What does the "big" prius battery cost?

[edwardh1]

you never see what people have had to pay a dealer or a indie shop to replace a Prius or other hybred battery (guess lexus would be 50% more).
anyone ever seen it in print?
they always say it lasts forever , but I doubt that/

 

[friendly_jacek]

warranty is 8-10 years (depending on a state), so few people actually pay for those out of pocket. i've heard $3000-5000 for brand new OEM (i know, huge range depending who installs it) and about $1000-2000 for aftermarket/reconditioned/used. I'm still under warranty, so no fear, even if it failed after, would open it up, clean the terminals (it's sometimes the only problem) and try to replace bad cells first (avilable on ebay at $50 IIRC). Some people also swear by equalizing charge fixing the problem, but those chargers are $300.

edit: i just saw your signature, sadly one of those many prius bashing threads on BITOG, i guess because you are bored. sorry i replied.

BTW, i saved more in gas than the "big battery" cost. Also not a single problem in 85000 miles. Most reliable car of my life (toyota yaris is the next in that distinction.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Our number 2 Prius battery took a dump at somewhere over 200K and we spent $2,700 for a new one that included recycling the old one and installing that new one.

I was driving it at the time and a message popped up telling me to park the car as soon as convenient which was about 5 miles.

 

[edwardh1]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
warranty is 8-10 years (depending on a state), so few people actually pay for those out of pocket. i've heard $3000-5000 for brand new OEM (i know, huge range depending who installs it) and about $1000-2000 for aftermarket/reconditioned/used. I'm still under warranty, so no fear, even if it failed after, would open it up, clean the terminals (it's sometimes the only problem) and try to replace bad cells first (avilable on ebay at $50 IIRC). Some people also swear by equalizing charge fixing the problem, but those chargers are $300.

edit: i just saw your signature, sadly one of those many prius bashing threads on BITOG, i guess because you are bored. sorry i replied.

BTW, i saved more in gas than the "big battery" cost. Also not a single problem in 85000 miles. Most reliable car of my life (toyota yaris is the next in that distinction.



I am not anti Prius.

 

[rshaw125]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Our number 2 Prius battery took a dump at somewhere over 200K and we spent $2,700 for a new one that included recycling the old one and installing that new one.

I was driving it at the time and a message popped up telling me to park the car as soon as convenient which was about 5 miles.


These are easily and reliably rebuilt for just hundreds of $$

 

[SatinSilver]

I see ads regularly for a place that charges $1000 for a used battery with a 6 month warranty and $200 for the install. All the cells are checked and the battery bench charged. This is for the 04-09 models.

 

[Cujet]

Mom's prius battery died. She spent $3500 replacing it. Or roughly 1450 gallons of gas worth of battery.

While she still loves the prius, she now understands that her Honda Accord 4 cyl, manual, was in the end, a more practical car. Even with it's lower 32MPG overall.

 

[rshaw125]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Mom's prius battery died. She spent $3500 replacing it. Or roughly 1450 gallons of gas worth of battery.

While she still loves the prius, she now understands that her Honda Accord 4 cyl, manual, was in the end, a more practical car. Even with it's lower 32MPG overall.


Wow. Rebuilt is no more than $800. With warranty.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Mom's prius battery died. She spent $3500 replacing it. Or roughly 1450 gallons of gas worth of battery.

While she still loves the prius, she now understands that her Honda Accord 4 cyl, manual, was in the end, a more practical car. Even with it's lower 32MPG overall.


Wow. Rebuilt is no more than $800. With warranty.


Yeah, she had the dealership do it. I tried suggesting the rebuilt flavor, but she wanted the dealership to do the work.

 

[edwardh1]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Mom's prius battery died. She spent $3500 replacing it. Or roughly 1450 gallons of gas worth of battery.

While she still loves the prius, she now understands that her Honda Accord 4 cyl, manual, was in the end, a more practical car. Even with it's lower 32MPG overall.


Wow. Rebuilt is no more than $800. With warranty.


Yeah, she had the dealership do it. I tried suggesting the rebuilt flavor, but she wanted the dealership to do the work.

------------------
did she get a new toyota oem battery with a long warranty> like years?
or
a 6 mo warranty on a junk yard battery that is not much good, unless you plan to trade soon.

 

[maximus]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Our number 2 Prius battery took a dump at somewhere over 200K and we spent $2,700 for a new one...


That can't possibly make any economic sense.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: maximus
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Our number 2 Prius battery took a dump at somewhere over 200K and we spent $2,700 for a new one...


That can't possibly make any economic sense.


Why not?

 

[funflyer]

From the OPs signature...

"Prius?
In line water heater?
Solar?
All save energy, but may not save money (complicated, no DIY, parts hard to get, parts expensive). You decide."


Since we're talking about a hybrid battery, I'll decide.


Complicated? Hardly! It's a NiMH battery made up of separate modules, not rocket science.

No DIY? Wrong! it's very DIY and has been done by many Prius owners.

Parts expensive? From the dealer yes, very expensive. From the thousands of wrecked hybrids around the country, very inexpensive.

 

[Hyrde]

Originally Posted By: funflyer


Complicated? Hardly!



Yes, the battery is just a battery.. and the hybrid drivetrain is very simple, it's just a planetary gearset and a neat trick with electric motors to make it variable drive
It is less mechanically complicated than a 4-speed automatic transmission.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: Hyrde
Originally Posted By: funflyer


Complicated? Hardly!



Yes, the battery is just a battery.. and the hybrid drivetrain is very simple, it's just a planetary gearset and a neat trick with electric motors to make it variable drive
It is less mechanically complicated than a 4-speed automatic transmission.


Toyota is now grafting on 2 more planetaries in the new multi-stage Lexus LC/LS500h hybrid system to give it 10 "simulated" speeds - should be interesting melding in the CVT-like operation of MG1/MG2 and the "hard" gears.

 

[The Critic]

MSRP for the gen-2 battery is $2588.

My cost on a Dorman reman battery is $1200 with a 3/36 warranty.

But after understanding how these batteries are being rebuilt, they are a band-aid solution at-best and a new one is the only long-term fix.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
MSRP for the gen-2 battery is $2588.

My cost on a Dorman reman battery is $1200 with a 3/36 warranty.

But after understanding how these batteries are being rebuilt, they are a band-aid solution at-best and a new one is the only long-term fix.


Would you please elaborate on this?

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: The Critic
MSRP for the gen-2 battery is $2588.

My cost on a Dorman reman battery is $1200 with a 3/36 warranty.

But after understanding how these batteries are being rebuilt, they are a band-aid solution at-best and a new one is the only long-term fix.


Would you please elaborate on this?

My understanding is that they harvest the "good" used cells from various packs, pair them together and rebalance the packs. The issue is that the packs were not designed to be disassembled so leakage from overhandling of the cells is an issue. Also, the rebuilt packs contain cells of varying age/service life, so the lifespan is likely to be far less than a new pack. It is still a decent option for an owner who is trying to squeeze another year or two out of their car, but it is not a good choice if you are looking for a long term repair.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: maximus
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Our number 2 Prius battery took a dump at somewhere over 200K and we spent $2,700 for a new one...


That can't possibly make any economic sense.


It rarely makes any sense to sell a car because of an expensive repair. The smart money typically says fix a car and avoid the car payment.