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  1. danimelara

    danimelara Junior Member

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    Hi.
    I bought my used Prius 2006 back in 2011 with 105k miles on it in California. The first owner bought the car from California.
    Now the car has 147,000 miles on it.
    Yesterday I turned the car on and I received a combination of three light
    1. the red triangle
    2. (!)
    3. check engine

    All three lights were on and it was a little scary. The battery started acting a little weird. Sometimes it has rapid changes from fully charged (green) to almost depleted (purple). I say sometimes because sometimes it acts like normal. It acts weird when I put the car on D or R before the ICE starts.

    I retreieved the codes using my cheap pocket OBDII reader and it gave me P0A80 and P0A80 continous.

    I know that the P0a80 is very straight forward. It means that the battery pack needs to be replaced.

    I am taking my car to the dealer today but I have a few questions for you before I got.

    1) Is my car under warranty? the manufacture date of my prius is 06/06 and it has 147k miles
    2) What should I expect at the dealer. If they say that they will replace the battery pack, do I have to pay installation labor and other?
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    You are very lucky to have the battery fail at 147k miles. You have a warranty in CA up to 150k miles. Everything should be free when you get there.......they may ask for a diagnosis fee up front (that you agree to pay), but once they find the code P0a80, you won't have to pay it.
     
  3. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    hopefully the dealers changes it for free then when you get it back id change the 12 volt in the trunk to avoid problems for years to come...costs about $150, dealer will rape you on labor so do I yourself..
     
  4. danimelara

    danimelara Junior Member

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    Thanks for both replies.

    I have an appointment at 1pm in Downtown L.A. Toyota. I will post as soon as I hear from them.

    Yeah, I guess I got lucky with the 147k miles and 10 year warranty in CA.

    I replaced the 12v battery like a year ago with a Optima one. Do you still think that I should replace it too?
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    nope. let us know how you make out, all the best!(y)
     
  6. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    should be good if its only a year old...I think their life span is about 4 years
     
  7. danimelara

    danimelara Junior Member

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    So toyota told me that the vehicle will need a hybrid battery assembly. They said it is covered under the warranty.
    Is this battery Assembly the same as a new battery pack?

    Now I worried...
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yes, there's only one. you win the prize!(y)
     
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Yes you are lucky to live in a CARB state.
    My 2006 is almost identical miles but I'd be in a heap of trouble as I am way out of warranty for a Virginian (non-CARB).
    By the way it's academic now but the date that matters is orig date of purchase.
    Also Toyota's been pretty good helping folks a little over warranty miles but your case is a slam dunk free replacement under the rules.
     
  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I'm at 149700 and I've stopped driving my 2006
     
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how much time do you have?
     
  12. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    No need to worry. You will get a new traction battery case, 28 new modules and the connecting busbars. The traction battery ECU and the system main relays will be moved from the original battery enclosure to the new one.

    As previously pointed out, you won the traction battery lottery so you should feel very good about this experience.
     
  13. danimelara

    danimelara Junior Member

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    Yeah I guess I got lucky.

    ha-ha. You are hoping to go bad before 150k? what's the original purchase date?
    That is funny but smart!

    Thank you Mr. Wong, You are always thorough!.

    I went to Toyota which is like 2 blocks away from where I live and the representative confirmed what everyone here said. They will be installing a new battery pack.

    Now, what's the warranty on the new battery pack? another 150k miles?
     
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    one year. but at least it should last quite a long time, it's the same or better than the original.
     
  15. danimelara

    danimelara Junior Member

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    BREAKING NEWS:

    Toyota just called me a few seconds ago, and they told me that they cannot replace the battery because the cooling fan is very dirty.
    They want to charge me $250 to clean it. I asked him if that's an hourly fee or just a fee. They said that it 2 hours of work to clean the fan.
    I politely refused but the rep told me that he will ask his technician if they can just replace the battery without cleaning the fan. He'll call me back.
    What should I do????
    @Patrick Wong
     
  16. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    If they are in there replacing the battery, to reach the fan at that point, does not take 2 hours. It'll take 10 more minutes. And obviously they've looked at the fan already to tell you it's dirty.....now it's just sticking your finger in there and take out the crap.....another 30 seconds. I would not agree to a 2 hour charge, maybe 1/2 hour billing
     
  17. danimelara

    danimelara Junior Member

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    I agree with you. It does not take more than 10 minutes to leave that fan clean and shiny.
    After I told them that I wasn't going to pay $250 for that, they called me back 5 minutes later and they told me that cleaning the fan is essesial and they are willing to go down to $125. I think $125 is still a lot of money to clean the fan.
    However, I agreed to $125 since I do not want to be arguing with them anymore and since that's everything I will be paying for the installation of a new battery pack.
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    just an fyi for everybody reading, there is no requirement to have paid work done, when warranty work is being done.
     
  19. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This just might be a way for the dealer to get a few extra bucks......like going in with a new cabin filter, then to get a call to say "the filter looks dirty and needs replacement"
     
    bisco likes this.
  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    exactly, probably sop for them, get paid from both ends.