2007 Gen 2 Prius DEAD HV BATTERY

Someone else posted to the effect that, if you had the automatic transmission go out at 100,000 miles on a conventional car, people would offer their sympathy along with a "yes, I've had that happen to me too and it is such a shame to have to spend $2500 on a rebuild." If this is the first major repair on your Prius, then, really, in terms of dollars, is this any worse than most other cars out there? The only problem I see is lack of skilled independent hybrid shops so as to avoid paying dealership markup on new replacement parts. I hope your visit to Mellor's works out.

The Gen II Prius so far has the best traction battery reliability. Failures before 100,000 miles are rare. You may be in that 1% of unlucky folks that have a battery fail shortly after warranty expiration, but hopefully this bad luck will be balanced out by something wonderful elsewhere in your life.

I do think you were not treated well by the Customer Experience department. They have an obligation to give you a straight answer as well as to escalate an appeal in a timely manner so that you are not left hanging, esp. if you are renting a car in the mean time.

In comparison, Honda batteries are a disaster -- the Gen I Insight and Civic Hybrids get an IMA fault by 100,000 miles on average, and the warranty is 8/80,000 for the 03-05 Civic in non-CARB states. The 00-06 Insights had their warranties extended to 150,000 - 157,500 miles due to class action suit. These batteries are similar in construction to the Gen 0 Japanese Prius (97-99), a design that Toyota abandoned. There is a guy in New York that makes a living reconditioning Honda batteries, with customers knowing full well that their $1250 will only get them another 3 years of service. Search for IMA P1449 and IMA 1600 for countless stories on Honda battery failures, and then consider that Honda hybrids are 1/5th as common as Toyota.

 

i know how you feel. 1) it would be nice if customer service was more efficient. 2) they have helped some people with over warranty issues. at least partial help would be greatly appreciated. that being said, they stuck to the exact mileage and what you say about toyota and prius in the future is your right to do so. i probably would feel similarly.