Hybrid Battery Pack replacement

Spend $20 and replace the one or two cells that have fried... problem solved

SM-G903W ?

 

Goodwill warranties are generally given on cars where the battery is out on one but not both criteria, and not by a lot. You're 60,000 miles out of warranty.

As of Jan/2016, Toyota warranties their new batteries for 3 years if installed at a Toyota dealer.

 

A local dealer sent this to me a few months back:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/69762261/Prius/Toyota%20Warranty.pdf

Steve

 

The only other option if cash is tight would be good to scrap yards I guarantee they take them out and more times then not nothing wrong with them.. car might of been in an accident but the battery is intact. ...

SM-G903W ?

 

Every thing I have read on the subject seems to make me believe the new one's from Toyota are the best route. I agree that the price is higher, however the new battery should outlast any refurb out there. Furthermore the warranty on said refurb is only as good as the seller is. If you research the subject you will find that quite a few who have gone the refurb route end up spending more in the long run when it comes time for warranty work to be done.

Read the fine print before you spend your hard earned money.

I know this much. If I am faced with the need of a replacement traction battery I will go with a new one from Toyota.

YMMV

 

all the best!

 

Junk yard packs are just as good as any other battery was the week before it threw a code.

Brad

 

Whether the NEW Toyota OEM battery has a 12 month or a 3 year warranty, they are exactly the same battery.
NEW!
The NEW battery will certainly last waaaaaaaayyyyyy longer than any battery that has been rebuilt with used components.
A 12 month warranty for a NEW Toyota battery should <not> be equated in any way with an 18 month warranty on a used battery.

Sidenote....when the battery is installed by a dealer it is a 3 year warranty, but when an independent shop like mine installs THE SAME BATTERY, the warranty is only 12 months. I've asked about getting that changed, but I think it is an uphill battle.

edit: Sheesh... missed the word "not" in my statement about New battery. Kind of important.

 

Yeah seriously No need to buy a new battery pack .. for these year's anyway plenty of places just have to look.

SM-G903W ?

 

I looked into this option. The problem is that you have no way to verify how old or how many miles are on a salvaged battery. Even with low miles they are all getting old and that is a huge factor. I looked at a 2007 battery with 83k miles on it to put into my 2007. But I would only get a 3 month warranty on the used battery that is 10 years old.

Glenn

 

Why does everybody care about warranty.. if it works that's it... it's not going to be your forever car.. it won't last the rest of your life. I stuck a 2009 battery in a 2005... get the latest year battery you can ..

SM-G903W ?

 

If you're looking to hit 300K, definitely go with the new battery. From what I figure (compared to 30mpg car @ $2.5/gal), it'll take driving about 100,000 miles (less if gas goes up) for the battery to pay for itself in gas savings, after that, it's all gravy. Still, having to replace the battery at only 160K is too early for my liking, hoping mine last longer...fortunately, I have covered parking at work and home to keep the battery cooler while living in Texas. Hopefully I can hit 200K miles before I replace the battery, and well over 300K before I replace the car!

 

The warranty is a nice thing to have. My point about a used battery is that now we are seeing many 2005-2008 batteries failing. The age and mileage do matter. Plus being here in the south US the heat is a big factor. I didn't want to buy a 10 year old battery that was from here in the south to replace mine. It didn't make much sense to me. The 2007 and a 2008 were all that I found around here when I was looking. The 08 had over 100,00 miles on it. Yes they both might last a while but a new one will.

Glenn

 

I had my battery go out in my 05 prius and went through what everyone else went through. I googled it and then called the local dealership and after the sticker shock I called the local parts store and was right about to pull the trigger on that when I found a company that will do everything for you. The company I called was a legitimate one and I talked to one of the service guys. He directed me to someone who does it on the side for less. I know what some people might be thinking that was the place I messed up and they would be right.
I screened the guy on the phone and asked him a bunch of questions and especially about his warranty vs the others. He seemed nice on the phone and he did provide me with a warranty ( even if it was a generic sales receipt slip with very basic warranty info hand written in the description or parts area)
This was a huge mistake and horrible experience. below is one of the Better business complaints filed about him. Since he works for one company during the day, buys or at least deals with another company to get refurbished batteries and also runs his side business, it is hard to nail him down exactly and not tie in his associates even though they might be innocent of any of Alex Tishin's wrongdoings.

Summary. Alex Tishin a 1 man operation out of small private garage selling refurbished batteries on the side AKA HybridOnly/HybridPlus supplied me with two Bad prius Hybrid batteries, horrible customer service, and left me without a car for almost a month!. The 1st battery purchased 3/25/2015 failed completely in June. After 2 weeks of daily attempts to get service from him I had to call anybody that knew him and anyone I could find explaining my frustration and desire to get a hold of him and/or escalate my complaint and only then did that get his attention. I do not have a second car and being without one was very disruptive to my work and life. I asked Alex on the phone about what he was going to do about the battery and leaving me stranded. He said tough luck. Not only that but the replacement battery would not come with another warranty! I told him that this was wrong on multiple levels and I would report him. He became combative and said that he has great lawyers and to bring it on. I was finally able to get him to agree to honor what little warranty remained. This involeved me driving 3 hours to pick up a questionable battery on 6/25/2016 and I SPECIFICALLY asked him if he was going to give me a good battery replacement or poor one, or pull some type of stunt which he replied he would not give me a bad one or turn me away. That was a lie. I had a feeling that he would try and pull some stunt, luckily I showed up with my wife and a video camera and he changed he tune slightly. He still refused to be on camera but after giving me the run around and making me jump through hoops I was finally able to get another (poor) battery that I had to pay someone else to install after a 3 hour return drive. Horrible experience. I should have bought the battery somewhere else and not went the cheap route. This could have all been avoided with better customer service and product. AVOID ALEX TISHIN at all costs!!

 

my 2009 prius would not start after the red triangle came on. I had it towed to central florida toyota, after 3 days and a $335 bill for labor they told me my hybrid battery was bad and possibly my computer, the computer was giving many strange codes. they said after they replaced the battery $3100 dollars they could tell me if the computer was bad. they also said if i bought the battery they would deduct the $335 from the price. I was able to drive it home and had a company called hybrid battery experts come to the house. they told me for $1069 they would fix or replace my battery and give a 6 month unlimmited mileage warranty. they pulled the battery out and checked all the cells which were good. however all the contacts on the battery had corosion. he cleaned them with salt and lemon juice, replaced everything and everything works fine. an expensive lesson. the tech who came to the house told me toyota does not open the battery. so they would not have seen what an easy fix it was.