Red Triangle, P0a80 (2005 Gen 2, 110k miles)

Thanks again JC. Good thoughts here. I am still not going to be doing the repairs myself (I don't really have a good space to do it, for starters), so I don't think this is the way to go for me. But again, good advice, perhaps for others who might be more inclined to tackle one (or multiple) rebuilds themselves.

Bisco, no, I'm not going to install myself. I wouldn't want to bring the car in eighty times for constant re-rebuilds, even if it'd be covered under warranty. (This point was made by JC earlier). One and done is indeed a very appealing thing given I am not doing the rebuild work myself.

Can anyone say how long a rebuild would take a shop to perform? How long could I expect my Prius to be out of comission?

Cool, thanks for the input.

Thanks Ericbecky, I will indeed check out Avi, who I see is here in LA. A new Toyota OEM battery is indeed the best case scenario, so if his price is near that Electron price, that verges on no-brainer territory for me.

To be clear, you're saying Avi has *new* Toyota OEM batteries that he can install?

And yes, I will not be installing myself, which makes the kits not good for my case.

 

I will make it so.

 

Ok - I have some info to bounce off you guys.

1. DEALERSHIP
NEW FACTORY BATTERY: Quoted me $3300 + tax, labor included. This is better than what I was expecting. Only comes with a 1 year unlimited warranty though, which of course is standard (but I know this battery should last 10+ years).

REMANU BATTERY: Quoted me $2625 + tax, labor included. The service tech insisted the modules inside were brand new from the factory, only the casing of the battery wasn't new. I was highly skeptical of this, any thoughts here? More likely it's really a Dorman refurb or something?


2. ELECTRON AUTOMOTIVE
Spoke with Chris, the owner, who is terrific. No matter what I do, I recommend you check these guys out. Here's the skinny:
-They remanu and test all their batteries in house. They have different quality levels of batteries, reflected by their warranty levels, based on their tests and on the age/source of the modules.
-Replacement takes an hour or so and is free (in their Anaheim shop). Or, because I'm an LA local, they can also send a tech to me to install, for no charge. Which sounds awesome.
-Warranty is very straightforward, not prorated, they change everything out for free, not paying a penny if it fails. They don't really have a mileage limit as long as it's not an unreasonable/insane amount of miles. (Not an issue for me as I don't drive that many miles).
-The 6 year warranty batteries are their highest quality, and could even last 10+ years, because these modules are almost new, being sourced from 2015-2016 vehicles.
-Cost for a 6 year warranty battery would be $2000 total, installed.


3. AVI HYBRID FIX
Spoke with Avi, who is also awesome and who I can highly recommend.
-Brand New Factory Battery: $2900 total (tax and labor included)
-1 year warranty (standard)
-Several days of repair time.

So, any thoughts? Clearly it's going to be between #2 and #3. Thanks again everybody.

 

The cost I mentioned above for Electron is the total. Yes, warranty covers parts and labor.

I heard the dealership service agent say 1 year warranty on a Brand New battery. He also told me the Remanu they now offer has a 3 year warranty. Which seems strange, but it's what he said.