*IMO Don't buy a 2K4 Prius and if you own one don't drive it

another mile with out taking the plate that forms the floor in the hatch. This is the single most dangerous piece of this car and could cost you thousands or possibly your life. The following 2 pictures of my wife's Prius that was hit from behind and had the bumper over run, caused almost $20,000 in damage and has probalby ruined any value in the car because the Toyota zone rep figures that you can have the battery case pushed in and the battery pack hit on the terminal strip and not cause any damage to it. On the pictures you can see there is very little damage to the quarter panels and the upper part of the hatch dosen't even have the window broken but the lower portion of the hatch pulled in the end panel and that cause the trunk plate to hit the HV batteryand push the cover into the internal parts of the actual battery. A little harder and the battery could have shorted to the cover and possibly eletrocuted the 2 people who came to her assistance. Unfortunatly the car was push forward into the back of a slip deck tow truck and sustanined minor damage on the hood that pushed the rad support back. Fortunatly there was no damage to the inverter. Take the floor plate out of your Prius and don't suffer like we have. My opinion of the Toyota Canada rep's is they are totally lacking in knowlage of the car and as such Toyota really ought to put out a proper training package for them on how to handle such items as battery damage etc. I'm sure if Panasoinc knew about this damage they'd drop warranty on it in a heart beat. The insuance adjuster is just as adamant there is no damage, I ask, have you ever had a flashlight battery fall on the floor and get full life out of it, I never have. The HV battery managed to start the ICE but they haven't tryed to drive the car to see if it has any real capacity left. The body shop is doing a really good job on fixing the body damage, mind you we bought the car on Nov.29 2K3 and the accident happened on Jan26 2K4 and as of today the car still isn't repaired but the shop has now got all the parts, just need the time to finish it off.

 

Rick go out and take a look at how little clearance there is from the front of the plate to the battery case, on the inside of the case there is about 1/2-3/4" clearance the end panel is the rear support for the plate and if you have the hatch pushed in 2 inches it's already hit the HV battery. The car got hit by a Ford Econoline van as she was sitting in a Left turn lane waiting for the light to change. She thinks the car got pushed forward about 10-12 feet if not more. This is a real conceren to me for peoples safty. Just look at your car and think what would happen to you kids in the back if you tried to get to them and the car was "hot" not a pretty thought.

 

the reason the car isn't driveable is because the backup power pack for the brakes was also damaged along with the computer to control it.

 

What I said was don't drive it with the trunk plate in it. Take it out. All Toyota has to do is supply a new trunk plate that is about 3 inches shorter and a pair of hinged plates that connect to the rear seat backs so as the seats fold down the plates ride on top of the trunkplate to allow the gap to be covered. Hope that clears it up a bit.

 

Rick just behind the aux battery is the power supply module for the electric brake power pack. It consists of 27 capacitators in a plastic case along with a small computer module. It powers the brakes in case of a 12volt interuption so there is pressure available to provide brakes. Evan the battery case pushed on the terminal strip on the rear of the battery and pushed in the actual battery modules in about 1 inch. Looking at the car from the rear it was hit on the RH side. and the top was pulled down. Unfortrunatly I dont' have digipix of the battery damage but the bodyshop does. The shop manager said that the trunk plate is going to be a problem on these cars if the design isn't changed. And I agree with him.

 

the trunk(floor) plate is plastic and about 1" thick. It needs to be about 3 inches shorter and have a reinforcing edging inserted into the front (battery end) edge. Then there needs to be a pair, on either side of the lower well, metal locks that stop the plate from moving ahead. Then all that is required is to put hinged plates on the seat that cover the opening that the shorter plate creates at the front and fold forward when the seats fold down.

 

Yes that would only protect the battery if it was pushed in 3 inches. One of the problems with the current design as I see it is there is no lock to stop the plate moving forward other than I think it's 5 little plastic tabs on the front of the plate. If it had a lock to prevent forward movement and a reinforcing strip in the front to hold it from going forward that would help stop potential damage to the battery and let the plate break up instead. You really don't want anything to allow the plate to ride up and over the battery as the next stop is the rear seats and that's a definat no no. I'm really not sure but I do know if the plate is out most parts including you are safe. As for the battey shorting to the case and making the car hot anything is possible, that's why Toyota has issued instructions to rescue crews and fire dept. about the possible electrocution hazzard these cars can present. On this car when the back of the case pushed in and forced the battery modules to move they move the othe side over and the temial strip on the front side contacted the front part of the case. How many volts were potentialy present I don't know for sure but I don't want any potential for electrocution because of a minor accident for me or any other Prius owners.

 

Remember that this car was involved in a bumper over run accident such as when your rearended by a SUV, truck, van or some such vehicle with a higher bumper than is on the Prius. I can't tell what would happen if you backed into a post say in a parking lot, maybe the bumper is strong enough to survive that. It's only aluminum as you can see in the photo and is covered with some foam and a neoprene cover. Next time your driving down the street look in your rear view mirror and see what's following you, if it's a truck van or SUV think about this post.