HV Battery Replacement Experience

I wanted to post in regards to my search for a replacement HV battery in around the Portland Area.

I talked to a few shops, some where more pushy in wanting to get me schedule for service, others seemed to dodge questions and reflect back to what warranty do you want to buy.

I finally saw one mention for a shop on here and gave them a call, they had good local reviews and out of all the companies gave the most through honest answer(s).

My 2006 started acting odd on Friday this last week on my way into work. I noticed that it was down to 1 bar after sitting the evening. Normally it was still in the blue 4 or 5 bars and didn't really think anything of it. It charged up but was green the majority of my 40 mile drive into work. On the way home same story, dead when I went out after work and green on the way home.

Sunday I went to drive it and it was running the engine at a high RPM to charge the battery and was sluggish. Monday it was the same as it was before on Friday on the way into work. It was sluggish going up the hill into work and overall seemed down on power. Well that night I got a block from work and the dreaded Replace Hybrid Battery warning came on. So I parked it.

Thus started my search. I had some tell me how they determine the battery warranty levels by the amperage the battery cells where rated for. 4 Amp Hour 6 Month, 4.5~5.0 1 year, 5.5 2 Year, 5.5+ 3 year. Including one that went to a 5 year 6 amp Battery. I got answers from several that you had to use gen 2 cells, 3 and 4 are not worth it, don't work and etc.

Finally found someone suggested Hybrid Battery Exchange and they do a Gen 3 2010+ Cell battery with a 3 year warranty. Some people might suggest that putting money in an older vehicle is not worth it. I use this to drive 500 miles a week so any cheap car I could purchase might have similar issue. We will see how well this battery works. The team that came out did a great job, showed me common issues and how to fix a few that I do have.

I will update once I have some miles on the car and maybe run it thru Dr. Prius once to see how it rates this refurbished battery.

 

Wanted to post an update.

After driving close to 400 miles I went thru the first tank with the new battery. Was averaging right around 44 miles per gallon. First tank with the new battery was 52.2. Probably a combination of weather, new battery and etc. We will see if the average stays up after a few more trips. I drive around 500 miles per week and go thru a tank and half.

So far the new battery has stayed in the blue one bar below green 95% of the time. It does jump into the green when coasting/braking up to stop sign from a high speed. Normally 60 mph to 25 then a stop it will go into green for the next few minutes but drops back down and stays. Before just a normal stop would cause the battery to go green, and take off would eat 2 bars.