HV Battery.... salesman says:

It was a time, until the arrival of P3, HV battery was free guaranteed 8 years (in Belgium).
Now with the P3, it's only 5 free years as for the whole car.
If this products have not the necessary quality, can Toyota offer such free guarantee ?
Most often other manufacturers offer 2 years guarantee but Kia 7.

 

A salesman is going to do everything he can to get the sale. If he/she perceives an area of concern, then they are going to tell you what they think you want to hear.

Honestly? I think this is sometimes a mistake. I just recently went through the car buying experience and while I thought my sales person was fine, I noted several areas where he stretched the truth and/or severely spinned it.

According to my sales person, Honda has had no recall problems, which I know to be untrue. Plus when I communicated that my choices had come down to The Honda Fit and/or The Toyota Prius, he immediately started to tell me how The Insight or Civic Hybrid "did everything" a Prius could do...only was cheaper....

Also clearly untrue.

I think sales people often make a mistake by simply not being honest. Especially in todays enviroment, where information or The Truth....can be found so quickly and easily on the internet.

I already knew the differences between HSD and IMA, I already had tons of knowledge not only about Toyota's recall woes, but also Honda's less publicized but significant recall issues. In both cases the truth of the matter wasn't going to influence my decision.

I like Toyota and I like Honda, I think they are both great automakers. So telling me Honda was flawless and that their "Hybrids" were equal to HSD and Prius was perhaps what The Salesperson "thought" I wanted to hear, but it wasn't the truth.

I think in the past it was much easier for sales people to "stretch the truth" or out and out lie. But today? I don't know why they bother. It's so easy to get the information. You're only going to get exposed as either a liar or an idiot if you make statements that aren't true.

In this case, The Truth doesn't hurt. I wasn't going to NOT purchase because Honda has had recalls nor was I going to purchase an Insight thinking it was exactly like a Prius. I wasn't even looking at Insights. The same for Prius.

So I don't get this 1950's-60's "used" car salesman attitude that sales people continue to reflect.

IMO don't paint me a rosy picture of perfection, because no automaker and no product is perfect. There is nothing to hide in regards to the reliability of Prius Batteries. Simply telling the truth is fine. But if you stretch the truth, or spin it, and the customer is at all agressive about discovering the information, all it takes is a few clicks on the internet to be exposed as a liar.

I researched for over a year. Ultimately I would of purchased either a Prius or a Honda Fit pretty much aware of all the potential flaws and strengths of both products. In this day and age I'm sure you still have uninformed consumers who don't know anything about the automobiles inwhich they are considering BUT the ability to be informed not only about the automobile but also the company is so accesible and easy to obtain, that there is no excuse for a consumer to purchase without knowing the vehicle "on paper" very, very well.

 

Well....Like I said; "FWIW"...Apparently my brother's friend does'nt tune/in to "PriusChat"....Oh well, his loss...

 

I'm not trying to stomp on anyone but just bring the facts and data:

First Numbers on Hybrid Battery Failure | Hybrid Cars

Here is the original Newsweek article: http://www.newsweek.com/id/138808/page/2

Bob Wilson

 

To be contrary <G>

If the HV battery fails before the warranty, you should always go to the dealer, it will be a 'free' replacement.
But after the warranty expires, Toyota will have incomplete data, some may replace their HV battery via ebay, junkyards, or Re-InVolt. Toyota will not have those repairs documented nearly as well as the warranty repairs before 100,000 miles.

Toyota's data should be perfect under warranty, but without any lying going on, Toyota will still have incomplete data after the warranty runs out.

 

Is Joe Liesure selling Toyotas now? I thought his "Joe Isuzu" commercials were great.

 

Yes, the cited out-of-warranty failure rate is meaningless, except to the extent that it sets a lower boundary for the actual failure rate.

It would be interesting to find out what was the in-warranty failure rate for Classic and 2004-2005 Prius. My 2001 made a contribution to the Classic in-warranty failure rate in 2006.

It is also interesting to note lunabelgium's observation that the warranty period on the hybrid system has been reduced, even though the Prius price in Europe is generally higher than in the US.

 

Lies work against ignorants but I generally learn more about a car online than the salesman before I see it, so when they lie it just turns me off. I also hated when I picked up my Prius two weeks ago one of the salesman guys talking about such a good deal I had and joking that he'd lose his job when he put the numbers through and the guy I actually bought it from saying that I put the grind to them. All rubbish. I got a decent price but I don't need you on your knees trying to pump my ego with crap. Actually it's insulting to me because you think I'm stupid enough I believe it.

--

All that aside, how is the transmission in the Prius? It looks pretty simple and probably very robust. Is this the case? And the electric motor, what is the longevity of these? I think we can all put to bed any notion that the batteries need regular replacement and I presume the other components are strong but rarely see mention of them.

 

The Prius transaxle is composed of the two electric motors, power split device, and differential. The transmission function is achieved by the transaxle via electronic control by the hybrid vehicle ECU.

The transaxle is mechanically fairly simple but (when viewed as a system including the hybrid vehicle ECU) electronically highly complex. The 2G transaxle appears to be reasonably reliable based upon very few reports of failure. The Classic transaxle was less reliable, which started owner interest in analyzing transaxle ATF and the current practice of periodic transaxle fluid changes, although the Toyota scheduled maintenance guide is silent on that topic.

 

As Patrick points out, there really is no traditional "transmission" in the Prius. And what is there is certainly robust enough to never worry about it.

Longevity of the electric motor should be at about the bottom of your list of worries. The gas engine will fail well before the electric motors. With zero maintenance, electric motors being used in automobiles are good for at least a million miles. Try hitting a million miles on the gas engine with no maintenance and we'll compare notes.

Mostly because there are few major maintenance issues on the Prius. Some rattles and picky little things, yes. Show-stoppers, no.

 

Hello WhiteD:

You should go back to the salesman and tell him another Prius "fact": that when you go to the gas station and insert the hose into the filler, the Prius actually pumps gasoline back into the pump, since it makes more gasoline than it uses.....

Best wishes,

 

hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa ound:

 

A stupid salesman is a nuisance. One that treats customers like they are stupid should be fired.

 

My wife has driven our 2010 for a year, and NEVER filled the gas tank!

(I fill it)