Early Hybrid Failure

We have over 130,000 miles on our Prius. You have gotta expect that sometimes one car of every 1,000 may have some issue. If it has a new battery it should be fine for the next 200,000 miles.

 

Get documentation...

 

welcome! agree! ^^^^^ don't take peoples word when it's such an unusual situation. it's possible, but if it goes bad in 3 years, where's the proof it's under warranty. i have never heard of this before.

 

The car came with a factory warranty on the battery. I believe the minimum is 5 years and 100k. Those states with CA emission rules take the warranty out to 150k (I forget the time) .... it may be 10 years.

In any event ... 2012 car would be covered. The emission warranty covers many other parts of the car.

I would not be concerned buying a car with a replaced battery. If the owner lost the original paperwork -- it should be easy for them to get a copy from the dealer. Much is online.

Some parts do come with a special warranty - but most are only covered up to the period on the car. You would have to ask the dealer about the coverage -- and this would depend on the state. Toyota may warranty a battery that a customer purchases for 5 years -- but this would have been a car past the factory warranty. Toyota is not going to extend the warranty past what a new car is going to come with for a battery that they replace.

The batteries are very reliable -- they last. We have 140k on our oldest 2011.

 

all the best in your search!

 

I don't think its so difficult. New will always be more expensive than used at every point in the ownership timeline. With the drastic depreciation of a new car in the first few years, I really don't think there's a question that even if you have to spend some money repairing a used car, you'll still come out ahead.