My Toyota dealer is selling refurbished traction batteries

Hi: I need a replacement traction battery and found that one dealer in my area is offering 2 battery options: 1) brand new or 2) New battery cells in an old battery case. Option one is $2700 and option two is $1850. Both carry a 1 year warranty. Parts counter said that everyone is opting for the refurbished battery. They have been offered from Toyota for a year with no returns to date.

I looked at the battery pack and see that the cells are made in Japan but its assembled in USA. The box is marked "property of Toyota". Seems legit but Im skeptical. Does anyone know the backstory with this? I am wondering if Toyota NA has teamed up with a supplier to rebuild battery packs. Seems unusual for an OEM to deal in refurb battery packs. Maybe the execs figured they are losing too many sales?

I checked another dealer and they did not offer the refurb option. Curious mind wants to know!

 

Jadizias: Yes G9510-47031-84 is the PN listed on my invoice for the refurb battery pack. Im curious why you are asking?

I asked several times with different employees and they all parrot the 1 year warranty. I wonder if there is someone at Toyota NA to confirm the 3 year warranty on this part. Obviously this is very important. There are no warranty terms on my invoice.

 

I'll take a close look and take pics of what I can. I won't void the warranty but I'll try to see if those cells are new. the dealer claims that for warranty work, they must use the new part due to liability of used parts . For non warranty work, they steer customers toward these. They claim these cells are 100% new. I have no reason to believe the dealer is lying, but it would be nice to know who is doing the refurb and what cells they are using. The box is certainly high quality. takes up half the f150 bed!

 

Yes. the dealer wants $1K for install and it looks like a 2 hr job at maximum.

 

I didnt realize that this thread would generate so much interest. Because of this, I am planning on taking photos of the unboxed pack tonight and post them to the forum. I will wait until Saturday to do the install in case there are any more inquiries before the pack goes into the car. I appreciate JCs offer to help - I just may take you up on it! While Im in there Im going to weld a new 12V battery tray to fit the larger "smart key" battery on my non-smart key car. I put it in there a few weeks ago, knowing that I may have trouble fitting it, but wanted the extra capacity regardless. It fit, but the battery bracket had to be bent for it to work. Im too cheap to buy the proper bracket from Toyota - they got enough of my money this year!