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2007 Hybrid Battery Failure - Dealer Trade In Experiences?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Scotty Danger, Feb 4, 2017.

  1. Scotty Danger

    Scotty Danger Junior Member

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    Well, it finally happened. My trusty '07 with 167K miles threw the hybrid battery warning light today. It is still drivable, but the gas engine is coming on constantly, the battery bars are draining extremely quickly (going from 5 to 1 after accelerating from a red light), and the battery fan is going non stop, so I'm about to raise the white flag.

    At this point, it seems like a dealer installed new hybrid battery would run $3,200 - $4K in the Orange County area. I'm at the point where I think I'd rather trade it in, but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on dealer trade-in experiences with a Prius that has a failing hybrid battery? Besides the battery, the car is in great mechanical condition, but I feel like the dealer is going to know that I don't exactly have a ton of leverage with my current situation :)

    I'd most likely want to buy a used Package IV or 5, maybe a plug-in from 2012 - 2014 for record.

    Hoping I can get some stories of how you guys played similar situations with dealers (to your advantage)!
     
  2. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    Some people will install an inexpensive rebuild to get it running, then sell it. I was in the market for one last year and ran into that once. At least it was disclosed.
     
  3. Overworked9000

    Overworked9000 Junior Member

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    NAPA sells refurbished batteries with a 3 year warranty for about $1300.
     
  4. kinglew

    kinglew Member

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    Sell it out private. Or rebuilt battery .rebuild yourself if you can diy .buy another second gen use this for parts .part out Prius for cash parts etc .many opitions.dealer trade the worst of all in my opinion
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if you trade it in, it's going to auction. they don't care about the battery, so you just need to get it running. you have options of rebuilding; cheap, or refurbished; medium, or new; expensive. dealer is not going to pay you for a new battery.
    if you sell it privately, disclose your decision, refurbished like dorman or something would probably be best.
     
  6. Scotty Danger

    Scotty Danger Junior Member

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    Thanks for all of the feedback everyone. Great call out about NAPA - in my previous searches I only found refurbished batteries that had 1 year warranties, which scared me (especially after reading a decent amount of not-so-positive feedback on Priuschat about refurbs).

    I feel like rolling into a dealer (if the car makes it that far) will only get me a trade in of around $1K, which just seems wrong at this point since everything else functions perfectly on the car (well except all of the window seals / weatherproofing strips that . . . melted arrrghhh).
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i think there is another thread today with someone putting in a $1,700. battery and trading in for $3,200. on a 2017.

    edit: see post #35 by @Grampienva in the thread 'how much is it worth spending on a new hybrid battery?'
     
    #7 bisco, Feb 4, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2017
  8. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

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    Is that Orange County, CA? Your profile says Scottsdale. If you are in AZ check out PHOENIX HYBRID BATTERIES . Steve sells both new and refurbished batteries.

    Brad
     
  9. Scotty Danger

    Scotty Danger Junior Member

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    Thanks for the heads up on that other thread, and I'm in Newport Beach now - no more AZ for me :)

    My final resolution was having Hybrid 911 come to my house to survey the situation. Turns out one block was bad, but I decided to play it safe (wanting to avoid a future domino effect and any potentially unsafe situations) and just had them put in a new battery with Gen 3 cells for $1,500. The process took about an hour and fifteen minutes, and then I hoped in the car and drove 25 miles or so. 52MPG - wow (that's with aftermarket 17 rims). I was averaging 38MPG for the last three years and figured it was the spark plugs (or maybe my wife's driving habits haha).

    I'll try and update this thread if there are any unusual circumstances with the battery, but for now the Prius is driving great, and I think I might just keep it as a second car (to destroy with mountain bikes, surfboards, cats, etc).
     
    bisco likes this.
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    never heard of them, how's their rep? warranty?
     
  11. Scotty Danger

    Scotty Danger Junior Member

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    I chose them based on the positive Yelp reviews - the constant theme seemed to be that they were really honest, so I took the plunge. I got the 1 year warranty - a two year warranty was an extra $250, but I went with my gut that the newer Gen 3 cells should hold up for quite some time (well, at least I hope they do).
     
  12. stephanie_elise

    stephanie_elise New Member

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    Thanks for this, Scotty. I was considering calling them too, as I have the same exact problem.