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TOYOTA now has 5yr, unlimited km warranty (-and, conditionally, 7yr, with 10yr on Hybrid Battery)

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by alanclarkeau, Jan 7, 2019.

  1. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Announced in last few days, TOYOTA in Australia has finally gone from their poor 3yr/100,000km warranty to a 5 year/unlimited kilometres warranty (160,000km for commercial use).

    Toyota Warranty Advantage | 5-year Warranty | Toyota Australia

    I haven't read all the fine-print TOYOTA's full statement, but it brings TOYOTA into line with the rest of the market here. junkCapture.JPG .
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Now if only they bring that to America
     
  3. Sarge

    Sarge Senior Member

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    3 years 100k KM is poor? I’ll take it. It’s 3 years / 60k KM in Canada. (n)
     
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  4. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    Everyone always worries about the HV battery. I still have people who never even rode in a Prius that I know ask me if my battery went bad. Toyota has created a "Battery Anxiety" just like people that drive electric have rang anxiety.
    If they made the battery cheaper and a no hassle change I think Toyota would sell more hybrid cars.
     
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  5. Sarge

    Sarge Senior Member

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    Yep, many still have battery anxieties with Hybrids, but I do believe it has toned down. Battery pricing does continue to decline, as production ramps up. Reliability and longevity continue to improve as well, with the more real-world data that is available. I do find it amazing a large portion of the population still do not understand the difference between a Hybrid, EV, and PHEV. But I digress.

    I was one of the “unlucky” ones who had an HV battery failure in my ‘06, but the car was almost 8 years old and 273K KM on the odometer at that time. The car had already saved me about $8K in gas compared to my prior gas-sipper (~28 MPG 1996 Integra LS) I was driving before that, so I figured it owed me nothing, even if I going with the worst case option, which would be splurging for a brand new pack from Toyota (~$3500).

    Rather, I did my research and found a private shop that would rebuild it for $1200 instead. Did that instead and it bought me another 3 years (120K KM) before it failed again (and rebuilt a second time for $600 as a repeat customer). Very few issues aside from scheduled maintenance, car never stranded me, even when the HV failed!........

    ... and the overall experience and realiability is the reason I bought another, with a plug this time. ;)
     
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  6. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    I feel sorry for someone who buys a used Prius and then find out it needs a HV battery. Mine paid me from the day I bought it new but used, buyer beware.
     
  7. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Prior to this, it was equal worst in Australia - along with NISSAN. Most of the rest have been 5yr for years, with some 6 or 7, though SUBARU and VW only just bumped up to 5 yrs in the last few months.

    NISSAN hasn't made a move yet - the only other ones, but smaller sellers are the "luxury" brands which, apart from Genesis (5) and LEXUS (4) are still only 3 years.
     
  8. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Yes, I've had a few question me about what it'll cost me - I tell them that unless I keep it (unlikely) past 8 years, NOTHING because it's under warranty for that long. I then tell them my calculation is that I'll have saved nearly $10k in fuel; and batteries are nearer $3-3½k by then - compared with a similar sized ICE vehicle. And savings in brakes, gearboxes as well.
     
  9. ILuvMyPriusToo

    ILuvMyPriusToo Senior Member

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    I gather Australia has different laws than US/EU and holds manufacturers to 5 yr of coverage whether they offer it as policy or not? Subaru also just announced 5 year basic coverage down under.
     
  10. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    VW also went to 5yrs. NISSAN is the only major seller here with only 3 year warranty.

    Yes, the ACCC has rules which can force manufacturers to right elements which prove faulty past the warranty period. BUT - it's relatively useless for smaller items which fail, only able to be invoked for major problems like FORD's Gertrag PowerShift twin-clutch which was a disaster. But that took owners over a year before FORD admitted fault and the ACCC demanded all the gearboxes be fixed. With major items, it's a real run-around trying to get the fault fixed. You've got a better chance if everyone's car has the fault (like the PowerShift) - if yours is a one-off engine failure, it can be very difficult to get action. The manufacturer will use every delaying tactic known to ... carmakers ... to try to deter people. Your car can be off the road for several months while you're arguing your "rights" under the legislation - and yes, you might finally did get fixed.

    But if it has a 5 yr warranty - a phone call - that my dashboard has lit up like a Christmas Tree with Malfunctions - it'll be fixed without question (unless I haven't serviced the car correctly).
     
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  11. Starship_Enterprius

    Starship_Enterprius Active Member

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    Interesting...may I know which shop you had it rebuilt (if that isn't too much to ask). It's always good to have this information ready just in case. Thanks!
     
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  12. Sarge

    Sarge Senior Member

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    Absolutely, it is called Autodex, in Concord, Ontario, north end of Toronto. Number is (905) 660-0556, Mony is the man.

    It’s a bit of a drive from Ottawa, but well worth it if you need major repairs, like a battery rebuild, or engine swap, etc. He actually specializes in salvage Prius salvage projects, buying damaged cars for cheap, repairing and selling for great prices (with full disclosure, including “before” pictures. So also good to reach out to him if you are shopping for an inexpensive Prius. :)

    Great guy.
     
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  13. Starship_Enterprius

    Starship_Enterprius Active Member

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    Awright... it's in my contact list now. I don't mind the drive, I look for excuses to drive. But if ever the day does come, the real question is how far the car would go lol. Anyway, thanks. Could be useful someday.
     
  14. Sarge

    Sarge Senior Member

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    You’re welcome, just make sure you call ahead, as he is mostly a 1-man shop, but he does have another guy that helps him. He does have clients that come from long distances (Quebec and elsewhere). Cheers!
     
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  15. liquidtenmillion

    liquidtenmillion Active Member

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    A hybrid battery replacement with a new battery costs about the same as an automatic transmission replacement of a standard car with a used transmission, and both are equally likely to happen.

    A Prius transaxle is unbelieveably reliable, so really just look at a hybrid battery replacement the same way you’d look at a transmission replacement in any other car. You really only have to worry about it if you plan on taking it to 150k miles or more, and just like auto transmissions, plenty have gone 200k miles or even 300k miles.
     
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  16. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    I think you'll find a Hybrid Battery much cheaper than a new car's transmission. I've heard horror prices to repair some - and some are lasting much less than 10 years (in 1992, my father was quoted $3500 to overhaul an auto - and I'm sure they've gone up since then). I'm not sure how much the new 8 speed autos will cost to overhaul, but I reckon it won't be cheap.

    Most hybrid batteries are going fine at 10 years.
     
  17. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    I’d wondered if there might have been a change to the warranties planned, since the U.S. version of the Warranty & Maintenance Guide (PDF) wasn’t available when the other manuals for the 2019 Prius were first posted. It’s available now, though, and in the chart on page 12, I don’t see any major changes since 2018, when the durations of the California emissions warranties were reduced.

    I imagine an unlimited-mileage warranty in the U.S. market would have a serious problem of adverse selection. Unless other automakers were to follow suit, people who know they will drive far more than usual would buy the cars just for the generous warranty, increasing the warranty costs substantially.
     
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  18. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Yes, very possibility.

    We're paying considerably more for cars than in USA, I guess, so maybe that's to pay for warranty, but also our market is substantially smaller (only 10 or 15%) so we don't have the scale of operation. Being RHD, and with some unique Australian Design Rules, cars could be costing more to land here. Though, in reality, my previous 3 cars have had no warranty claims in the 3 or 4½ years I've kept them, so cars are quite reliable nowdays. [My current PRIUS is the exception, with 2 warranty repairs and 2 recalls already.]

    The drive toward longer warranties here started in about 1995 when Mazda brought in a 3yr warranty, I think the first. Over the next 10 years, the rest caught up, but by then, Hyundai had gone to 5yrs, KIA followed then Mitsubishi. Next was a couple more years later with KIA going to 7yrs, and then most of the others gradually went to 5yrs. As at 6 mths ago, there were only 4 major players with 3yrs warranty, VW, TOYOTA, SUBARU and NISSAN. VW & SUBARU moved a couple of months ago to 5 yrs, now TOYOTA has jumped too.

    I think part was the ACCC giving FORD a severe going over, saying:
    upload_2019-1-9_15-20-38.png

    And the outcome 9 mths later:
    upload_2019-1-9_15-21-37.png
    And - on top of the penalty, they were forced to fix the broken cars.

    I believe GM, Jeep and Hyundai were also "instructed" by ACCC.

    About the same time, the ACCC "put New Car Industry on Notice" for, in part "... car manufacturers’ focus on warranty obligations to the exclusion of their consumer guarantee obligations ..." - but also other issues, like getting customers to sign 'non-disclosure' statements when certain repairs were carried out - as a threat.

    Reading between the lines, the consumer guarantee obligations imply that an item should be serviceable for an expected length of time, depending on what it costs - and that the auto gearbox on a FORD should 1) work properly; and 2) work for longer than the 3yr warranty. For example, if a TV died the week after a 12 month warranty, we could claim on the basis that a TV should last longer than 12 months. If the TV manufacturer didn't respond adequately, we have recourse to a complaint to the ACCC

    The car industry has responded by giving longer warranties - as it's become a bit of an issue with sales - I assume they think they'd start losing sales with shorter warranties.

    [EDIT - I just read that TESLA have an 8 year warranty - and Rolls Royce 4 years]
     
    #18 alanclarkeau, Jan 9, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2019
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  19. Starship_Enterprius

    Starship_Enterprius Active Member

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    Has there been a thread survey here in priuschat of how long peoples battery actually lasted? Additional useful information would be what kind of driving they did, the temperature in their area, and preventive maintenance that helped longevity, and the state of the battery before it died.
     
  20. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    all you have to do is move 7000 miles. I'd like to move there. Think how often & expensive & how long it would take to go see your in-laws.

    .