Should I be wary of buying low-mileage Prius with "replaced hybrid battery"?

It's more age and use than anything else. If your Prius has lived a commuter life in Chicago, that's very different than a retiree life in Arizona or Florida where it sits for a week or two at a time and gets baked at 110F outside temperatures and 140F+ interior temperatures for the entire day.

At this point, any Gen-2 Prius is set for a battery replacement. 12-ish years is the norm and the 2009's came out in calendar year 2008.

 

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How do you know the replacement HV battery was "new", and not a reconditioned (if you're lucky) set of used mix matched modules ?

At a minimum (bigger tickets deserve a carfax as well), confirm the vehicles mileage and maintenance history, including if the HV battery was installed at a dealership, by running the VIN at : Track Your Service Records with Your Toyota Owners Account

 

I would want to see the invoice for the battery replacement. If it wasn't Toyota (or Newpriusbatteries) then figure another possible HV replacement into your financial calculations.

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to upgrade from a 2006, if you can't afford a 2016, i would look for a 2009. it doesn't matter if the hybrid battery has been replaced. in fact, it's a good thing, if the replacement was an oem toyota.

 

The “new” hybrid battery is quite a racket. A new battery from the dealer is expensive and if they say it was a dealer battery they should be proud to show you the receipt instead you’ll probably get a song and dance.

If you drive the hell out of a G2 the hybrid battery will last a long
Long time like yours.
If not driven daily or worse not drive it for a few days all the time over years that kills that battery.

 

The battery is the least of your worries on a 2010

 

I would always be wary of listings claiming they replaced the hybrid battery. Most such replacements are replacing the original battery with a battery full of used cells from other old batteries, and they won’t last. I would only buy a Prius with an HV battery replacement if the replacement was a brand new battery, either from Toyota directly or from 2k1Toaster’s battery company.

As with any other car, you ideally want to buy a car with a complete verified service history, that has had all recommended maintenance completed. That kind of car will last the longest.

 

Rmay has a point. G3's are alot of work. Toyota really messed up the egr system.

 

In answer to the topic header... yes you should be very wary. That doesn't mean don't buy, but it means you have to dig a bit to see if the HV pack is legit new or a remanufactured. If a reman'd pack adjust the purchase price to allow for a replacement pack down the road. Maybe not the full price of a new pack like OEM or NewPriusBatteries, but maybe $1000 lower than asking price and be prepared that at some point you will likely need to address this as an issue.

If they have a legit receipt for a new pack look at the date of the purchase and details of the purchase like name matches the seller, etc. If an OEM part you could take the VIN and verify with Toyota that it's legit. If it's a new pack that would be a big plus for the vehicle if it's reasonably recent. Also check for warranty transfer to you if you buy. Personal opinion... if you have high expectation of long term trouble free service, expect to replace any reman'd HV pack as a part of the purchase price.

Besides the above, get a BT/OBD module and a decent app to see if any codes are present. Either temporary or permanent. Be very wary of a vehicle that hasn't been driven enough to complete OBDII checks, that usually means the codes have been erased recently enough that it hasn't seen enough driving and starts to give an indication of any problems. This could be a big red flag until all checks have completed to give a good picture of vehicle health. And absolutely check every feature of the car like heater, A/C, wipers (all modes), all lights, etc. You have one chance to check everything works, once you buy it's your problem.

A good low mileage Prius could be a great buy if everything checks out. Good luck.