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Hybrid battery failure@154,000 miles, California

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by wwinters, Jul 21, 2015.

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  1. wwinters

    wwinters Junior Member

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    Yes the title really says it ,my 2006 gen II (with 154,000 miles) dashboard lit up like a christmas tree giving the dreaded P0A80 code.

    So the dealer calls me with a $4256 quote. After going down and asking to see their number breakdown they made a few adjustments (mistakenly adding a new 12 v battery even though they replaced it about a year ago,completely forgetting about core credit then reluctantly admitting it's $1350 when pressed on the subject). I'm confused about the hours of labor to do the job. I've read it's 1.7 dealer base but have read other places it's 4. The mechanic gave me this long lecture why it's 5 hours (including it takes 2 people to lift the battery).

    So could someone explain what "dealer base" is and why it's different from the 5 hours they want to charge me. Also the dealership said they can't cut me a deal on the work except a 10% curtesy discount and that it's really a wast of my time for me to call Toyota and see if they can give me a discount since it's so close to the warranty. What do you think?
     
    #1 wwinters, Jul 21, 2015
  2. sillylilwabbit

    sillylilwabbit Active Member

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    Call Toyota corporate.

    You are so close to the 150,000 warranty expiration (carb state), that they may give you a good will warranty coverage.

    It is not unheard of .
     
    #2 sillylilwabbit, Jul 21, 2015
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    agreed, it's not a waste of time, give them a call and ask if they can help you out. also, if you go ahead, i would talk to another dealer or two, they seem clueless. all the best.(y)
     
    #3 bisco, Jul 21, 2015
  4. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Geesh the dealership.
    Why would it be a waste of time?
    Probably talking about just a few minutes, to potentially save a lot of money.- If nothing happens? Nothing lost.

    Frankly, I don't like the sound of your dealership. If THEY replaced the 12 volt battery a year ago, that should be in their system.

    $4.256 sounds high to me, any way you cut it. Ridiculous that they are telling you the labor is going to be higher and more expensive because it takes 2 people to lift the battery.
    Yeah...with a lot of heavy parts sometimes it takes more than one person to lift it. "Hey John, give me a hand" shouldn't result in a significant increase in labor costs.

    Also forgetting the core credit?
    Seems like they are "magically" forgetting anything that benefits YOU.

    I'd really try a different dealership.
     
    #4 The Electric Me, Jul 21, 2015
  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I would trade you a working battery from my 2006
     
    #5 JC91006, Jul 21, 2015
  6. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    #6 wjtracy, Jul 22, 2015
    wwinters likes this.
  7. wwinters

    wwinters Junior Member

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    wjtracy, Not too late at all. I'm going to call in the morning and it's amazing information. I notice people in that discussion had their dealership call on their behalf. I've had a fair amount of work done at the dealer (12v. battery, brakes, spark plugs, inverter pump they never reimbursed me for just off the top of my head). Is there someone else at the dealer I should talk to and see if they'll call corporate on my behalf or just go it alone.

    I've had good luck at this dealer my last few times I've brought the car in but am not feeling very comfortable with the guy that handled things today (although I'm sure he's great at making money for the service department). If it wasn't for what I've learned on priuschat, they would have made an extra $1,800 not including the possible padding of labor hours.
     
    #7 wwinters, Jul 22, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2015
  8. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Well, it is important to have a supportive dealer as much as possible. But the full cost of the HV batt replace job parts and labor can easily get into $4000 when you add in some potentially needed side jobs like cleaning the cooling fan and so on. Most dealers are going to quote you the full cost, but they will be receptive to a call from Toyota USA if Toyota wants to provide a cost sharing formula. In some cases the dealer does the call to Toyota USA on behalf of the customer, perhaps in cases where there is more gray area if CARB applies so HQ needs to give instructions.
     
    #8 wjtracy, Jul 22, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2015
  9. wwinters

    wwinters Junior Member

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    Well it's not looking good. Corporate said I don't have a consistent enough maintenance history at the dealership to help. They want a list of all close family that own or have owned Toyotas but sadly my family is pretty small and while we all have owned at least one Toyota she suggested I try to think of others and call her back. They'll get back to me by the end of the day.
     
    #9 wwinters, Jul 22, 2015
  10. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Is the car always registered in CA or CARB state (especially first and current ownership)?
    Are you orig owner? (not that it matters as far as I know)...

    Hmm, I wonder how well I'd do (146k miles here)...let's see we had the 84 Camry, used 86 Cressida Wagon when the Camry was stolen (hope that counts), and a Prius.

    Let's see what they say, but as long as you have time you can negotiate. Lack of time to fiddle around is one reason to go 3rd party such as Dorman or Greentec.
     
    #10 wjtracy, Jul 22, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2015
  11. wwinters

    wwinters Junior Member

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    My sisters in law have owned quite a few Toyota's so I shared that. A close friend suggested I also share with Toyota how I convinced her to sell her car and buy 2 prius' she uses for real-estate work and as her home car, and that I convinced my sister to replace here BMW with a Prius and my sister in law to buy one.
    I also told the agent I learned to drive on a toyota pickup truck, my first car purchase was a Tercel and bought my Prius new in 2006 after moving back from overseas. I've owned Toyota's all my life and plan to purchase a plugin Prius in a year when my son heads off to college and takes the gen II with him. Nothing to do now but wait.

    We bought the car new fully loaded after waiting a month for one to come available. It's always been a California car and I've put 99% of the miles on it myself (occasionally I'll let my husband drive)

    Just got a call back from corporate saying they need another day. The service manager at the dealership isn't returning their calls.
     
    #11 wwinters, Jul 22, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2015
  12. PriusC_Commuter

    PriusC_Commuter Active Member

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    Good luck!
     
    #12 PriusC_Commuter, Jul 22, 2015
  13. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Well they need another day is a good thing. If the answer is no, you wouldn't have to wait on it. Sounds like some assistance is coming your way
     
    #13 JC91006, Jul 22, 2015
  14. JTM2955

    JTM2955 Active Member

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    I hope you get goodwill. The dealership charging that? Wow, unreal. If anything happens to mine, I will be at a junkyard/ recycling center getting a used battery. It can't be all that hard to replace.

    LG-D851 ?
     
    #14 JTM2955, Jul 22, 2015
  15. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    What was the final quote ?

    Good luck with Toyota by the way. I think you have a fair chance of at least a substantial discount. I'll guess you end up paying $1000 - 1500.
     
    #15 SageBrush, Jul 23, 2015
  16. wwinters

    wwinters Junior Member

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    Service manager at the dealer finally called corporate back and wants time to research. Corporate will call me back by Monday 5pm. I can't imagine what the dealer needs time to research
     
    #16 wwinters, Jul 24, 2015
  17. JTM2955

    JTM2955 Active Member

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    That's B.S. my friend. Call corporate, start a consumer affair and get it settled once and for all. (What are they waiting for?). Research, really???

    LG-D851 ?
     
    #17 JTM2955, Jul 24, 2015
  18. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...trying to decide if labor and batt is free, or just batt...I hope. I guess we only get a small sample here on Prius chat, but seems to me CA cases like this have mostly been covered recently. In part I was thinking due to the issue of battery theft in CA I felt like Toyota was trying to help more.
     
    #18 wjtracy, Jul 24, 2015
  19. JTM2955

    JTM2955 Active Member

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    If you have been a loyal customer, I would give battery and labor. If you haven't, just the battery. Either way, the battery should be taken care of regardless.

    If you know 200 to 250 people, and you tell them Toyota did me right, that is positive advertising.

    That same number of people and you tell them Toyota did me wrong, that is negative advertising.
    Let us hope that the Car Gods are smiling on you and your Prius. Prayers sent for goodwill application.

    LG-D851 ?
     
    #19 JTM2955, Jul 24, 2015
  20. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Did you wrong after 154k miles? Sounds a bit strange
     
    #20 JC91006, Jul 24, 2015
    SageBrush likes this.
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