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West Coast options for hybrid battery replacement?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by mcbrunnhilde, Mar 14, 2019.

  1. mcbrunnhilde

    mcbrunnhilde Opera singin' Prius nut!

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    It appears that my battery is feeling its age. When I first start it and it's under a load (e.g. having the A/C on), it'll go down to two bars within half a mile. I was recently gone for several weeks, and even with the Smart Start turned off, it went down to two bars almost immediately. It'll go back up to 6 bars fairly quickly, but I'm pretty sure I'm looking at a replacement sooner rather than later. I can't really complain...it's a 2004 and I just passed 292,000 miles.

    Soooo...does anyone know of a shop that can do either a replacement with a (hopefully good) salvage battery, or maybe check it out to see if it's simply a few faulty cells? I'm in San Diego, but I could travel just about anyplace within reason. I'm planning a trip to the Bay Area in late April in case there's someplace up there.

    I very much appreciate any help/advice. The car itself is in wonderful condition, so I really don't want to junk it yet.
     
    #1 mcbrunnhilde, Mar 14, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2019
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    There’s a couple in LA and San Fran.
    Not sure if they’ll do salvage.

    Have you heard of the $1,600. New cell option sold by one of our members?
     
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  3. mcbrunnhilde

    mcbrunnhilde Opera singin' Prius nut!

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    No, I have not! FYI nothing about the battery has failed that I know of...no codes, no red triangle of death, etc. Given the number of miles, I have, I'm wondering if it makes sense to replace it proactively, or should I wait for complete failure?
     
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Nothing that you have described sounds like a battery "failure". Certainly the battery may be weak after 292K miles but if the car is still running OK and not showing any trouble lights, then I would not worry. Save up the $3K to pay for a traction battery replacement when that time comes.

    This is the $1,600 option: New Prius Battery Kit (GEN2, 2004-2009) - New Prius Batteries LLC
     
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  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    ditto^

    no need to replace proactively, as it fails with plenty of warning, and time to consider your options. do you due diligence now, so you're prepared if and when the time comes.
    some well used batteries last a long time.
     
  6. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Ditto^ and ditto^^.
     
  7. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    You might benefit greatly from a battery conditioning. See if someone in the San Diego area has a Prolong system you can rent or share the cost of. All you would have to do is buy the wiring harness and install it (or have it installed). I'm pretty sure a thorough conditioning session for your battery is going to require the car to be out of service for a week. At the car's age it's most likely not worth the cost of buying a Prolong system just for your car alone. I'd be happy to do the reconditioning in my garage with my Prolong system for but you'd have to leave the car here and I'm about 125 miles up the 5 freeway from you.
     
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  8. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    I know of a guy in LA (Pacoima) that does the cheapo whack-a-mole and also has installed our packs. He's mobile, so could probably meet you in the middle...
     
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  9. mcbrunnhilde

    mcbrunnhilde Opera singin' Prius nut!

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    Thanks so much for your replies, folks!!! The Prolong system looks intriguing, and I'm sure it would be beneficial for my battery. A concern I had was that I'm going to take a cross-country trip this summer (probably about 5-6 weeks and around 10,000 miles), and I really didn't want to have a failure in the middle of nowhere!

    srellim234, thank you for your very kind offer! I'm planning to drive up to the Bay Area on Thursday 4/25 and come home on Tuesday 4/30. Would it be possible to drop by to meet you either day to discuss things? I always go 15/91/71/57/210, so you'd be a very short detour...
     
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  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yeah, i would probably rent a car for that
     
  11. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    I'll start a private conversation with you so we can chat about it. I won't be able to do it that week because I'll be in Mesa, AZ for my brother in law's wedding. I I think we're coming home Monday 4/29 so we could definitely meet and set something up on your way home.

    You're right; it's not much of a detour. Your trip would be 15 straight up to the 210. I'm only a block off of it.. Another 15 miles down the 210 and you're back on your normal route.
     
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  12. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    hey, no fair....I want to come. I went to college near you. Indeed, me olde dad said I was the Pride of Cucamonga.

     
  13. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    APU, ULV or CSUSB?
     
  14. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    Claremont
     
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  15. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    Even closer. I don't know when you were down here last. The College sold the little golf course and driving range it owned across the street from Claremont High School. I really miss it.
     
  16. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    With that mileage the traction battery might not be the first thing to go. What if the engine goes first?
     
  17. Michael Bones

    Michael Bones Junior Member

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  18. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    You are still buying a battery of 10+ yo modules. It is not a good deal at all. You could buy a set of brand new modules from newpriusbatteries.com for $1600 that will last 8-10 years at least.

    Do some searches on here on PC, and you will find the stories of people having problems with these green bean batteries already. And they have been going only a short time. What happens when they can’t keep up with their 5 year warranties and go bust? The warranty is worthless, then.
     
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  19. Michael Bones

    Michael Bones Junior Member

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    I understand what you are saying but...... A warranty.....is a warranty. All I was saying is that in comparison to the other guy I've seen advertise on this site called greentec it seems like a better deal. Just saying that it is the best overall deal I have seen doing web searches and they do service the SD area which was the original question. It didn't seem to me that the OP was a DIY kinda guy. I've got to imagine that the profit margin on these batteries is rather robust and they way I look at it is that if it goes bad.....they will come out and install another one free of charge. At least that is what they told me. Just out curiousity..... how long has newpriusbatteries been around?
     
  20. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Not if there is no one to honor it.
    "Seems like" being the operative words. In reality, they are probably much of a muchness. There is no way I'd spend that kind of money on a old second-hand battery, period.
    Even more reason to go new and be done with it.
    After how many times of doing this will it start to become very old, to you? Remember also, the warranty clock does not reset each time they replace the battery, so in the end you have no warranty. It seems like the threshold is about 2-3 times, given the anecdotes I've read from the people who started out thinking they would save some money, but in the end, it usually costs them more.

    So why not keep that profit margin for yourself and do the repair yourself. It would probably only cost you < $200 a time to fix it. The only real way to save money, is to do the refurbishment yourself. I guarantee you will do a better job than these so called remanufacturers.

    In the end, you should not be recommending something you have not tried, because what might look good on paper and in theory, quite often looks very different in the cold harsh light of reality.

    newpriusbatteries.com announced their product about July 2017 and had been doing R&D on the product for a few years before that. If you really want to know any information at all, you just need to send 2k1Toaster a message. He is quite open and happy to talk about his product.
     
    #20 dolj, Mar 23, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2019