Should i buy a brand new hybrid battery for my 2012 Toyota Prius C with 116,000 miles?

How's the car driving?

If a tester app is showing you some bad news it is time to prepare, but that doesn't mean it is time to pull the trigger.

Pick a battery source, pick a mechanic to do the work but don't do anything until the car drives wrong. Might as well get all your moneys' worth out of the old battery first.

 

I hope leadfoot j will agree with my statement as I agree with his above, that if you believe the C is showing signs of battery degradation to some extent presently, the time to start getting you battery pack ducks in a row is now..... Because the learning curve for understanding the current state of battery pack options is steep and can be extremely confusing without a well trained mentor to depend on.

 

I owned hybrid since 2006 and the performance of NiMh battery never degrades in linear fashion like a Lithium battery. It stays at 95% or more capacity over a very long period of time and out of a sudden it drops/dies. Technically speaking, one of the packs has very low voltage. The voltage profile in rechargeable NiMh AA battery is also similar, it has very good open voltage reading for long period of time, out of sudden drop when it is empty. Lithium and Alkaline battery open voltage drop slowly but NiMh battery is not. It is more like step function. Once one of the pack fail, Others will fail soon after the first one, especially if it is more than 10 years old, regardless the mileage.

 

For details about battery failure see https://globalautomotiveinfo.com/hybrid-battery-pid-p0a80-troubleshooting/

 

my personal experience was slightly different. It has good acceleration, good torque, and long EV mode but suddenly the cooling fan was so loud. I thought it was normal in summer Florida. 1 month later I got a P0A80 failure code, the car drive pretty normally with normal acceleration for the first week. 2 weeks later, the CEL was permanent and the fan is always loud and had very low torque. Considering the value of the car at 230k miles, 11 years old for $3200, new battery cost $2800 installed, I went with a used battery for $800 1 year warranty. The used battery is not as powerful. I noticed much lower torque and much shorter EV mode compared to my old battery when it had not failed 2 months before.
I sold the car for $3000. Getting $2200 net is more cost-effective and I am pretty sure that the used battery will not last long but the buyer knew it because I told him that the battery is renewed with a refurbished battery with 1 year warranty.

 

You can try restoring it.

Prolong Deluxe Reconditioning Package - Hybrid Automotive

 

Prolong gives false hope and everyone will be disappointed once they have enough time with it. If it is already over 8 years old and starts giving an error code, then nothing much you can do besides check your saving and be ready to spend for a new battery or time to sell and get another car. There is no point in spending $500 or more on such Prolong or Produmb device. Get a used battery for about $1000 and sell it if the car values is too cheap for a new battery. If the car still have good value and you know it has no problems (no oil consumption, drivability, no rust and tear), then put a complete brand new battery for $2500-3000 is the best investment for the next decade.

 

There are to many variables to put any time line on a battery. Based on what I have seen on what has been posted, even older battery's have been given a second chance even with battery codes. You need run a 3 day cycle every 3 months to on a bad battery to keep it going and replace only the a few bad cells to fix most issues. Cells are not expensive. Other then the new dealer pack or the Lithium Ion pack you can now get from Dr Prius, this a good cost effective alternative.

 

At least Toyota still sells new NiMH modules. Honda stopped selling new NiMH a long time ago. from what I've leaned.
Plus it all depends on how much anyone owner whats to learn about the hybrid system and how it works..
Lots of people have had great success with prolong products for many years, building off of MikeD s original design 20 years ago.
It's a new world with Nexpower lithiium replacement for Prius. https://projectlithium.com/
But some people still want to keep their prius stock and buy OEM from Toyota. While others go for the cheapest route possible with used reconditioned pack of unknown origin and like to keep their fingers crossed or dump the car into the used market.