I'm Back (with a dead battery)!

It's been years since I posted, but I have occasionally lurked. I see some of the same names from when I first joined.

I have a 2006 Prius that (until this week) had never given me any problems. I actually purchased the 7 yr/100,000 warrany through Troy on this site. Fortunately, it was never used even once (worth it for the peace of mind).

Now the car has 113,000 miles and every light on the dashboard lit up this week! Turns out (according to the dealer) the Hybrid batttery needs to be replaced. This was kind of a surprise, because I thought I would first see a drop in mileage when it started to go (I am still getting 47 MPG). I did some research on this site and see that it can be fine one day, and dead the next.

I was also surprised because I expected the battery to last longer. After four and a half year years (at 25,000 per year) without any issues at all, you start to feel like the car is going to last forever.

According to the dealer, I am lucky to live in NY (higher taxes notwithstanding) because they follow the California rule and the warranty on the battery is extended to 150,000 miles. Otherwise I was looking at an out of pocket replacement.

Trying to stay optimistic (while I drive a rental)- I still love my car as much as the day I bought it (it still drives like new) and now it will have a brand new battery! Maybe I CAN get 250,000 miles out of this baby!!!

I hope everyone is doing well.

 

Nope. Other then oil changes, air filters, the 100,000 mile service, tires (and one brake job) I have not needed to do anything since I owned the car.

I am going to test the 12V battery this weekend to make sure it is ok. If not, I might change it preventatively before a problem.

As a side note- when I got my car back and put in reverse I got scared and thought something was wrong because it started beeping! Then I remembered that turning off that annoying beep was the first thing I learned how to do on Priuschat!