Shopping for a Gen II - What should I look for

When it is "freezing cold" the ICE will run longer and more often as it attempts to keep itself warm.

In warmer weather the ICE will be at a high enough temp. so it won't run at the stop sign at the end of my street. In the winter it will run at the stop sign, the first traffic light in the development, and maybe at the second light for the county road with a higher speed limit. All told, that could be 2 to 5 minutes. Once the car is on the highway it'll get warm within a minute or 2.

If the climate control and/or defrosters are on it'll take longer.

 

Do most of you guys here plan to spend the $2-3k for a NEW from Toyota battery? At this point, these cars are worth $5-6k or so which brings battery replacement at around half of the value of the car itself. Most money guys suggest that is around the max one should ever spend on any car repair.


But these cars might be different than the norm? Mine, like most others here have had very few repairs while owning their Prius. And As for myself, I still love driving this thing.

 

Matt-

Can you advise me as to what I should expect in the event of my hybrid battery failing? I assume that since you have worked on so many with failed batteries that you would have great insight on this.


I use my 2006 Prius for frequent longer trips, and I wonder if I will someday be stranded without warning- or if I will get the warning light and be able to drive it for a short while to a safe place? My 2006 has been an amazing, comfortable, dependable vehicle but the black cloud of a failed HV Battery looms large.

 

there is no answer for what most people do. as you will find if you search here, there are many options for a failed hybrid battery, and as many people choosing a different option based on their circumstances.
some will post here for opinions, and then make a choice as to what option is best for them.

 

If my traction battery fails before December 2019 I'll have Toyota send a truck to pick up the car and install a new battery on their dime.

After that, I honestly don't know. The car's dated now. It's really going to be dated in 2020. If there is something "better" that fits my criteria I'll probably buy a new car and the Gen5 will probably be right around the corner.

My used cars are scrapped or if they are serviceable given away. There's enough interest & experience in the car club that I should be able to find a few guys interested in a project car. They'd also help if I wanted to replace the pack on my own.

My advice to someone with an out of warranty Prius under 150,000 miles is to either find a used pack in a salvage yard or buy a new battery as the car still has a lot of life left in it. It's good for someone's first car and a lot better than what many of us had.
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I believe most/many failures have warning signs like rapidly fluctuating SOC or the ICE running more than usual. Too many times the warnings are ignored leading to the inevitable catastrophic failure. Other failures can be sudden & catastrophic.

Everyone seems to stress out about the traction battery but other parts can also fail. A failed capacitor in the IPM will shut down the inverter.

A reversed polarity jump start will probably cost more than a new battery to repair all the damage.

Too many people don't check their oil. Chances are the overheated engine isn't going to fail in your driveway.

The older a car gets the probability of something unpleasant happening increases. We have to decide for ourselves how much we can tolerate and when to pull the plug.