30's couple buying Prius-battery a legit concern?

It never ceases to amaze the things some salespeople will try to convince you of. That's an outright lie.

Hitting 150,000 miles is pretty much a given across the board. Data beyond that is harder to come by. There are quite a few who easily surpassed 200,000 miles, but it's hard to know how representative they are of an average.

For me, I traded my 2004 at 118,185 miles to get a 2010. The Toyota dealer snapped it up. They knew it still had decent battery life remaining and would be an easy used sale. I certainly didn't have a lick of trouble with it.
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Guys, I drove my 2006 Prius for 170K miles and sold it to my brother-in-law...he has put another 20K on it....never had it in the shop except for tire rotation and oil change....battery was never a problem...just purchased a 2011...expect to get the same result...and why not fly out and drive your new Prius back....you will see how great a car it is on a road trip...good luck:rockon:

 

The battery line is BS.

As for price shopping, I suggest the following:
1.Wait for supply to exceed demand. 3 - 6 months ?
2. Use a car buying service, such as USAA. Prices across the country can vary by a thousand or two thousand. At that point new will likely be cheaper than CPO.
2a: Buy a 2 - 3 year old Prius locally from a private party that keeps good maintenance records and allow the car to be checked out by a hybrid mechanic.

 

Battery failures are rare. That being said, when they do happen, I've seen numbers over 150k miles at a minimum here on the boards, but usually much higher.

Toyota will quote you something around $3500 to replace it, but you can buy a refurbished battery for cheap on eBay or from a Prius parts like autobeyours.com and have your techs use that battery. The result is under $2k easily for the whole procedure. Prices will likely go down in the future the more Prii are on the road.

User jdenenberg's recent experience at nearly 200k miles, paying under $2000 for a replacement meant one cent a mile, about the same as buying tires over the life of the car:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...-traction-battery-experience.html#post1310639

Prius taxi had to replace it's battery around 340,000 miles:

Toyota Prius Taxi Cracks 550,000 km

I'm not concerned about it personally, since I save over $1000 a year on gas, and if my car ever even gets that many miles on it, I find it a reasonable possible (not inevitable) cost of operation.

Dealer was lying to you straight out about battery failures, but Toyota dealers, too, won't know what they're talking about all the time regarding the Prius. This forum is your best bet for good information. Good luck in your decision!

 

"Hitting 150,000 miles is pretty much a given...easily surpassed 200,000 miles..."

I understand the HV battery does last a long time, but I would only look at miles driven as one of many factors in assessing a used car. Suppose a Prius has a bazillion miles on it that are almost all highway miles. The battery might have been sitting at a 50% state of charge, essentially barely used. Compare that to a much older Prius with far fewer miles, but mostly driven in an urban or suburban environment, maybe an environment of extreme temperatures.

Overall, people who drive a lot of miles face a very different set of problems from people who keep their cars for a lot of years, but drive few miles.

 

If you are saving a considerable amount of money, why not? But, you won't be able to see that vehicle beforehand for scratches etc.

 

The same is true for non-hybrids too.

Think about how hard it is on the emissions system driving just a mile or two each way. At least Prius has the advantage of striving to warm-up as quickly as possible and favoring the electric-motor at first rather than putting all demands on the engine right away like a tradition vehicle does.

Prius doesn't have a transmission either, no gears shifting or even a rubber timing-belt gives it greater odds of lasting longer and costs less to maintain.
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I think you can take anything a rival manufacturers dealer will tell you about a another manufacturers product with a pinch of salt quite honestly. They would prefer you buy from them and will say anything in some cases to persuade you to do just that, grubby little -------- that they are.

 

30's couple buying Prius-battery a legit concern?

It's a non-issue....or at the very least a not much of an issue.
Even though CO isn't a CARB state (which kinda surprised me) you're covered on the battery for 100K miles. You said it was 'certified" so I presume that Toyota covers the car for purchase + some number of miles driven. I don't buy used vehicles, but usually the advantage of paying a premium price for a used vehicle (certified) includes extending the OEM warranty.

I would definitely completely and without hesitation recommend buying a certified G3 over any TDI, unless you happen to be a Volkswagen mechanic. Replacement batteries for Priuses are available from places other than a Toyota dealership for a few thousand bucks...or just about what your first major TDI repair is going to cost you.
Somebody has already said it better than I could. Volkswagens are great cars to drive....not so great to own.
Toyota's dealership network...sorry as it is, is waaaaaaaay better than Volkswagens. Your maintenance costs for the G3 will be much lower than the TDI, and even though (some folks say) TDI's get a little better freeway mileage, you're going to be paying all of that back through higher diesel prices.
I test drove a TDI several times and ran all the numbers.
For me.....it's a no-brainer.

If you don't have any stick time in the G3's I would highly recommend that you rent and drive one for a weekend before you pull the trigger. The Prius is a really great car, but as I always say.....there are certain shall we say...items in the Prius ownership experience that should be fully explored before you stick one in your driveway.
I'm a good example. I'd really love to be a G3 owner (mine is a company car) however (comma!) The G3 is rated to tow zero pounds, and I have 2 motorcycles and an eleven hundred pound lawn mower.
No new Prius for me.

 

Smells like a great X-country trip. If it were me I'd fly across the country, pick car and drive back..there are so many places to see (except for Kansas).

If you live in CA check the legality, car has to be CA certified to register good luck.

 

+1.
Depends on how much 2K is worth to you.

 

it is 3,500mi to cross country, let's say with detours 4,500
4500 at 50MPG = 90 gal = 360$.
10 days (1 week, 2 weekends + friday)
camping 6 nights, 20$ per night = 120$
3 nights at hotel @60$ =180$
National park annual pass = 80$

total = 840$

being there = priceless

 

There's also http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...ery-reliable-vancouver-yellow-cab-update.html. This 1 million km Prius (~621K miles) needed a new HV battery at 700K km (~435K miles).

 

Buy local...then the dealer will still be there when you need him. Bring in comparable pricing. Pricing is somewhat regional but...knowing your dealer has value. When you buy used out of state that's never a good idea sight unseen. Pricing is up right now I bought a 2010 Prius pearl 2 for 17,900 with 43,000 miles clean! But hard to find...good luck!

 

In addition to all of the above, consider that in California the battery must be under warranty for 150k .... it is the same battery that is under warranty elsewhere for 100k. I have 36k on my G3 thus far, and feel completely confident I will see 150k or beyond before a problem develops.

I asked my service rep (a friend that would not mislead me) and he said they have had one warranty replacement of the HV battery. True, some may have gone elsewhere other than the dealer, but I am really not too concerned.

 

Not just CA Felt, all of the CARB compliant states. By car market for Toyota and the Prius, this has to be considerably more than 50% of US sales. There is *no* doubt Toyota trusts the battery to 150k miles and beyond.

Furthermore, CO already has independent hybrid mechanics who also repair traction batteries. In 15 years IF the battery goes, an inexpensive repair is nearby.

 

A good friend of mine owns a Jetta and he keeps a box of assorted light bulbs in his trunk. The bulbs constantly needs replacing besides his various electrical issues.

 

This is an excellent point.

 

The minimum warranty in the US is 100,000 miles. Clearly if 100% failed under warranty, the manufacturer eats all the costs, this is very unlikely to ever happen on any product. Most manufacturers want less than 5% to fail in the warranty period. (At one time, Toyota could claim 1 in 40,000 failed in the first 100,000 miles)

Secondly there is a lively market in used batteries, more owners total their Prius than wear out the batteries, so prices are low, compared to retail.

prius battery -cells | eBay

Yes. It would be very bad to try to jump start your Prius incorrectly. (Perhaps as bad as $4000) Plan your life now not to jump start incorrectly, and never jump start others. Some strategies;

1) Replace your 12 volt battery every 4 years, or
2) invest in a AAA membership, or
3) buy auto polarity jumper cables, or
4) portable car charger.

I am sure there are other plans, certainly as soon as you have to jump your 12 volt battery once, replace it.

The number of winters, and the type of driving will both change the 'right' answer, but 175,000 to 250,000 miles is probably the middle of the bell curve.

$2500 plus 5 hours labor is retail, $1700 plus $300 labor is rebuilt, about $500 to $1,000 and your labor is used.
http://www.stangautotech.com/Broomfield-hybrid-car-services.html