Dorman Battery Warning

How are you guys able to sell new batteries from Toyota? Don't you have to be a dealer?

 

Nope.

I'm not answering for Matt but anyone can go to the parts counter and buy one but every dealer is an independent business and can charge whatever they want and sell (or not) to whomever they want. I've worked in the parts department of a couple businesses in previous lives and good repeat customers (who pay) can easily qualify for a discount.

 

My local dealer will sell new hybrid batteries to my business.

But not every dealer will do that.

There are quite a few Toyota dealer parts departs that refuse to sell hybrid batteries to anyone except for the Toyota dealer service department.

 

I understand that, but in a way it's not practical to do that since the dealer most likely will not charge you invoice, they will mark it up. I was wondering if it was possible to buy direct from Toyota.

 

no, they just get a decent deal from a friendly dealer, and add a reasonable labor charge to the customer.

 

No. Franchise dealers would be up in arms. Matt buys from a local Texas dealer. He gave me the invoice with my VIN attached to the purchase for warranty reasons.

If you want to buy directly from the manufacturer, your only current choice is to buy a Tesla.

 

I can confirm all the answers that have been given. Each parts department is it's own business with it's own rules. We buy all of our hybrid batteries as well as all the other parts that we need from one local dealer. I negotiated a volume price agreement with that dealership based on needing 80 to 100 new hybrid batteries a year. It's a fair price that allows the parts guys to make money and we can make money on the install and the customer still gets the battery out the door for less than suggested retail on the part. Having that relationship with the local Toyota guys is an invaluable asset in this business and I wouldn't want to cut them out of the loop even if there were a way.

This discussion made me curious so I asked the parts manager the other day if he would sell a hybrid battery to a walk in customer and his response was, "Nope, I would just give them your number". I guess by default we became the only authorized battery buyer from that dealer.

Here's a fun picture. It's a little hard to count them all but that's 10 core Prius batteries crated and ready for recycling. 280 failed, weak, low capacity, and/or not fit for reuse hybrid battery modules that will never end up back in a battery or sold on ebay to a DIYer. That's a win for the Prius community.

 

Never, never, never say never
Ne dis jamais jamais

When Toyota (or KBI) receives your cores, they will test the modules and who knows maybe 1 out of a 100 might make it back into a --84 refurbished pack and eventually sold by a Toyota dealership.

 

Oh so true. My hope is that they get discouraged after the first couple of packs and just right the whole bunch off. All that added work will mean they have to raise the price of the -84 packs to only $100 cheaper than a new battery.

 

Seems like you guys need more competition.

 

There's plenty of Prius to go around. Your welcome to bring your car up to my shop and I'll set you up with a new pack. I give a good discount to the PC members that come to my place. PM me if you want pricing info.