Which would you choose? High miles same battery-higher miles, new battery

welcome!
was the replacement battery a new toyota, or reconditioned something or other?

 

Maybe keep it open to non-hybrid too, say: Corolla, Matrix (or Vibe), Civic or Fit, too. Your money will go further, no potential hybrid battery hassles.

 

if it's not an oem, i would go with the lower mileage car (i think i might anyway) and deal with the battery if necessary. refurbished batteries are an unknown quantity and value.
if it was installed by art's or luscious, i would talk to them first. i think luscious swore off rebuilds because of the problems though.

agree with mendel ^^^ on non hybrids if you can find a better value.

 

If the battery is OEM new, I would be inclined towards the higher mileage one. The new struts and shocks is another nice thing. If I remember correctly I spent $500 for the parts and did the job myself. Something close to $1000 to pay someone else.

 

I'd lean toward the one with less miles. Battery replaced or not, cars at 250,000 miles are more likely to have a variety if things break down than cars with 150,000 miles. Also, my limited personal experience with cars has been that cars that have had serious problems are more likely to have more, while cars that have not had serious problems are less likely to get them.

 

Self discharge of the cells in NimH modules becomes a concern as packs age. If your child does not drive often and far enough the modules in the older pack might get out of balance and this could short out the weakest cell of the 168 in the pack sooner than you would expect. So, if the higher mileage Prius does have a relatively fresh OEM pack it probably would be a better choice, but certifying that the replacement pack was new when installed will be challenging.

Wheel bearing replacement on the higher mileage one will most likely need to be done sooner though and the fact the it is probably burning some oil will require that you or your child top it off more frequently than the newer one.

 

If I had $5500 to spend on a car, would I spend $4500 on one that needed a new 12v battery, has a leak, could possibly have electrical or transmission issues, and would soon need wheel bearings replaced? No. I'd look for a car that was mechanically sound when I bought it.

 

I second Moving Right Along.

The oil leak near the timing chain isn't a deal breaker but an unresolved diagnostic trouble code is. If the C2318 is not just a weak 12V aux battery let the current owner deal with it. Tell the owner to replace the 12V battery with a new one and see if that clears the code. If not, it could be a real headache tracking down its cause. Do you want to deal with that? I wouldn't.

A front wheel bearing is a little difficult to DIY but it can be done. Expect to pay a mechanic $400 at least per side for that. I did the repair on my driver's side front wheel bearing for only the cost of the OEM wheel bearing ($120) plus my free labor.

 

Pass on both.
Look for a non-hybrid car that is well maintained.

 

Enter the VIN here for more info: Log into Your Toyota Owners Account | Toyota Owners

 

Especially if you have another Toyota, Toyota USA may help with batt replacement cost if it comes up. Especially in CA. So I think I'd be inclined for the lower miles.

 

how can you use wrong battery? they are all 12v as far as i know.

any word on the hybrid battery?