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Offered $1000 Goodwill warranty towards replacing HV Battery..new or remanufactured?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by CluelessPriusOwner, May 23, 2017.

  1. CluelessPriusOwner

    CluelessPriusOwner New Member

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    Location:
    San Mateo
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I am trying to make a decision as I have received the dreaded Code P0A80. I took my 2010 Gen 3 (w/226K miles on her) to the dealer, and they explained that my HV battery had over heated because the port for the fan to cool the HV battery was clogged (This is located in the rear passenger side in between the door and seat). I was not aware that this has to be cleaned (the dealership recommended every 5k miles). So based on this explanationI took the time to disassemble my back seat to access the fan and port to ensure they are clean and good as new.

    After I cleaned the port and fan, I disconnected the 12V battery to have the system reset. This removed the "Check Hybrid System" warning and allowed my car to operate on both battery and motor again. My thought process was that perhaps the warning would come on, force motor only, in an attempt to preserve the battery from being damaged from overheating. If that was the case, and my port and fan were now operating as intended, I would not expect the "Check Hybrid System" warning to come back on. Several days later it did, so this meant I was going to escalate to the next plan. I contacted Toyota, requested the help through their goodwill warranty. They responded with a willingness to offer $1K towards the replacement.

    I was informed by the dealership the replacement would cost $3200 less the $1000 offered from Toyota, roughly costing me $2200 plus tax. I am weighing this against options from GoVoltage and GreenTecAuto both with remanufactured batteries with a 1 yr and 18 month warranty respectively. Both are roughly $1850.

    The decision is that I can save the money by waiting another week more for the Dealer option, but it hurts my heart a little bit to have that amount spent..so just looking for thoughts.

    Thank you in advance.
     
    #1 CluelessPriusOwner, May 23, 2017
  2. bat4255

    bat4255 2017 Prius v #2 and 2008 Gen II #2

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    For the small difference in price, I would opt for the Toyota option.
     
    #2 bat4255, May 23, 2017
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  3. CluelessPriusOwner

    CluelessPriusOwner New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    San Mateo
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I am awaiting confirmation from the Dealership to make sure that I understood them properly, because I am not certain that the $3200 quote includes the $1000 credit or not. So if the choices are $3200 or $1850, let me propose that question.

    1. Should I save up for the $350 difference for the new battery (dealership offers 20K/1yr warranty, 3rd parties unlimited/1yr or 18month warranty)?

    2. I the difference is $1350, is it worth saving up for the new battery?
     
    #3 CluelessPriusOwner, May 23, 2017
  4. danlatu

    danlatu Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    maryland
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    When my hybrid system went bad, I ended up replacing the one bad cell for 30$ You will have to rebalance charge all the batteries and make sure they are within 8.1vdc. This is dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. Toyota is lazy and does not troubleshoot anything. They want to replace the entire system. I was quoted 3500$ and 1000$ back for the core(old battery), and will give you a warranty. 30$ for a charger. 30$ for a battery and 30$ for a meter is better than 2200-2500$ and if it happens again, you can fix it. Make sure to disconnect orange plug while servicing battery. good luck.

    link to testing/charging
    IMG_3209.JPG IMG_3207.JPG
     
    #4 danlatu, May 23, 2017
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would go for the toyota. all remanufactured batteries are iffy at best, and only as good as the parts and labor warranty.
    that's a pretty sweet deal from toyota. at 226,000 miles, neither they, nor the car owe you anything.
     
    #5 bisco, May 23, 2017
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  6. K-Dub

    K-Dub Junior Member

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    What does that whole battery assembly weigh??
    Never mind. It weighs 93lbs according to Google.
     
    #6 K-Dub, May 25, 2017
  7. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

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    Yes but this is really not a DYI job. Not only you need a safe place to do this. It also require familiarity and some expertise working with electrical components. Not for the faint hearted. Doable yes can most prius owner do not by the longshot ....
     
    #7 szgabor, Jun 7, 2017
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Especially since there are some components that need to be transferred, and to keep the warrant quibble free, I would let the dealership handle the whole thing.

    $2200, if that turns out to be accurate, is a good price. (y)
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Jun 7, 2017
  9. Montgomery

    Montgomery Senior Member

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    If they are putting in a "new" battery, go for it. New beats refurbished or reconditioned when it comes to our batteries.
     
    #9 Montgomery, Jun 7, 2017
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  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The joker in the deck: some dealerships are starting to offer Toyota refurb's??
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Jun 7, 2017
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    iirc, the toyota refurb is as good as new. i would be willing to take a chance for a reasonable incentive.
     
    #11 bisco, Jun 7, 2017
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    any news? it's been 2 weeks, you should have saved up $350. by now. :cool:
     
    #12 bisco, Jun 7, 2017
  13. rogers32

    rogers32 Junior Member

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    Ask anyone that's had a refurb, get the new one. I'm on my third failure in two years with a dorman, still under warranty yes, but the two to three weeks it takes to get the replacement for the second and now third(10 days and no resolution yet) I'm not sure the hassel is worth it. Plus dorman tried to blame it on the car, $105.95 for a diagnostic report from Toyota giving the car a clean bill of health and pin pointing the problem to the battery has been provided at my expense too. No one is giving me any real solutions yet, sure offer a refund of the battery price, but then they want the core and leave me with no core to trade in. Get the new one, even a rebuild from Toyota is all new cells they told me.
     
    #13 rogers32, Jun 7, 2017
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