3rd Hybrid Battery?

Yes, you can actually test it from right there in the cabin without any tools required! Just follow the link and my instructions in post #8 of the thread here: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...conditioning-12v-aux-battery.html#post1188923

 

I don't normally defend questionable mechanics, but the charge of $300 to diagnose, repair, and replace the 12v battery might not be as bad as you think it is. Just the little 12V battery, from Toyota, is about $180. Yes, it is Toyota that is highly overcharging for the battery. There really aren't many batteries that will fit in the small area Toyota designed for the battery, so people are stuck. The only other alternative is a high quality Optima battery, which will end up costing about the same.

I would agree though that the battery should not have been installed without permission. Technically, if there is not a signed work order I'm not sure you can't have him take it back out and put your original one back in without charging again. I don't think you'd have to pay the $300 either. But whatever gain would be is extremely minimal, since you'd be doing the same thing again at another mechanic.

 

Yeah their charges sound ok, I'm just surprised that they couldn't diagnose the dead 12V battery the first time, which lead to the misdiagnosing of a second bad hybrid battery. That really doesn't impress me.

As for replacing the battery (even though you would have rather done it yourself). I can understand this more. Given that the guy has the job at a point where he's unsure about the hybrid battery, and now he really needs a good 12V in there asap, otherwise he can't sort out exactly what's going on (should he return the new hybrid battery or not). It's going to stall the whole procedure quite a lot while he waits for you to sort out the 12V issue, and maybe cost more money overall to go that way due to wasted time on his part.

 

If you weren't one of the oppressed, Hitler & Stalin weren't that bad.

Who misdiagnosed the bad 12v battery? Did they give the car to the Lot Boy before turning it over to Mr. Hybrid Specialist?

The mechanic's wasted time isn't the customer's problem. The mechanic gets paid the book rate for the job. It doesn't matter if it takes 10 minutes or 10 hours. If the book says it pays .5 hour that's all he makes.

This appears to be the "standard" situation. Nobody wants to diagnose the problem because diagnostics pay $0. Nobody wants the inexpensive job because it doesn't pay. How much should one be paid to swap out a 12v battery? The solution is to recommend an expensive replacement so either the customer goes elsewhere or pays a lot for something that's not needed. Either way the garage is happy because marginal work goes away or a good paying job gets done.