[Manksgloob]

The tech I spoke with said they will replace the whole thing and not individual cells, to avoid issues of having cells of different ages outlasting others in the pack.

[longterm]

Originally Posted by seasalsa

Morris,
There is a great search feature on this site that can answer your questions much better than I, however I will give it a shot.

There is sno real answer to your question as with the exception of accident damage there is no record of a 2004 or later Prius battery failing. If it should fail there is an 8 year 100,00 mile warranty.

Not to cast cold water on your assertion, but I have a 2007 Prius that I just got back from the shop. The battery failed.

I turned the car on one afternoon at the grocery store, and the front panel lit up like a Christmas tree. There is a large red triangular warning light; it lit, along with the brakes, transmission, and engine warning lights.

I brought it to the local dealer where I bought it, and after putting it on the diagnostic machine, they determined that the battery had failed.

This was on the July 29, 2009. I got the car back today, August 25th. My car was out of commission for almost 4 weeks.

The battery was backordered, and I was told that it was being shipped from Japan. The words "container ship" sent shivers down my spine.

Finally, when it arrived in California last week, they FedExed it to me, and I got my car this morning.

My extended warranty covers my Prius for 100,000 miles, including the battery. However, the warranty company excludes batteries, and since the failure was my battery (albeit not the type of battery their warranty was originally talking about), they refused to pay for a rental car.

I rented a car for almost 4 weeks; Toyota, to their huge credit, picked up the entire rental costs and is reimbursing me.

Unfortunately, batteries do fail sometimes; as much as I love my Prius, I suffered through this, not wanting to tell anyone about it lest they think less of this amazing car.

[Shawn Clark]

Originally Posted by longterm

Not to cast cold water on your assertion, but I have a 2007 Prius that I just got back from the shop. The battery failed.

WTF??? You just responded to a 4 year old post about what was then a relatively new vehicle. Geez, what is it with folks dragging up outdated threads recently.