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"Defective" 2001 Prius for sale, should I...?!

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by Melchior, Feb 17, 2015.

  1. Melchior

    Melchior Junior Member

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    Hi everyone, noobie here. Never had a Prius or anything very modern at all but saw this for sale near me for a lot less than comparable functioning Prii.

    It has 160,000 km on the clock and the ad says

    Some cells in the hybrid battery are defective and the engine light is on. Car is drivable though.

    Naturally it is very difficult to tell from my post what might be wrong! I'm just trying to suss out if it might be worth buying, fixing and either selling on or keeping and enjoying the good MPG. I live in The Netherlands and from some initial searching, it seems difficult to get hold of replacement/new modules. Lots of you guys seem to be based in the USA so I wonder if it is possible and worth me trying to ship some over, if needed.

    The asking price is €1250. Functioning cars seem to be asking around €3000. Worth it, you reckon...?

    Greets from Amsterdam,
    M
     
    #1 Melchior, Feb 17, 2015
  2. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Hi welcome to PC. You could possibly get gen2 or gen3 modules to replace those in the gen1, but you would need 38 modules. As gen2 and gen3 batteries only have 28 modules the price would mean the equivalent of buying 1.5 batteries Good gen modules are now going to be rare.
    You would be better buying from within Europe as the shipping costs from the US are very high.
    I do not feel that at the price quoted the car would be worth it. At 750 Euro you could make a small profit, but you can buy a 2004 gen2 for the same total.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #2 Britprius, Feb 17, 2015
  3. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    I would say that if you are keeping the car, doing the work, and it’s other vice good condition do it. You can put in gen2 cells and then battery will be better than new. Price depends about country so I don’t think somebody from other country can comment about it. Unless your country has no import tax.
     
    #3 valde3, Feb 17, 2015
  4. Melchior

    Melchior Junior Member

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    Thanks for the replies so far.

    John - You say I'd need 38 modules but my thought was to check/test them all to find the bad one(s) and replace only those. Like I said, I'm a total newbie at this so the only knowledge I have is trawling Youtube and several Prius message boards for the last couple of days! The walkthroughs on module replacement make it seem fairly simple - the only concern I have is sourcing them. Can you get hold of them in the UK?

    valde3 - unsure if I'd keep the car and for how long. You're right about price and that is also something I wanted to reply to John about because Gen 2's cannot be had in Netherlands for under around €5000. A good Gen 1 is €3000, approx.

    Having said all that, it isn't ALL about the money. I was attracted to this faulty Prius becase they are interesting cars and not one I'd ever considered before. Of course if I can fix it up having bought it for peanuts, that is a big bonus :)

    ETA: my other 'gamble' with this car might well be that the modules are all fine and on removing the HV battery, finding lots of nice corrision on the bus bar and module connections which can be cleaned off, restoring full functionality. What do you guys reckon the odds of that might be?
     
    #4 Melchior, Feb 17, 2015
  5. GregP507

    GregP507 Senior Member

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    It might turn out to be cheaper than a trip to a casino.
    I like those odds.
    ;)
     
    #5 GregP507, Feb 17, 2015
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  6. telmo744

    telmo744 HSD fanatic

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    I've been asking myself that same question for some time. There is an import tax to my country so getting a "cheap" 1Gen is progressively difficult here. A 2gen looks always better business...
     
    #6 telmo744, Feb 17, 2015
  7. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    The problem is finding good gen1 modules very unlikely. The gen2/3 are slightly longer and progressively have lower internal resistance. This makes mixing them difficult as you would really need to put 1 gen module with one gen2 (19 of each paired) or 1 gen1 with gen3 again (19 of each). This is because they are monitored for voltage in pairs against all the other pairs. If any pair fall outside a given voltage difference a fault code is issued. This would mean making up cranked bus bars because of the different lengths. This could be done using flattened copper water pipe bent and drilled.
    You can buy gen2 modules in the UK for around £25 each x 19 would make them £475. You can buy a complete working gen2 battery with 28 modules for the same money. Of course shipping would add to this.

    John (Britprius)

    There are a number of gen1 Prius cars breaking for spares on Ebay UK.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #7 Britprius, Feb 17, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 18, 2015
  8. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    You know, I wrote this whole long beautiful post that more or less recommended you go ahead and take the risk and enjoy the process.

    Then I read it to myself and couldn't hit post reply.

    It's a 2001, with at least a defective battery and the engine light is on. And it sounds like where you are in the Netherlands is a difficult place to get parts.

    I changed my mind. It may sound like a "fun" challenge right now, but I think it's pain in waiting. Right now? It's somebody elses problem. Why buy it from them?
     
    #8 The Electric Me, Feb 17, 2015
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  9. Melchior

    Melchior Junior Member

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    John - your explanation makes things very clear. At first I thought only the number of modules was different between the Gen 1 and 2, but you have corrected me on that.

    The Electric Me - your reply did make me smile. Too often do people type things up and hit Send before re-reading so I'm pretty glad you took some time and re-wrote your thoughts!

    Having taken everything into consideration I had pretty much decided to leave this car alone. It sounds like it might be near on impossible to find replacement modules or a whole battery and hence end up being WAY more pain that it'd be worth.

    Interestingly, I checked the advert again this afternoon and it's all greyed out which means the seller has withdrawn it. I wonder if it sold or if they decided against the sale? Cool thing in NL is some records about a car are publicly available if you know the registration (licence plate) number so I will have to check it in a few days and see if it's had a new owner. 81-HB-HV in case anyone's interested :)

    On the plus side to all this, I have for quite a while been digging and searching around for something interesting/different to replace my current 1992 VW Golf. I would never EVER have considered a Prius before (they are for lentil eating tree huggers, right? ;) ) but having read up a LOT on them over the past few days, I have to say I'm looking at them a LOT more now. My boy racer days have been over for a good few years and I like the idea of a comfy automatic petrol car with AC, cruise etc which also gets great MPG (or in my case, l/100km) S

    So you never know, I might just stick around these parts and end up with one in front of the house... deffo not a Gen 1 though :D
     
    #9 Melchior, Feb 18, 2015
  10. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Good luck with whatever you decide to buy, but do keep looking at the Prius. They seem to last very well in the less severe climates although loosing out slightly on fuel economy in cold weather, but still return amazing figures. The European versions even at the bottom of the range are very well equipped, and at the top come with voice recognition, and satnav. From 2006 on they have a reverse camera, and auto parking.
    Whatever you buy come back and let us know.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #10 Britprius, Feb 18, 2015
  11. Melchior

    Melchior Junior Member

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    John, thanks for your message above, just to complete the circle I wanted to come back and let you know, as you asked me to.

    See this thread for what I eventually ended up doing:
    Greets from The Netherlands | PriusChat

    :)
     
    #11 Melchior, May 22, 2015
  12. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Much as I love 'em, an NHW11 with 'issues' may teach you more about cars than you actually wish to learn. What is the cheapest NHW20 now available to you?
     
    #12 tochatihu, May 28, 2015
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  13. Melchior

    Melchior Junior Member

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    Take a look at my previous post (just above yours) and you'll see what I did in the end :)
     
    #13 Melchior, May 29, 2015
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