Main Battery Failure - 07 103k - Cert. used car. - Fair treatment?

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Did they provide any error codes (DTCes) to help prove that it's the HV battery?

I'm little confused.... so w/the other dealer, if you'd get no assistance, how much would you have to pay, out of pocket?

$1382.74 in total for a new HV battery and all parts and labor sounds pretty good considering prices like FAQ for a non-new one.

 

jdjoe_97,

I would say the deal for only $1,382.74 sounds like a fair price with the assistance in this case for a new HV battery, but after that job is done with this dealer I would either use the 2nd dealer for any further work or shop around before you have anything done in the future. I can't remember the dealer parts guy that has been on our site, but he's in Ohio I think. He has great prices on factory parts & somebody else may remember who he is & provide a link. His price for a new HV battery is around $1,600 to $1,700 I think, but then there is the shipping cost & the labor for installation to include, but that should be way less than the $4,382.74 your repairing dealer originally wanted. Back in 2004 & 2005 when the 2G Priuses were new, we heard that the HV batteries had a retail price of around $4,000. Some dealers think they can still charge that same price, but at other dealers the going rate seems to average around $2,000 to $2,500 now for the battery only & then there's the guy in Ohio at about $1,600 to $1,700.

The assistance of $500 & $2,500 you are being offered is probably due to the fact you bought a certified used car that shouldn't have had a failure so soon since the certification process & maybe the other discount of the two is Toyota's good will gesture. Either way, shop around next time (at least for your parts).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Battery warranty is 8 years or 100,000 miles. How many miles on car?

 

Are you having it repaired at the same dealer that certified it and sold it to you?

 

have you tried calling the dealer who certified the car and see if they will pitch in? or maybe come get the car and fix it for you under warranty.

 

sounds like a very good deal. i think if you had gone to the cheaper dealer first, toyota would have only thrown in $1500. because that dealer was already discounting the battery.

 

Just to verify, they are offering a new battery, installed, for $1382? If so: that is one hell of a good deal, undercuts ReinVolt for rebuilt with core charge.

 

My 06 failed at 102.4k and Toyota picked up half. I paid about $1600 for a $3100 battery with a 1 year warranty. Yes, I will probably sell it.

 

Give the dealer who certified the car and sold it to you the chance to make things good. Dealers want happy customers, but you have to give them the chance to make you happy.

If you stay with the dealer where the car is now, ask them if they can offer something extra in lieu of the $1000, maybe a 100,000 mile transferable warranty on the new battery.

 

My guess is you will find that your net out-of-pocket price of $1,400 will not improve. Your first post indicates you have already asked Toyota about the possibility of having your car repaired elsewhere.

Answering the question embedded in your subject line, a net price of $1,400 is fair treatment. You're asking for a lot if you expect to get a new traction battery installed for $400.

 

I agree that $1400 installed for a new battery is a good deal. But in the context of jdjoe being only 3k miles out of warranty I can see why he might be expecting to get as good of a deal as possible.

BTW jdjoe. How sudden was your battery failure. Did you notice any driveability issues or declining performance in the weeks or months leading up to this? What about state of charge anomalies, rapid swings in battery charge.

 

I wonder what would happen if you trailer the car to a California dealer where the battery warranty is 150,000 miles, regardless of where it was purchased. Maybe that is only for the Plug-In though.

 

Ok so the main thing you noticed was that you'd lose your charge rapidly when you started out in the morning. What did it typically drop down to, was it like only one or two bars (red)? Also did you ever figure out if it was actually losing charge overnight or if it was just losing it rapidly once you started driving. People who complain of low battery charge at start up often have difficulty distinguishing exactly when it is lost.

Anyway, good luck with the new battery and I hope Toyota come through for you with picking up a good part of the cost.

 

Ok, thanks for the info.

A lot of people report this type of thing. I think it can happen for batteries even in relatively good condition, but gets a lot worse if the battery is on it's way out. The Prius tries hard to use the engine as little as possible in the first minute or so while it's cold, and so draws heavily on the electric power even when the ICE is running. This seems to be a particular problem if you have to climb a hill or accelerate reasonably briskly in the first minute or so.

When I noticed my Prius doing this I began the practice of letting the car warm up in "P" for about 45 seconds from cold starts. This seems to have markedly improved how well the charge holds up in the first few minutes and it seems to have actually increased my overall MPG (it certainly hasn't hurt it). So far my battery seems to be holding on alright, even though I believe it's displayed some early signs of weakness, so I'm definitely keeping my eye on it.