2014 Prius C P0A80 Code - Hybrid Battery Replace

2014 Prius C trim 3 , purchased brand new.
ODO: 101K

Driving down up the 405 fwy yesterday when the car beeps & display screen changes to 'Check Hybrid System Stop The Vehicle Safe Place Immediately'. I pulled off the fwy and found a shady spot in neighborhood and parked and searched online. Found out its usually error code P0A80 which means replace Hybrid HV battery pack. Not good news.



I text my mechanic (JDM specialist) and asked if its safe to drive the car to his shop (~35 miles) he said its OK to drive as long as the engine light doesn't start flashing. Once I arrived at his shop they ran the laptop diagnostic with the car running and confirmed the error code P0A80 and observed some cells are charging but a section is not charging/damaged, therefore have to replace the HV Battery. He quoted ~$1,800 for a refurb battery with 1-year warranty but told me to contact Toyota first since could possibly be covered even though its barely past 100K warranty

Drove a few miles down the road to the local Dealer, the service guy I met was great and provided me a number at Toyota to call (1800-331-4331). He said while the battery is out of warranty its a good idea to have the diagnostic done for documentation and to call Toyota and see if they will help me out since I'm at 101K miles. They are closed on weekends so I will call Monday and plead my case. Per the service guy, if Toyota honors the 100K warranty they replace it with a brand new HV Battery for free . If not Stealer quoted $5K for a new HV Battery SMFH.

This is really unfortunate news because just two months ago I spent nearly $1.5K at my mechanic on all new shocks/brake pads/oil change/spark plugs/transmission flush and battery fan cleaning. I also had the battery fan cleaned at 50K. I did not expect to have replace the HV battery until 150-180K based on general consensus

I am still a little confused since on other dealership websites such as Toyota of Downtown LA it states Prius C Battery is under warranty for 150K in the State of California, seems to be a State law? So I will be calling them to see if that's true.

Next step is to call Toyota on Monday and plead case.

 

Well happy to report Toyota took care of me and the car.

Customer rep at the center said she would contact the dealer and see what she can do. I called the customer care center back a day or two later and obtained and update + service manager at the dealer. Then spoke with Service Manager at the dealer said they will replace with a brand new HV Battery for $225.00. They took another two days to order the parts and also had to obtain authorizations from Toyota via the call center, obviously Toyota paid the lions share

I continued driving the car to work and back and also on a few errands on the weekend lol but happy now that I have it back and its running smoothly. Back up plan was to go to a local third party mechanic, they advertise refurb battery with 2 year warranty for about $800. Big shout out to Toyota for taking care of me. Probably best to take the prius to the dealer if the HV battery fails between 100-120K as you may have a similar fortune.