New Owner of a used 2007 Prius Touring, bought a month back and the hybrid Battery died

Hello all Prius owners,

This is to share my story as a new owner of a used 2007 Prius Touring. I got a 2007 Prius with 108500 miles last month for $5000. I checked the Carfax and Autocheck reports before purchasing the vehicle and the records indicated great maintenance of the car. Single owner, great maintenance, only 108K miles (i expected the original battery to last at least 25-30K miles based on my online research), and a decent price...and a lot of great reviews and reliability feedback from different Prius forums made me purchase the car. Happy for the first month. Then a warning light for 'low tire pressure' showed up on dashboard. I thought its a simple thing. Then a day later, dashboard 'lit like a christmas tree' with 'death triangle', 'VSC', 'check engine', and red symbol -'car with an exclamation'- on the MFD showed up. Based on my previous research and knowledge, i thought it was the battery and had it confirmed at the local dealer. Quoted me a price of $3200 with 3 year/unlimited miles warranty. But, the news shook me as I realized that's a steep price for a $5000 car purchased just a month back. Adding to that, the dealer told me to have the '100k mile service' done to avoid a couple of warning lights and the near future issues...and that costed me $746 ($90 Diagnosis fee+$118 Transmission fluid drain and fill+$116 coolant drain and fill+ $102 inverter coolant drain and fill+$112 four spark plugs replacement+$111 throttle body service+$50 shop supplies+7%tax). Initially the agent at the dealership (Carl Hogan Toyota, Columbus, MS) quoted the prices for the parts which came up around $150, and i assumed (a humongous mistake on my part) that the labor would be 1-1.5 hours and the final bill would be $250-300. The agent was not clear on the labor costs and the total price but i should have been cautious and would have asked clearly. I walked out of the dealership with $746 paid without the original problem not fixed.

Coming to the main issue, cell 12 voltage reads only 13.4 V while the rest of the battery cells read 14.6V. I was told that the hybrid battery has to be replaced. I am not ready psychologically and financially to spend such huge price. I started looking for a refurbished one and 'Hometown Hybrids' based out of Houston offers refurbished battery for $1000 with 1 year/25K miles warranty and a new battery with 3yr/75K miles for $2400. Unfortunately, it costs me $1300 to have it shipped to my place and more for installation and total could be $1700-1800. They offer mobile installation services and the closest location they offer their services will cost me $1400 to have the battery installed. I am torn on what to do, and i badly need the vehicle in the next couple of weeks. Having a hard to decide. I was watching a couple of videos and giving a thought about buying a refurbished battery and replacing the battery myself. At this point I'm not really confident as the process involves a lot of moving parts and requirement of a couple of special tools.

Any suggestions/input are welcome. Thanks!

-vk

PS: Thanks to jerrymildred and brisco for their initial suggestions.

 

I didn't notice any symptoms. Car was averaging 43 mpg local drive. Tire pressure warning was ON and a couple of days later, the red triangle, VSC, check engine, etc. were ON. Also, the AC was not being very cool and it was taking quite a while to cool. The Toyota dealer diagnosed with P0A80 code (Battery block Vol - V12 read 13.37V vs. others reading 14.6-14.7V). I called Toyota corporate the same time I wrote my post and i was told that they will get back to me (Nothing yet). I didn't test the 12V battery myself but of the opinion that the dealership did it.

I'll update the progress. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

Todd gave me the options between buying a used battery vs. a new one. He was against a refurbished battery, and having a single cell replaced seems to be a temporary fix. I would have probably gone to Todd's shop if i am closer to his location.

I didn't check the 12V battery but i expect that the dealership did it. Thanks!