1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

2007 problems & advice please

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Geremy, Mar 6, 2016.

  1. Geremy

    Geremy New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2016
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    Springfield MO
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Hello,

    My dad bought a 2007 prius new in April of that year and gave it to me about 3 months ago. He took great care of it and even had a 110 point inspection before he'd let us have it to check it out. Two weeks ago we received some errors and took it to the only local Toyota dealer around us (Springfield, MO). The parts that failed:
    Hybrid battery pack - $3,086
    Normal battery - $207
    Coolant control valve - $468
    After tax and two small things I can do myself, the total is $4,100.

    Kelly blue book puts it around $4,300 with everything in very good condition, which it isn't.

    What would be your advice? Keep or sell.

    Thank you for any/all the help. And I will continue to scour ft he forums for old posts.

    Geremy
     
  2. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,321
    3,590
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
  3. Geremy

    Geremy New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2016
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    Springfield MO
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    184k miles.
     
  4. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,321
    3,590
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    well thats some good miles you could still give Toyota a try.
    If you want to buy a new Prius that's another way to wiggle a free batt fix from Toyota (possible)
    Not familiar with the cooolant valve issue but sometimes pump needs replaced.
     
    Geremy likes this.
  5. MarkPLRS

    MarkPLRS New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2016
    1
    1
    0
    Location:
    Miami
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    Geremy,
    I just went through a similar situation.
    I have 2007 Prius which I purchased new and took good care of. I was driving along and my car's warning lights all went on and I found out that the inverter converter went bad. I have 84k mileage, $4200 plus it killed my 12volt battery at $345 plus $900 in labor.
    The blue book value was about $4000 and the trade in was as much $6500. I must admit in 8 years, my Prius was never in the shop for anything except for general maintenance. That is pretty great and I had to accept that many cars over that time period would have had exceeded that price easily.
    I lucked out because I called Toyota customer care and they generously paid for the replacement cost of $4000 for the inverter. i know through the forum that these cars last well into 150k-200k mileage. Even for a year or two for a small investment of fixing them $4000 is cheaper than one year of payments. Of course you may consider a new car will have a 3 year warranty but will cost you $28k.
    I think you'll find it more economical to invest in fixing it up, saving the additional money for two years+ and getting a new car. My car is paid for and that is why I took the repair cost.
    I'm very happy with my Prius and Toyota came through in the clutch with a major part replacement.
     
    Geremy likes this.
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,658
    49,371
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    welcome! sell it. if you or your dad don't do any diy, buy something newer. preferably non hybrid.
     
  7. 48mpg

    48mpg Member

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2015
    193
    46
    0
    Location:
    florida
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    I
    just went through all those codes on my 2005 with 176,000 miles, rebuilt the battery myself (still failed within 2 weeks) I got Advanced auto to price match the Optima Yellow top with an on line retailer for $149 + tax, after replacing the 12 volt my digital dash was intermittent and started getting the coolant valve code as well, I sold mine as it was becoming hard to rely on for basic transportation..sell it for 1500 just list the problems and be sure they transfer title out of your name..gas is cheap Hybrids are not that desirable now but stick with Toyota for quality
     
  8. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,321
    3,590
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    One approach is to replace 12v to make sure the other stuff is real
     
    kenoarto and Geremy like this.
  9. blauweaaf

    blauweaaf Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2015
    6
    2
    0
    Location:
    NL
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Agree with wjtracy. That is the first thing to try. Rest of the car is probably just fine.


    phone.
     
    kenoarto likes this.
  10. Geremy

    Geremy New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2016
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    Springfield MO
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Wow, thank you all very much for the replys. We're going to replace the 12v battery and the coolant valve.

    Would the coolant valve not working correctly cause the hybrid battery to get too hot and start failing?
     
  11. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2014
    2,002
    745
    0
    Location:
    Finland
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    No faulty coolant control valve will can only cause the heater to not work and fault light to be on.

    Hybrid battery is air cooled. Fan for the hybrid battery can get full of hair or something similar and cause hybrid battery to overheat.
     
  12. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2005
    3,850
    1,843
    1
    Location:
    Trumbull, CT
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius
    Model:
    LE AWD-e
    No, the coolant valve is in the engine coolant loop and the Inverter coolant loop cools the power electronics and the tranny. The HV battery is ai cooled by a fan that sometimes will get clogged with fibers at the inlet at the top right of the rear passenger seat.

    The coolant valve will sometimes stick if no coolant gets to it (the coolant acts as a lubricant). This can either be due to a low engine coolant level or an air bubble in the coolant loop. Try adding coolant and see if the valve code goes away (it did for me).

    JeffD
     
    Geremy likes this.
  13. Geremy

    Geremy New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2016
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    Springfield MO
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Sweet, resent my email to the dealer to just change the 12v battery. I'll grab some coolant on the way home tomorrow if the car dash still shows an error. It's not like we really need the car to heat much as we're heading into an early summer. Mid Missouri and 60s all week.

    Thank you again!
     
  14. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,321
    3,590
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    You need the Toyota PINK super long life coolant or equivalent clone. Yes could be low fluid as the water pump sometimes leaks on a Gen2. I have the orig water pump but it went thru a period of leaking and then it held firm.
     
    Geremy likes this.