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Featured 2008 Prius 2 weeks off lot, hybrid battery dead. Is this possible?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Cglynn, Mar 17, 2021.

  1. Cglynn

    Cglynn New Member

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    Just bought this car off a lot in Washougal, WA. Teaching my daughter how to drive the big red warning light and dash lights came on. Towed it to mc chords toyota and they want 3600$ for a new battery. We havent made a payment yet and this is 2/3rds the cost of the car. The dealer who sold it is saying no. The regular battery might be bad. Ugh. Help!
     
  2. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Most likely the used car dealer who sold it tried to "recondition" the hv battery. Basically scammed you. I would push them a bit with a demand letter from a lawyer. Nothing less.

    A new battery, not rebuilt, can be had in the $1600-$2500 range. Shop around.
     
  3. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Welcome to PriusChat!!
    When the dealership gave you the piece of paper with a 3600 repair quote, did it include any OBD2 codes (DTCs) that would explain the nature of the problem? (examples might be P3000, P0A80, P3021, etc).

    From my limited research, it appears that WA state lemons laws don't apply to older vehicles.

    Used Car Considerations | Washington State

    Maybe @fuzzy1 or @PriusCamper can offer some additional knowledge on the subject.

    If you can't find relief from the seller, and don't have additional time or energy to devout to this, then post the "car lot" name and address (in this thread, on CL, facespace, spam the experience far and wide) so others know about the situation and can avoid the "car lot". If you do have time and energy, and only after you're sure the dealer won't help, maybe protesting in front of the business on busy days will get their attention, can also be a great learning experience for youth or other people willing to join in.

    Pretty sure @PriusCamper will be out of the WA area until (or though) this weekend, and don't recall if he brought an extra battery along for the ride. If the vehicle is safe where is sits (catalytic theft is real), then wait until he returns and you will be kindly sorted out.

    FYI : your posts are being moderated until you've posted five times.
     
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  4. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    Crooks, maybe PriusCamper can help, he is close by in Olympia
     
  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Hiya... Was traveling for a funeral... Just got home and am catching up... Usually when the dealership gives you that price people get in touch with me and I give them a range of options based on how long term the fix will last and most of those options are under $500.

    I do have some tree pruning work in Portland coming up, so I could possibly stop by and put in a loaner pack and take yours home to work on it?
     
    Samuel Williams Jr, M in KC and SFO like this.
  6. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    12 yr old car ... unlikely a Toyota dealer ... this was probably one of those tiny fly by night cheesy lots, right?
    ok
    maybe its just the 12v aux?
    .
     
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Why cant posters post the mileage of the car?

    When you buy a used car from a car lot they make you sign like 20 papers. Its an airtight alibi if the car blows up 20 feet down the street.
    You accept all responsibility if you sign. You will not beat that in court.

    Go online to

    Toyota.com/owners and join the repair forum. You will need the cars vin once joined you will see every service event the car ever had at a toyota dealer.

    You will probably see that car was at a local toyota dealer and they condemned that hybrid battery and the car was traded in on the spot after they gave him a $5000 estimate which is extremely common so next place it goes is auction and then to your local car lot for the next victim. He fluffs up the battery a little maybe even a whack a mole for $100 just to get it down the road.

    Bottom line is if its a used gen2 for sale it needs a hybrid battery. And probably eats oil like crazy. Its a horrible car for a young lady the dead 12 volt battery alone will drive both of you crazy at the least. g2's have so many weird issues when they get 13 years old. This forum is full of them.
     
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  8. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    No updates??
     
  9. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    yeah... maybe they'll come back, or maybe they found a resolution and left us out of it?
     
  10. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    Their loss, probably get shafted a second time. Did you message them.
     
  11. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    yep...
     
  12. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Her lawyer may have advised staying off public forums.
     
    #12 rjparker, Mar 21, 2021
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2021
  13. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    How did you get PMs to work on your end?

    OS, browser, version, etc.
     
  14. Cglynn

    Cglynn New Member

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    So the dealer got involved and after looking around for batteries at approximately $3,600.00, they offered to have a new battery put in at cost. Bumble bee battery is where the new battery is coming from and they have been great!
    I don't know if the dealer is kicking in some money but they definitely did not want any bad Karma so they sent us to bumble bee paying only $800.
     
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  15. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    SFO can't send PM?

    PriusCamper an older account 2012? Mendel PM'd me, now I can PM with Mendel, Prius Campers also PM'd me as well, now I can PM PriusCamper. But I can't initiate PMs.
     
  16. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I'm using chrome browser on ubuntu computer and there's a link next to your name that you can see that says "start a conversation" in this screenshot below. Sometimes that link doesn't work so so I click on profile and you get a popup with profile with same link.

    Screenshot from 2021-03-21 13-47-58.png
    Screenshot from 2021-03-21 13-50-27.png
     
  17. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    New pm response... we will probably get more detail when the moderator allows it... 75B83035-9236-4A2B-B78D-6997881261A3.jpeg
     
    #17 rjparker, Mar 21, 2021
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2021
  18. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Now I want to know how she started a PM.
     
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  19. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    Haha, must be the smile?
     
  20. Cglynn

    Cglynn New Member

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    It's a small family owned lot. We don't live in Portland, but it is a reputable family. I am glad they stepped up!