Does HV battery replacement require other parts besides the battery?

This may be a stupid question, so forgive my ignorance.

My local Toyota dealer quoted $2050 parts and $850 labor to replace the HV battery on my 2006. However, this same dealership's website - under "parts" - lists the new battery on sale for $1659 plus the core charge, which I understand gets refunded after I bring the old dead battery back to Toyota.

What am I missing here? Are there other parts besides the battery itself required for the replacement?

Is anything stopping me from buying this battery at this advertised price and taking it to my mechanic, who will install it for a quarter of Toyota's labor price (he's fine with my acquiring the part elsewhere)? Less warranty I suppose, but ....

$1659 seems not that much higher than many remanufactured batteries out there.

 

Haha, thanks PriusCamper for the explanation there ....

I did call and ask the "stealership" the reason for the $400 price difference, and was basically just told that that's just how it is - they don't honor the online price if you walk up to the Parts Counter, it's only online ....

I found another local dealership who quoted $1900 parts and $600 labor over the phone, and whose internet site lists the battery on sale for only $1500.

Only frustrating thing is, the mechanic did not return my call today. I was waiting for him to give me an OK before I buy this battery. Now it's after 6 pm Friday, and I guess I won't hear from him until Monday. I am really antsy to buy this battery while I see such a low price ... what if they raise the price over the weekend? But it's a big piece of spending, and I didn't want to charge it to my card until I had the mechanic's green light....

 

Just an update in case anyone cares ... I finally got a call back from the mechanic, who has had the new battery since Tuesday. As TMR said above, the battery comes by itself (not really an "assembly" as the description had said) and all the electronics have to be disassembled from the old battery and reinstalled on the new one.

So, I will be paying more than expected. The mechanic said he now understands why Toyota charges so much. He hasn't replaced many Prius batteries, and I think mine is the first Gen 2 he's done. I suspect the other Prius batteries he's replaced were remanufactured ones ... I guess those don't involve hassling with removing and reinstalling the electronics?

(On another note, I learned that our stupid Ohio law makes the $108 sales tax on the core charge nonrefundable. What a rip off!)

 

The mechanic said he had to transfer all the new modules into the old [whatever contains them]. Does that sound right?

(My username says "Amateur", but that's a misnomer ... I am better described as "ignoramus"!)

Anyway, two grand and almost a month later, my car is running again! When I first started her up the battery display showed 4 (of 8) bars, and as I drove awhile it went up to 6 bars. I hope she goes up to full charge with more driving on this brand new battery.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

 

Another issue has arisen ... I don't know whether it's related to the recent battery and wheel bearing replacements or not.

The car is unusually loud when accelerating. The hum/growl when hitting the gas seems (subjectively) 50-100% louder than it used to be. As soon as I take my foot off the gas, it stops. I don't hear it when coasting. But it sounds similarly loud when running in Park.

A search of the forums seems to point to an exhaust issue? But I just wonder if it could be related to the HV battery replacement.

The first couple weeks with the new battery, the battery's charge stayed mostly at 6 (of 8) bars, with short periods at 5 or 7 bars. Now it is spending more time at 5 bars, and has dropped to 4 for short periods. (My commute hasn't changed). That worries me.

Any thoughts?

There's another thread here about selling one's Prius "before it becomes a money pit". I'm afraid my car is rapidly attaining "money pit" status here....

Sigh. I hope keeping my car wasn't a mistake ....