Refurbished hybrid battery - St. Louis area? (Or other options?)

Yesterday, all the scary dashboard lights came on in my 2006 Prius. I managed to get it to the dealer (about 3o minutes), but the battery display never got above 3 or 4 bars and the fan next to the back seat was blowing the whole time. Anyway, they call me today and inform me that an individual cell is bad. They can either replace the individual cell for like $890, or the whole battery pack for $3500. I don't really like either option. That seems like way too much for a single cell, when there's a good chance another one would go bad before too long. I should point out that the car has around 175,000 miles.

I'm thinking of going the refurbished battery pack route. From what I'm seeing, it looks like that would be 1/4 to 1/3 the price of a new one from the dealership. Does anyone know of a reliable service center in or near the St. Louis area that does these? Here's what I've found so far:

1) A place called Auto Evaluators, Inc. on Watson Road in St. Louis. According to their Craigslist ad, they will refurbish your battery "starting at" $799. Most jobs are done within 2 days. Apparently they are "hybrid certified technicians," and it comes with a 6 month warranty. It would be about a 45 minute drive from where my car is now, and as I said I already had it on the road about 30 minutes after the dash lit up. Here is their website: Auto Evaluators, Inc., 7721 Watson Road, St. Louis, MO - Webster Groves - Volvo, Subaru, Volkswagen, Audi, and Hybrid Specialists

2) Someone called Hybrid Restoration of Memphis has 2 refurbished batteries on eBay for $759 each. They will travel and install free up to 3 hours from Memphis, or for a fee if it's more than 3 hours. I'm about 5 hours, so I'm waiting to hear back on what they would charge. Also has a $129 shipping fee on the eBay listing; not sure if that means only if it's actually shipped, or in addition to whatever they'll charge to travel and install it. Either way I'm guessing $900-$950 range total. Says it has a 12 month / unlimited mile warranty. Ebay feedback is good, but not very high. Here's the listing: 2004 2009 Toyota Prius Reconditioned Hybrid Battery with BCM Road Tested | eBay and their website: Hybrid Restoration of Memphis | Your one stop shop for hybrid battery repairs!

3) Green Tec Auto - battery is a little higher ($1100), but they seem to have a good reputation from what I can tell. They do mobile install, and it looks like their nearest location is Kansas City, so not sure what the charge would be to install in the St. Louis area. 6 month warranty; they also offer one with an 18 month warranty for $1345. Can't tell if there is any difference in the batteries other than the warranty. Their website: Toyota Prius Gen 2 Hybrid Battery | Hybrid Battery Replacement

4) The more I think about it, I just wonder if a new battery for $3500 is such a bad idea. Am I correct in assuming this would be a brand new battery, just like they would put in a new car? Would I expect to get 100,000 miles or more out of it? If I knew I could buy a car right now that would last 100,000 miles for $3500, I would jump on it. I know other things could (and probably will) go wrong, but the battery is the main thing on the Prius, right? My maintenance to this point has been pretty reasonable and nothing too crazy. Seeing that a lot of people are getting 250k-300k makes me think that with a new battery, I could still have a lot of life left. I also don't drive nearly as much as I used to, probably around 15,000 a year now. Would it be reasonable to expect another 100k on my 175k Prius with a new hybrid battery?

I would really, really appreciate any thoughts, insight, or comments on any of the above, or any options I haven't thought of, or any other reliable technicians in the St. Louis area that do this kind of work. Thanks!

 

Thanks JC. When I call them back, I'll ask about the warranty on the single cell. However, even if it's a good warranty, it wouldn't cover any other cells going bad, right? Isn't there a decent chance that another cell would fail before too long, at which point I'd just be wishing I had replaced the whole thing. Also - what's the deal with the "core credit" I've been reading about? Some sources say that would reduce the cost of your new battery by $1350 or whatever, but other sources say that's offered to the dealer, not the consumer, and is already figured into your battery cost.

Any thoughts on the idea of a refurbished battery? I almost think I'd rather take the chance on a whole refurbished battery pack than a single cell from the dealership at roughly the same cost.

 

I see what you're saying - anyone selling a refurbished battery has just replaced the single module on a battery just like mine, so there's just as much chance of another cell going out on one of those as on my current battery. However, those places also say their warranty covers the whole battery, whereas I just called the Toyota dealer and was told that if they replace the cells (they said it's actually 2 bad cells), it comes with a 12 month warranty but ONLY on those cells. They did say the other cells look fine though, so I think I'm going to go that route for $890. Thanks again, and feel free to chime in with any additional suggestions (like if it's not a good deal after all since the warranty doesn't cover the entire battery).