Traction Battery slowly going bad

And I think that's what killed mine prematurely. I lived in the Bradshaw Mts in Central AZ--at least 2000' of climbing with lots of ups and downs whenever I went out, often more than 5000. Add the desert heat and it's recipe for failure. (But it was worthwhile--it's a beautiful place to live. Just tough on batteries.)

 

Hard to say how long a battery lasts - but I think that in your situation I could expect to have one last for more than a year.
Many of the more reputable remanufacturers put new cells into old cases, and the 12-month warranty should cover any manufacturing defects. After that I would expect that the pack will last the rest of the life of the car.

Everybody always sweats batteries in Priuses, but some of the other posters are right too.
Brakes, inverters, HVAC, or even the transaxle can fail and each would represent another risk of having to down the car for another 4 digit repair.
I just don't like making car payments.
It's a foolish way to spend hundreds of dollars a month - especially when you're knocking down 30,000 miles a year.

I'd gamble $1200 on a battery pack and try to leg it out to 336,000 miles and bank the car payments I'm not making.
In a few years you can club up to a 5 year old car.....
Then a 2 year old car....paying cash for them instead of the lifetime of indentured servitude that making car payments is turning into.

The way I see it is that you can pay cash for older cars early in life - and buy new ones with cash later or.....you can borrow money for new cars early in life and have to pay cash for really crappy ones later in life..
or....
Borrow money all of your life to drive newer cars (maybe) all of your life.

Each has advantages.
Your call.
Good Luck!

 

I don't need you to justify this to ME; if you have your mind made up, then go for it.

It would make for an interesting ongoing dialog on here though.

Maybe now would be a good time to make an "ongoing story" thread, where you could just log your expenses and whether or not your opinion changes over time.

 

OK - Here is my take on the issue - recondition the current battery, buy a reconditioned battery or purchase a new battery from Toyota:
I am nearing the same situation that you are currently experiencing. With 230,000 miles on a 2005 Prius and driving 30,000+ miles a year in and around the Adirondacks, I, too have been exploring options. I have not been having problems with the battery but I know that this will be an issue in the future (later than sooner, I hope).

Yes, a car with high mileage MAY be worthless to some of the posters on this forum, but maybe not. It depends on how the car was driven, cared for and serviced over its lifetime.

You have to ask yourself: What would be the cost of operating THAT vehicle in comparison to purchasing a new vehicle and getting stuck with car payments, higher insurance, taxes, etc,. etc. Driving 30 - 40,000 miles a year will cause the value of a new car to drop sharply. You will owe more on the car loan than it is worth even at a very low (or no) interest rate. The taxes alone on a new car would cover the cost of a new battery in your Prius.

I have been reading this forum for years and have noticed that Prii that are driven locally and log fewer miles per year tend to have more overall Hybrid battery failures than those driven daily over long distances. Heat and terrain seem to be an issue with the Hybrid batteries as well. Keep in mind that if you do purchase a new battery from Toyota, you can drive it until there is a major issue and then just part out the vehicle to recoup some cash. Keep the receipt from the battery purchase. There's always someone looking to replace a gen II battery.

Good Luck!

 

Since you and I think alike, I'll say that I think you can do better with a used Prius now that I know what problems your current car has.

Look for one that is being dumped because of the traction battery only but otherwise is in fantastic shape. Spend $3k, and have a great car for 10 years. I'll guess $13k or less total, or about $100 a month.

 

I should get lottery numbers from sage

 

I like what you say Sagebrush, but I would be on a lower budget than 13 k.