Dealer wants $6000 to replace hybrid battery...

2005 Toyota Prius with 110,000.

Spent $3000 a few weeks ago replacing brake actuator/accumulator, front pads, and drive belt (all of which were original).

I brought the car in on Tuesday with lots of new warning lights, and they eventually confirmed diagnosis of failing hybrid battery (the car seemed normal otherwise, except quicker discharge and recharge of battery, no bars to green really quickly, etc..).

I tested the 12 volt battery on the display diagnostics and it seemed fine per elearnaid's specs.

Obviously I'm not going to spend $6000. The dealer attempted to get Toyota to help with the repair cost, but Toyota refused. I'm in Massachusetts right now, but I purchased the car in Florida and have it registered there.

I'll get specifics on how they figured $6000 to replace the battery on Monday when I pick it up, but I figure they want to send the car back to Japan to have it fixed, I think the shipping should be about $3000, so that sounds about right.

Seriously, though, I've read it's a $2000 battery from the dealer in many places across the country plus 5-6 hours to swap the battery and the other parts associated, should be $3000 tops right?

I found a place nearby in CT, Green Tec Auto, to install a rebuilt for $1500 with an 18 month warranty on parts and labor, plus tax, that seems reasonable. I could save $250 and get a 6 month warranty instead, but I don't see the value there in savings...

I could order the Dorman from Advance Auto parts on sale right now through ebates and pay about $1100 for the battery, or less, but then need to install it myself, or pay someone (I was quoted $350).

Used seems a bit risky to me, unless I could guarantee the car was running fine recently...

I think the $1500 sounds good. Just sharing, but any thoughts are welcome, especially on how a dealer could justify $6000 for a battery replacement.

The car probably isn't worth much more than $6000, very unfortunate...

 

Thanks for all the advice. KH Toyota in North Adams, MA

I just found a used '05 Prius for sale on craigslist that recently had a new battery installed and the guy posted a pic of his bill for the battery; he's asking $4500 for the car. I'll post the picture of the bill so people can see it. He paid around $3000.

Seems much more reasonable than $6000 for a battery, so I'm going to ask for the breakdown on the battery replacement when I pick up the car and find out how they came up with $6000... maybe there is something else wrong they haven't told me about?

I'll have to watch the video on the battery install to see if I'd want to tackle it, but I figure the $150 labor is worth letting someone install their own rebuilt battery (Green Tec) vs. saving the money and the small risk I mess something up.

The car still runs great, even with these warning lights on, and with a rebuilt battery, maybe it could go a long time without another repair, but other than recalls, the car has needed no repairs since I purchased it 8 years ago, so I think the odds are that things will start failing....

Maybe an oxygen sensor, or something else little, but could be something big I'm not expecting.

So, I no longer have the faith in the long-term economics of owning my Toyota Prius after these two issues in the span of a month... and hence the enjoyment of owning it is diminishing. (Of course, my 8 years of fuel savings amounted to something, but I think I just spent that on repairs).

I used to be into Saabs, and I had great luck with the first few, but the last one, I basically became a Saab mechanic to keep it going at a reasonable cost; and one of the nicest things about owning the Prius is that it has been, until now, completely reliable and trouble-free.

So, if I am now entering the phase when things start breaking on the Prius, I think it is time to let someone else have a nice used Prius to start their journey with... for them it could be a value, but for me, I've already lost $17000 in depreciation, at least, and now I'm going to be into it for about $5000 in repairs, so that means I'm down $22,000 for 8 years of ownership... it's not bad, but the numbers were a lot better two months ago.

But, of course, I hate the prospect of paying sales tax on a new, or even recently used car, so there is no good solution going forward...

Not sure what the real world value is, it's a package 6 with leather, nice car, love it, but might only be worth $5000 - $6000, so I think with the battery, I'll have just paid the value of the car to repair the car; in other words, I will have paid $5000 for a used Prius with new brakes and a rebuilt battery. Not a bad deal, had I just purchased it, but since I already own it, it's as if the car has now been fully depreciated over my 8 years of ownership. I've lost any "equity" I had in it...

I think, as ETC(SS) wrote, my plan will likely be to get it driveable so I can reliably use it in the near future. Green Tec has an office in Florida if I do need warranty coverage while there in the winter. I'll sell it and put what I get into a fairly new vehicle, under warranty, and if I buy another Prius, I'll buy it in Massachusetts this time.

I'll keep y'all posted on what the dealer says about the $6000 and post the estimate if I get one printed out...

 

Thanks Patrick for the thoughts. I used to do all the work on my Saabs, including pulling the transmissions, it began as a labor of love but became just labor; I'm reluctant to start the learning curve over for the Prius except for little things, but clearly I will have to if I were to keep the car... The brake actuator sounded risky to do as a first time DIY on the Prius, and I was pressed for time, I had a schedule I couldn't really change, and had to drive from FL to MA less than a week after I realized the brake actuator was bad. If I had more time, I probably would have found an indy Toyota shop and a good low mileage used actuator and taken the risk on the part, but with time pressing, and a long drive, I didn't want to risk the unknown factors. I figure I overpaid by about $1200 for that decision vs. used part and indy mechanic. The new brake pump seems a little noisier than the old pump, but otherwise the repair seems fine.

It was a big dealer in Jacksonville, FL that did the brake work. They wanted to charge me 8 hours of labor, but I told them I'd read on here it should take 4 hours (which I did read), so I was going to have to go elsewhere. Then he looked up that 6 hrs was quoted in their warranty reimbursement book from Toyota, so he agreed to charge me for 6; in other words, Toyota was willing to pay them for 6 hours if it was under warranty, so he agreed that was fair. Then, the service tech called me while the work was going on and said he couldn't imagine how it could be done in four, since it was taking longer than 6, but he was honoring it, of course, so I'm glad I let them do the work, albeit expensive at $110 per hour. I didn't want someone unfamiliar with the hybrid system working on the car. The part they charged me standard MSRP.. The brake pads were $180 including labor, so I was willing to bite on that, though I always did my own rotors and pads in the past on my Saabs.

Interesting idea about registering the car in MA. I could do that. I have another car registered in MA, and an apartment here, but I'm pretty sure they run the VIN and see where it was sold. I'll ask the dealer when I pick up the car, I'm sure he'd love to have the money from Toyota to do the repair. I will look into calling Toyota Monday, the dealer dealt with the regional rep, and I'm not sure if that person made the decision to deny me goodwill warranty, or floated it up the chain...

 

Yes, I'm going to call the dealer that did the brake work in Jacksonville, FL once I get the car back and confirm the $6000 estimate is really just for the battery, and see if there's any strings they can pull on the goodwill thing, but being over 1000 miles away, they won't get the work, but maybe they'd help me out. I may need a new strut on my front driver's side, I'll look for your post. I replaced the strut towers in my last Saab, it wasn't a bad job, wasn't sure about the Prius. I get a creak/groan when I go over speed bumps or similar on the driver's side.

 

I'm not sure what the original sale date was in 2005, I don't have the paperwork with me, maybe the Dealer knows... I bought it used in 2008 when dealerships were jacking up the lot price due to high gas prices... otherwise I might have bought new, and I wouldn't be having this issue...

Fixing Saabs was a fun hobby for a long time, very gratifying to fix the car, but I was so relieved when I finally sold the last one. Not sure if I want to go down that road with the Prius... I'll have to mull it over. So far I've only done the little stuff like fluids, 12 volt battery, air filters, etc..

In the beginning I got lucky with Saabs, I'd buy them at the 10 year old mark for 1-2K, and generally need to put very little in them, because the prior owner had already done so much maintenance... cost of ownership with purchase and repairs was a few hundred a year... that strategy failed with the last one, I put about $5000 to $6000 into that car over a 10 year period, mostly parts except for the headgasket which I paid someone to do, but still the annual cost of ownership was quite low.

So far with the Prius, assuming it's worth $6K, if I fix the battery with rebuilt and sell it, I'll be at around $20K cost for 7 years of ownership, which is $2857 per year; however, I've probably saved $600-$1000 per year on gas over 7 years, so my savings calculated cost vs regular car is around $2000 per year. I can live with that, but with the Saabs I was always well under $1000 per year for cost of ownership (purchase and repairs).

I think if one wanted to DIY, buying a used Prius cheap would be the ideal way to have an affordable car, but I'd have to get many more years out of mine, with minimal trouble, to see a substantial value/return.

At 200,000 miles on your 2004, you have done well as a DIYer I'm sure.