HV battery exploded.. And I have to make a decision

What state are you in? If you're in a CARB state where the battery warranty is 10yrs/150k miles, you can easily ask Toyota for assistance in replacing the battery.

 

You could sell it on CL with the bad battery for a lot more than $300. I would not give it to the dealer that cheap, but that is what I would do, you have to decide :-(

 

Yeah, sure: craigslist.com

 

Since you are the original owner, you know the car well. All maintenance and lack of maintenance. any quirks, etc.

Assuming car was always well behaved and maintained, I vote new HV Pack.
1) 160K miles, you have many more miles left to go.
2) You can always transfer the new HV pack into another Gen2 Prius, if something bad happens to current Pri.
3) Consider dropping comprehensive insurance coverage; this should save you at least $600+/year.
4) The original HV Battery gave you 160K miles. The genuine new OEM HV Battery replacement will hopefully give you at least 160K miles too.
5) Amoritized costs per mile: $3400/160K miles = $.02125/mile.
6) If you are able to DIY, or get the current dealership to pricematch San Bernardino Toyota's online HV battery only price of $2071. $2071/160K miles = $.0129/mile
2007 Toyota Prius Parts - Toyota of San Bernardino Online Parts Store

 

Just made the Edit. Yes, I vote for a new HV Pack.

You Did not mention you did the module replacement. So the question becomes when the did the original pack fail? You should get close to that amount of miles, more or less, with the new replacement HV Pack. Also, you would not have been given warranty (despite being over), and definitely no goodwill warranty, due to the module replacement.

Collision covers your car if you are at fault in an accident, after you paid the deductible.
Comprehensive insurance coverage covers your car if it is stolen, vandalized, after you paid the deductible; highly unlikely insurance would cover the battery. Only looking at the policy exceptions would tell you if it is covered.

Drive the 150miles to the dealership for the $2100 HV Battery. Bring your old HV Batt for the core and to swap the ECUs into the new pack.

Here's a good link for an explanation of collision & comprehensive, and when to consider dropping these two or one. Do I need comprehensive and collision insurance? | CarInsurance.com

 

I would consider getting a used battery pack from a wrecked car. The newest Gen2 with the lowest miles is the target. Of course that depends on the availability in your country/area.

 

exstudent,
Just so you know, the batteries from Toyota do not come fully assembled. This makes a difference in this case since there is a possibility that there was fire.
OEM packs are a bit trickier and involve more assembly than the fully assembled aftermarket battery packs. For OEM packs you have to swap over components from the old pack to the new one.
zelium probably has the skills to do it, but not everyone may feel comfortable opening up the pack itself to do the additional work.

More importantly...
If any of the components that have to be transferred over to the new pack were damaged, he'll have to buy new/replacement parts:
- the computer inside the pack
- the vent tubes
- the protective covers for the cables
- the end plastic tube
- etc.
Until the pack is opened up, you don't really know what you are in for.

With an aftermarket rebuilt pack, you do not have to worry about transferring over any parts.

 

I just paid $4900 for a 2007 Prius with 190K miles on it - good condition. You should be able to get more on yours than $2300.

 

Chuck,
It would be extremely unlikely to be able to get $2,300 for this car in it's current condition.

This is a car with a DIY rebuilt battery pack in it that has now failed.
The Prius has possible smoke/fire in it.
The battery pack will have to be replaced.
And on top of that, no one knows yet know what other components may have been damaged when the battery pack when kablooey.
All this will be documented in the car's record at the dealer, so this will be public knowledge for anyone who tries to research it before buying.
(Well may not the fact that the owner rebuilt the battery pack.)

Once people see these issues, they may be more likely to find a different car.
It may be worth little more than scrap until all the issues are resolved.

 

I posted too fast....it would have been worth more up to the battery failure.

 

Agreed, Chuck.