2007 (150kmi) on its 5th hybrid battery in past year

"Reconditioning" batteries is a thing. But it is best if the customer understands what is/is not being done.

 

It seems that the "reconditioning" being done is incomplete or contra-indicated based on the condition of the packs he is performing it on.

Proper rebuilding process is a far more involved, whereby poorly performing cells of the pack are replaced with NEW cells and the pack is charged to equalization. This is a FAR more costly and labor intensive project than reconditioning, but often yields excellent results.

I have come to the conclusion that I will perform buss-bar maintenance on our Prius and should the battery pack ever fail, replace it with a new OEM one from the dealer. The car saves the price of the battery pack in fuel every two years, so if we get 3 or more years from each NEW pack, we are still money ahead. Typical new batteries last 10+ years (ours in currently on year 11), so a good financial move if the car is in good condition.

 

Rebuilder - slash mechanic is the loose link here.go new or get a reliable rebuilt from a reliable rebulder not a fly by note.my dormain been in for 2 years over 60 k still going strong

 

i would be interested in @jeff652 's opinion on this reconditioning service.

 

Many shops offer varying degrees of reconditioning.
Can be anything from just charge recharge to all out replacing buss bars and modules.
The shop should explain the service that is offered.

 

shop around at your local Toyota dealers and most have a coupon online for 100 dollars off the repair. I wouldn't let the mechanic do the swap because you bet a better warranty through Toy and we're not sure what he's doing with your original battery. The new Toy battery may be less than you think and give you 10 yrs of service. If you decide down the road to trade it or sell it and you can prove you have a newer Toy battery you will get more $ for it. Good Luck!

 

You get the same battery whether Toyota installs it or an independent mechanic installs it.
The battery will last well beyond 3 years.
As long as your mechanic is knowledgeable about install new packs, why go to the Dealer to pay more for an unnecessary 3 year warranty?

 

Putting it simply, there are "ghetto" ways of rebuilding a battery pack and then there are more proper ways to do it. Battery failing 5 times in year points very clearly to the ghetto method having been taken. When your warranty expires, dump your current mechanic. He's wasting your time. If the inverter was the problem, the Prius ECUs would detect it and throw inverter codes, except for exceptionally rare problems. He's just not reconditioning/rebuilding the battery properly (which likely should include replacing some modules of the 28 module battery).

You have three basic options:

1. Get a new rebuilt battery from reputable reconditioner (e.g. Dorman) and get it installed from a different mechanic, probably in the $1000-1500 range total cost, 1 year warranty. Battery will probably have 1/3 to 1/2 of the life a of a new battery IMO.
2. Get a new hybrid battery installed from Toyota, $2500-3000 total cost, 3 year warranty. Battery should last as many miles as a new one.
3. Recondition/rebuild the battery yourself. Requires electrical background, lots of time, and probably ~$500-600 in equipment and replacement modules. There are many threads on PC for how to do this. Search if you're interested.

 

We keep saying it over and over: Hybrid Battery reconditioning is not a one time event. From reading this thread, it sounds like the first replacement battery was likely in worse condition than the battery that came out of the car. If the failed/failing modules are not replaced and no follow on battery maintenance is performed, then of course the results won't last. It's unfortunate that the OP has had to deal with this five times in one year. I wonder how happy the new owners of their original battery are. I wonder if they had replaced the failed module and started maintaining that original battery how much more life it would still have in it.

Any aged and/or reconditioned pack needs to be regularly maintained in order to remain in usable condition. We recommend treating the battery at least once every three months for best (read: longest lasting) results with our products.