2005 Prius w bad hybrid cell

[Aryiana]

*Threads Merged
We have a 2005 Prius that we purchased in December of 2005. My husband drives 1K miles a week for work and as of today there are 152,652 miles on the car. Other than having to have the headlights replaced (at a cost of $350/each - which Toyota DID reimburse us for since we were already over 100K miles at that point) we have been pretty trouble free with our car... until today.

Over the weekend my husband drove our daughter to a friends house and returned (about a 14 mile trip). When we got in the car about 20 minutes later, the dash lit up with the exclamation in the triangle, VSC, and the engine icon, while the display had another icon which I found out was the hybrid battery light.

Long story short, we have a bad cell in the hybrid battery and since the car has over 100K miles, the "District Parts and Service Manager" (aka: He Who Thinks He is G-d) declined a goodwill consideration to replace the battery under warranty even tho the car has only been ours for 3 years 4 months. I called Toyota Corporate and apparently they don't/won't override this jerk's decision.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I am waiting for a supervisor from Toyota Corporate to call me back (within 24 hours) when I will again try to plead our case and am trying to get any and all information that may help us (such as the 150K warranty period in CA).

I am quite upset and frankly very ticked off that Toyota will not do anything for us and in trying to research this online all I am coming up with is that people will be close to 8 years when/if it the battery would fail and no one has heard of anyone having to pay to have their battery replaced (none have apparently failed out of the warranty period of 8 yrs/100K miles -- well except for ours).

We purchased a Prius because of the miles my husband travels, however, this battery will zero out any money we will have saved on gas so far

[Bob_Stan]

I am sorry to hear about your problem, but the warranty is 8 years OR 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. I can see why you are disappointed, but the vehicle battery has exceeded the warranty period, even for California.

[Aryiana]

Originally Posted by Bob_Stan

I am sorry to hear about your problem, but the warranty is 8 years OR 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. I can see why you are disappointed, but the vehicle battery has exceeded the warranty period, even for California.

Yes, Thanks Bob, I CAN do the math.... however, it has also been published that there is a .0003% failure rate in Gen. 2 Priuses (from 2004 - May 2008) with only 23 cars having a post-warranty hybrid battery failure. With this low of a rate, and with having only 3 years with the car, Toyota SHOULD stand behind their product. That is the point.

I hope this doesn't happen to you -- people may be just as sympathetic as you are.

[Patrick Wong]

Sorry to hear about your problem. There are a good number of Classic traction battery failures out of warranty and those owners have had to pay for replacements. 2G battery failures have been much rarer but its not realistic to expect those batteries will last forever.

One alternative you have is to purchase a battery from a salvage vehicle which should cost $350 - $600 plus shipping, and have an independent install that battery for you. For example:
http://motors.shop.ebay.com/items/__prius-battery_W0QQ_kwZpriusQQ_kwZbatteryQQ_ckwZtraction

The necessary repair manual documentation including safety precautions can be found at techinfo.toyota.com

[jayman]

If its just a bad cell, I would look into salvage batteries. There is no freaking way I'd pay for a new pack over one cell

Let me guess: +$2,500, right?

[richard schumacher]

Before spending a lot of money, get a second opinion from another dealer.

Did you buy it new, or used?

Patrick, is it reasonable to replace only the failed module? Or do they all have to be matched?

[richard schumacher]

[what th' hell...?]

[Patrick Wong]

Hi Richard,

It is possible to replace only the failed module if you can get that module SOC to be close enough to the other modules so that, under load, the module voltage does not vary by more than a few tenths of a volt from the other modules. However this will not be easy to do.

The OP's description of her car's symptoms support the diagnosis of a failed battery module. If she can get the DTC that was logged, this will provide further evidence to support or refute the diagnosis.

[efusco]

1) being upset is reasonable, nobody likes paying for expensive repairs. We had to pay over $2000 for a rebuilt transmission in our old Ford Windstar b/c it was just over 100k miles. But expecting Toyota to eat this is, IMO, unreasonable on your part. Even if you were in a California emissions state you're beyond the 150k warranty there. I don't blame you for taking it up the chain of command, but I don't think you have any solid footing for expecting them to take care of the cost any more than you would if the engine had blown or a transmission failed on any conventional car.

2) Buying a brand new battery, with the amount of driving your husband does, seems reasonable, but looking for a salvage battery is a reasonable option. There are places who can do the install for your for a fair price and you can likely save a couple thousand dollars that way.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by Aryiana

We have a 2005 Prius that we purchased in December of 2005. My husband drives 1K miles a week for work and as of today there are 152,652 miles on the car. Other than having to have the headlights replaced (at a cost of $350/each - which Toyota DID reimburse us for since we were already over 100K miles at that point) we have been pretty trouble free with our car... until today.

Over the weekend my husband drove our daughter to a friends house and returned (about a 14 mile trip). When we got in the car about 20 minutes later, the dash lit up with the exclamation in the triangle, VSC, and the engine icon, while the display had another icon which I found out was the hybrid battery light.

Long story short, we have a bad cell in the hybrid battery and since the car has over 100K miles, the "District Parts and Service Manager" (aka: He Who Thinks He is G-d) declined a goodwill consideration to replace the battery under warranty even tho the car has only been ours for 3 years 4 months. I called Toyota Corporate and apparently they don't/won't override this jerk's decision.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I am waiting for a supervisor from Toyota Corporate to call me back (within 24 hours) when I will again try to plead our case and am trying to get any and all information that may help us (such as the 150K warranty period in CA).

I am quite upset and frankly very ticked off that Toyota will not do anything for us and in trying to research this online all I am coming up with is that people will be close to 8 years when/if it the battery would fail and no one has heard of anyone having to pay to have their battery replaced (none have apparently failed out of the warranty period of 8 yrs/100K miles -- well except for ours).

We purchased a Prius because of the miles my husband travels, however, this battery will zero out any money we will have saved on gas so far

Hello Aryiana:

Certainly unexpected expenses can be stressful. I don't mean to rub salt in the wound, but I'm curious as to why you are upset, and why you refer to the District Service Manager as a "jerk" (although some may certainly be!).

It seems that you live in PA, and your car has over 150,000 mile on it. So you are 52,000 miles over the normaly hybrid battery warranty. Even if you lived in CA, you'd still be over the 150,000 mile warranty that you mentioned. And it seems that Toyota has previously done you a favor by reimbursing the cost of your headlights replacement at over 100K miles. In addition, you state that things have been pretty much problem free.

From my viewpoint, you don't have a right to be angry about this at all. It seems that both the Prius and Toyota have treated you pretty well so far.

Remember, "goodwill" gestures are just that: goodwill. They are not required, nor should they be expected to be required. Otherwise the concept of "goodwill" means nothing, and the act is just a duty owed, or payment for a service rendered. When you are given a gesture of goodwill, give thanks. If you don't get one, don't show "badwill" by complaining about it.





Now as far as loosing all the gas savings, I would say that there are other features about the Prius that have been saving you money, without you being aware of it.

• For instance, most users have to get their brakes replaced much less frequently than owners of regular cars. This is due to the hybrid engine providing a large percentage of the cars "non-panic" braking.
• Many engines on small cars are what are known as "interference" engines, meaning that if the timing belt broke, the valves would crash into the cylinder heads and ruin the engines. Because of this, manufacturers often require timing belt changes at 60K, or 100K, or some other interval. These belt changes are not cheap. To the best of my knowledge, the Prius G2 uses a timing chain, which is more robust.
• I haven't seen any reports on the forums yet about G2 exhaust systems needing any major work done.

I'm sorry to hear about the battery problems. Hopefully you can indeed find a less expensive means of getting the Prius repaired.