Hello! I'm in a bind! Just learned that my 2008 Prius is on its last leg, at 193,000 miles, and needs the hybrid battery replaced. The dealership just gave me an estimate of just under $5000 for replacement and labor costs. I've been wanting to sell this car recently, and since it is a LEGIT touring model of the 2nd Gen Prius (Metallic Gray), I was really hoping to get more for it. Should I just go ahead and take what I can get (or scrap it?), or should I bring it back up to full internal glory and attempt to sell it by marketing it as having a new battery? Is it really worth doing? Thanks for your help! (Had to repost to this forum since I think the original post was lost in the mix after moderator approval)
It's a tough call The buyer's market is going to be for people that know these cars a true touring model 16-in wheels fog lights GPS and the whole nine The long extended spoiler that all the other cars don't have etc yeah really though big deal what kind of condition is the car in overall leather interior clean Not a lot of cracks you can sit in it in shorts without getting your legs cut up? Headliner looks good haven't had anything poking through it loading furniture in the back of the car and so on The carpet on the floor and the rear carpet and the hatch area no big stains no big brown marks the ugly tan velor interior is not present in this car The armrest don't look like somebody took a dump on them on and on and on I mean these things are kind of important when you're trying to make maximum dollar extraction from the market every little thing is going to deduct from that max dollar amount You see the ranges and prices are all over the place don't even fall for any of that that's mostly just silly people but there's a lot of those out there so you might get lucky you're in Dallas Texas I don't imagine in Dallas Texas the market is real huge for generation two's everybody's looking for threes and fours with the problems with the threes they're stuck getting a loan on the floors we'll see how fast they go to wherever they're going because it needs a hybrid battery is scrap the car yeah okay you've been wanting to get rid of this car to scrap it or sell it for a long time because what you want a new car along with everybody else in this world new car new house new payments. You got that kind of money I would imagine you'd already be in a payment in a newer car so there's always these things You're not going to do better than a generation too unless you can afford and do the upkeep on let's say a Gen 4 or 5 those are 30,000 plus dollars so a car loan will be 7 years out or whatever It ain't no ride and worth that to me because as soon as you start that every scratch and div it in the car is going to become something and that's just no way I'm going to live slaving to a chariot You must be kidding me so you're looking for something other than just transportation and I wish you good luck with that You will find it.
she's just broken in. 1) shop around, that's a very high price on a battery. dealers are competitive, call as many as you're willing to drive to. 2) if you're still not happy with the price, shop refurbished batteries. get one with a decent warranty and be open with potential buyers about it.
After someone ran the red light last December, my base model got totaled. I went to tampa hybrids and got a gen 2 (2008) touring fully loaded with 89200miles . I loved my 1st one but this one has features that I really enjoy. There are places that will put in a oem battery for a lot less. I know there is a place somewhere in TX. Tampa hybrids charges 2500.00. Shop around.
get a refurbished battery and sell it off, nobody wants to buy a hybrid with a bad battery at a regular price. green bean or green tech has those for $1200 - $1500. Some say that there are dealers selling new for $2500 but I haven't seen any in my area. 190k is really low miles for a gen2, if it's a gen3 I'll just sell it for scrap..
What is the color, condition, and material of the interior? Is anything else broken besides the hybrid battery? How much would you be willing to sell it for? I recently reconditioned a hybrid battery and replaced the bad cells. The process was quite time-consuming but reasonably manageable, and the issue is now resolved. Refurbished hybrid batteries typically cost around $2,000, depending on the company. Replacing the battery takes a few hours, and having power tools and clip pliers makes the process easier. However, the battery itself is very heavy and has sharp edges. I’d rate the difficulty of a replacement as 4/10, while DIY refurbishing would be closer to 7–8/10, especially if complications arise. For DIY work: Pros: No need to lift the car, handle fluids, or access hard-to-reach areas like most other challenging repairs. Cons: Reassembling the battery modules can be extremely difficult if the bottom holes don’t align perfectly. The sheet metal is prone to bending, especially when flipping the battery over, and it can easily cause cuts. Working with high-voltage gloves can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Reconditioning the battery modules is a slow process and required a lot of babysitting and note-taking. Depending on your investment in hobby chargers and their quality, this process can take several weeks. The car remains immobile while the battery is being worked on.