Seeking your opinions! I have a 2006 Prius with 146K miles. In 2019 the hybrid battery failed and I had it replaced with a reconditioned battery through Grean Bean battery. It failed after 3 years, I was under warranty, and it was replaced in 2022. It just failed again...12 days after my 5-year warranty expired Given the age of the car, is it worth it to pay for a new battery from the dealer (I was quoted about $3000) that will last the rest of the life of my car, or pay half the price for another reconditioned battery that may only last a couple years (I could get a 3-year or lifetime warranty)?
With proper maintenance (and a low-rust environment) a Gen2 should make 200-300k miles (or more). A properly installed new OE battery is pretty much good for at least 10 years. 3 years seems to be the mid to upper range for a typical "refurbished" battery pack. Many do not make it that long. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Your biggest risk here is that no matter how much you put into the car, insurance won't value it any higher. So if the car is totaled out for any reason, your loss grows with your investment. And on a car that old, it could be as little as somebody stealing the catalytic converter one night to trigger all that.
Yeah but you can take the battery and the replaced dash or CM monitor with you in just a few minutes and a few screws if you'd replace your brake actuator and know it was a good part like a new one You can unbolt that and keep it before you send the car to salvage so you have all the hot parts you need for the next generation 2 you find for $700 in good shape they're out there they happen regularly I have four of them and that's how I do it so if I have those parts and they get wrecked You tell you buddy I'm going to the towing lot and taking those parts off before the car even gets dealt with by insurance no matter what insurance does I have my expensive parts and I'm on to the next episode insurance kind of is moot at this point I don't have collision on these things usually my car gets gone this way somebody has hit me and I'm getting paid anyway and I'm old so now they're hitting the senior citizen I have the lowest insurance rates in the world right now well I always have so I'm going to get fully paid no problem I don't care what I've got tied up in the car I don't have anything like that I don't pay $8,000 for these things.