Bought a used Prius during Superbowl week.

Can you try clearing the codes to see if it comes up again? I used to get hybrid (red triangle of doom) codes all the time in hot weather. It went away in the winter, then came back the next summer. No symptoms, though. So I just kept driving and have been doing that for 2-3 years. I don't know if you have any symptoms. If not, why not just keep driving and not worry about it? It's not like it will lose value. If the hybrid battery is already toast, it's not like it will lose $ value.

Your car, like my car, is probably worth next to nothing. If the dealership gives you $1-2K on it, it's going to be against a low-value, mid-range or high-end new car, anyway, so don't think you're getting any actual money from them by "trading up."

What do they do with those cars, anyway? New car dealers don't deal in used car parts and I doubt they can resell something like this (they ship to auctions much newer cars).

 

The prices you quoted are NOT NEW batteries.

They are USED batteries.
They may install a different pack, or maybe they replace one small section inside the pack. You won't know until you ask some hard questions of them.

There are many sketchy folks out there taking advantage of people in your exact situation. Buyer beware.

I'd be happy to talk through options with you and share what to look out for. Feel free to call.

Do you know what warranty they are offering for each of the fixes?

A NEW battery costs $2,500 or more. So that is why it is clear you are not being quoted for a NEW one.

 

No warranty?
Then it should be a lot lower price.

You asked how long it might last, and I'd say, Not Very Long.

It's tricky. You can't sell it for much the way it is. It's going to cost something to get it at least patch up to (kind of) run.

A hybrid of this age is best for someone who is planning to do the work themselves.

Not sure where you are located. Of local rooms me in Wisconsin, feel free to stop by and I can show you a few things/ideas.

Are you comfortable working on your car/hybrid battery? Or will you need to hire a mechanic?

 

There is a great place called Atomic Auto.
Is that one of the places you called?
Atomic Auto | Hybrid and EV Maintenance and Repair

They are very knowlegable. The options they put forward may not be the cheapest, but they can likely point you in the right direction.
A note about what they belive, From their website "Us. All of this experience has gone to our heads. We're really confident that we can figure out what's wrong with your car. And we're confident that when we fix it, it's for good. If you're dissatisfied, or even unsatisfied, let us know, and we'll work to make it right."
I would trust these guys opinions.

To take care of this damage properly is going to cost a fair amount of money. $1,500 - $2,500.

There are other options that may basically have a random chance of working.
Junkyard packs in your area show a price of $800 and up just for the part. (I looked for "battery" on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market using a Portland area zip code)
Looks like there is a random Craiglist listing in your area that has a 2 year warranty for $1,500. No idea if these guys are legit. I'd ask around.

 

congrats and welcome!
what is this 'paperwork' with a two part fix?

 

It could very easily die after 6 months this.

There is not a required standard for "rebuilding" or "refurbishing" a hybrid battery.

Cheap rebuilds cut corners every chance they get. Leaving you with an inferior product hat will likely have problems in short order.

A brand new pack will likely last as long as the original pack, if not longer.

But a new pack is going to likely be nearly $3,000 if you have to have someone install it for you.

A quality rebuild will be warrantied for 3 years. It won't last as long as a new one but you'll get at least 3 years out of it.

Seriously, call Atomic and see what they have to say.

 

Eric, my first thought was buss bars. Given that he lives in the wet environs of the Pac NW and the car is relatively low mileage that would be my first guess. The previous owner of my 03 had this occur here in hot, dry Tucson and it was a local car. He cleaned them and that solved the problem. I installed the Prolong* pigtail and using Hybrid Automotives system balanced the cells and reset them to fully charge

OP, welcome to the forum, if you were closer, I'd help you inspect the buss bars and the cells. The buss bars can be cleaned up. You're right, they are great little cars. And the batteries are their Achilles heel.

 

Oh yeah. My 03 has 147,000 and hardly broken in. My 02 has a smidge over 200,000 and is going strong.

 

Some battery basics. A new battery from Toyota will likely outlast the rest of the car. Spendy, but imho worth it. 2003 Toyota Prius Parts - Camelback Toyota Parts - Genuine OEM Parts - Free Shipping Camel Back offers free shipping on a lot of their stuff, don't know about the battery, tho.

Toyota doesn't mess with reconditioned batteries or even repairing the batteries themselves. When they get a core battery, they send it on for recycling. So if you would get a Dorman remanufactured battery, the dealer would likely decline installing it.

Warranty if you or your non Toyota mechanic installs the battery is 1 year. If the battery is installed at a dealer, it's 3 years, I believe. Changing a battery pack is not exactly plug & play. There's stuff to transfer over and procedures to follow. As well a dealing with the high voltage and possible liability issues--it is in the high 200 plus voltage range and DC voltage packs a larger punch that AC does.

You didn't say what you paid for it or if you actually financed it. If it threw the codes in the street in front of the car lot immediately probably a small claims court would have been in order. You could have maybe made a case that they sold the car under false pretenses, that they didn't disclose a known defect to you. I know, AS IS, WHERE IS. But this sounds fishy to me.

Toyota does have a "Goodwill" program where they might give you a discount on a new battery pack. I've read of people getting like $1000 off. Discuss this with the Toyota service manager and call Toyotas US headquarters.

 

Sorry, that really bites. I guess I'd look on Craigslist that repairs batteries--the point is to get it working for as cheap as possible. If it's the buss bars, they can clean those up.

It sure would have been nice if you'd found this forum before you bought this thing. Way too much money for it. And financed, too.I'm assuming it's pretty nice otherwise?

You really need to explore the Toyota Goodwill thing. Basically you'll get the estimate for the dealer replacement, parts and labor, and then call Toyota Corporate to request Goodwill help.