Hi! Best & cheapest hybrid batt replace/most reputable install, '01, Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia region?

Hi! 1st gen '01. Codes

p3006, p3000 per dealer.

have driven 3 x successfully after dlr cleared codes (dlr couldn't replicate), but am told that will recur.

Still trying to figure out whether dlr uses refurbed batteries or whether new. if new, the 1st gen aren't supp to be that great bc of plastic around cells, or something.

has anyone tried the place in kent, greentec?

A place in Tacoma has only installed one other, says they would use a Dorman(?) refurbed battery w 3 yr warranty. Dlrs in Tacoma say 1 yr warranty.

Dlr in Seattle said new battery w 8 yr warranty.

Everytime I call an indep shop and they call dlr, dlrs always tell them batteries are refurbed and new batteries don't exist.

which dlr in this area would be least expensive?

any help much appreciated!

Ajourney, can you let me know where you had installed? And what kind of warranty you rec'd? Thank you!

Any help much appreciated!

 

Dolj, Brian, Bisco -- I can't thank you enough, and anyone else who chooses to reply!
I got lucky - well, actually it was preparation meets oppty - when I bought this 01 prius used from a couple in Fremont, 57,000 miles about 5-6 yrs ago, even had chauffeur keys!
Now, nearly 120k mi.; I've had to replace a very expensive brake part (elsewhere on this site, someone referred to a loud buzzing/screeching sort of noise in the cabin, that's what I had (thought it was an Amber alert), had towed to dlr and emerged $1500 later. The dlr actually said the took the faulty part out, banged it against something, put it back in and the noise had stopped. At that point I could have saved the $ but just didn't want to be on the freeway w that noise going off again.
Hence, if I don't have to replace this battery -- or whatever I can save in process - I want to.
So i talked to a guy @ a Japanese auto place today who said dlr has only about 10% profit on the batteries. I've 'been told that labor is 2 hrs, some say 3, some say 5.
Warranties? Been told by 3 dlrs it was 1 yr on new battery; then, on phone w one today, questioned why one dlr yesterday in same region had said 8 yr warranty, then when i was on ph they went back to website and concluded it was actually a 3 yr warranty.
Guy at Japanese auto place today said he hadn't heard great things re Dornan rebuilt batteries; guy I talked to a few days ago said there's been a lot of consolidation in reblt batteries and a few mechanics I talked to said they'd had a lot of problems installing reblt, so a few refuse to install them anymore.
After sheer exhaustion by the end of the day today I finally concluded that I should go to dlr w 8 yr warranty if they'll honor what they said and try to negot price down as much as poss.
When I called dlrs in area a few days ago, literally one quoted a battery @ $2800 and one @ around $2300.
I think I'll wait until the error occurs again and have it towed there, just in case it never does occur.
But that is the weird thing. I can't quite fig out what the codes represent. The guy @ Japanese auto place said that the P3006 merely indicates a lot more investigation and that there's a whole lot of flow chart steps after that to complete. I think the dlr did all these, but the best I could get out of the tech is that the electrical charge varied by a bit too much between the cells.
Guy @ Japanese auto place said that P3000 is the check engine to make sure customer gets in and gets things analyzed.
I am just trying to figure out what could possibly maybe have made these codes a 1-time thing, based on the fact that, for instance, in November I was just setting out in the car and suddenly the turtle light came on (looks exactly like turlte on a tub of turtle wax) I called a mechanic who had driven the car around and checked the spark plugs, and he said that if the light went off on its own (it soon did) not to worry about it. it hasn't returned since. (however, previously the turtle light has gone off 3 x: the 1st 2 times I replaced 2 diff coils; the 3rd time they couldn't find any codes so they just switched spark plugs betw 2 diff cylinders).
We are in very tenuous financial straits, and so I am just trying to do the most thorough job of research that i can.
Oh, yes, thanks for the input on Greentech; talked to them at length yesterday and it seems that the cells come from all diff kinds of vehicles, though they do install sev'l per day. but i will stay away as cautioned.
Thank you so much for any and all input!!

 

Hello, again. Just realized I had a few more things to clarify -
Bisco, I want to keep car as long as poss bc imposs to buy another now; also, low miles and i like it.
Also forgot to menton that w/in last 1.5 yrs -- when i was having a coil replaced -- the dlr checked battery health (free) and it came up roses.
Hence, Brian, what is Techstream? I've asked all the dlr mechanics and they've all said that nothing I did re maintenance would have affected the health of the battery, but that assertion seems to be belied by your having reconditioned and balanced the cells of your battery? How does 1 do that?
Thanks!

 

Thank you, EricBecky! Just another thought: Bumblebee batteries? Recomm by a place I talked to in Houston -- only 1 place in my area (and a big jog away) installs and I haven't talked to them yet-they are refurbed and seem to have good reviews - thoughts?
Also, has anyone seen a check hybrid engine light come on that was just a 1-off?
And, EricBecky, would be great to get a code reader, but I thought that they were 1,000s of dollars to get one specific enough for prius? thanks!

 

Thanks,EricBecky, but I think she said $1500. What is VX Diag Nano? - Oh, just realized this is probably the reader you were mentioning - is it the quality they have at the auto stores or the next level up or the quality the toyota dlrs have? Thanks!

Does everyone know about Bumblebee? Are there others in this forum who have used their batteries?

The reviews were 95% from Honda hybrid owners, and I will have to drive quite a distance to the one shop that installs. thanks!

 

Thanks so much again. If I get the error msg on again, I would also have to have the car towed via ferry bc the 1 shop that installs is on on island. It also seems to be an issue to get the batteries from point a to point b bc of their heavy size. And as I remember the warranty was just 1 yr.

But if others have used them successfully in priuses, that would be good to know!