Hi. I am new to this forum. I am looking at getting a prius, but am concerned about the batteries. I have heard they cost upwards of $6000 to replace. How do you owners of the prius like it?
#1: I don't think it costs that much to replace. #2: Your chances of having to replace it are very small. #3: It has a loooong warranty. Buy it, shoot it, and post the pics here!
First, to answer the stated question: Love the car! To answer the unstated question: As Patrick says, The odds of a hybrid battery going bad are extremely small. Frankly, I'm more worried (to the extent that I'm worried at all, which I'm really not) about a failure of a mechanical component, such as the transmission, or another electrical component such as the multi-function display. If by some slim chance it fails prematurely, retail prices have been reported in the $3K-ish range, not $6K. E-Bay prices for used batteries are <$1K.
The latest and best numbers we have on replacement cost is about $4500 per Naterprius's experience a few months ago. That is, of course, the cost of a brand new installed by Toyota replacement. OTOH, you may well go 250-350k miles or more as Jesse did without any need to replace it at all until someone smashes into you totaling your ride. Toyota expects the battery to last the life of the car. While unique individual cases may arise, like with any car, there is certainly no reason to expect you would ever need to replace the battery any more than you'd expect to replace the engine or a transmission on any other car.
