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Individual cell replacement on Prius battery.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Thelma, Feb 15, 2009.

  1. Thelma

    Thelma New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2009
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    Location:
    Greenville, SC
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Hi.. I am new here. I have a 2001 Prius that I got in Dec. of 2000 so it was one of the first out. Several months ago I had a problem with the small battery and had it replaced at Toyota. A few months later I had my warning lights come on again and took the car to Toyota. They said it would be close to 4K to replace my big battery along with a computer. My car had 134K at the time and Toyota corporate offered me $1000 off a new or certified Toyota but would not replace the battery. I found a mechanic willing to learn about cell replacement and ordered the two needed cells at $49 each off of ebay. Toyota teaches cell replacement to their mechanics but does not offer it to owners as a option for repair. The mechanic said I did not need to replace the computer which was over $1,100 of the 4K price. He charged me $576 for the work done and I am on the road again. He said if it happened again it would not cost as much. I asked him if he wanted to take on more cars for people who are in my same situation and he said "Sure." He is located in Simpsonville, South Carolina (close to Greenville, SC) and can be reached at Chuck's Automotive Repair 864-228-1661 . I bought the cells off ebay and had them shipped directly to him.
     
    #1 Thelma, Feb 15, 2009
    Kristenmcg and tkeeler like this.
  2. rebecca72882

    rebecca72882 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2010
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    Location:
    Atlanta, Ga
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Help! Does anyone know of a mechanic in Atlanta, GA that will replace an individual cell in the hybrid battery?
     
    #2 rebecca72882, Jan 9, 2010
  3. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2007
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    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    depending on the state off the other cells not replaced you have months to go and you have a new red traingle.

    for both :


    do not replace cells
    try to get a second hand 2004 and up battery from ebay or alike.
    replacing 1 or 2 cells wil only get you into trouble in the future
     
    #3 Flying White Dutchman, Jan 9, 2010
  4. bobofky

    bobofky Member

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2007
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    Time is the limiting factor of battery life. I have a 2001 that needed a replacement in Jan 2009 at 192000 miles. My sister-in-law has an identical car that needed a replacement in September 2009 at 127000 miles. My replacement battery has died after 18 months and 26000 miles. It took almost six weeks to obtain the battery through the local Toyota Dealer. I am guessing that it came from a ware house in Japan where it had been setting for many years. Toyota has told me that it is not its concern and if I am no longer a customer then they don't care.

    Because the cells that you didn't replace are the same age of the failing ones it is likely that you will experience another failure before long.
     
    #4 bobofky, Jul 23, 2010
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