I've got a 2006 Prius, purchased in 2010 with about 80k on the clock, now up to 195k. Was delighted and a bit smug and several friends/colleagues have purchased on my recommendation.
Then out of the blue yesterday all the warning lights came on (engine shape and !) so I drove it to my usual Toyota service place (seemed a bit sluggish accelerating but only really once). They came back 20 mins later and said the HV battery is dying, $3000 to get a new one installed then $500 back from Toyota (for the old one I believe). 1 year warranty.
I've read on here around 2013 people claim that Toyota had only had to replace 3 batteries. Is that true? Has that trickle turned into a flood? Crunching the numbers, and given petrol went down rather than up from when I first did my sums before buying, I think at best I'll only break even on petrol savings vs extra cost of the car (even though second hand) vs having to buy a new battery this soon. I may be ahead if I factor in lower servicing costs and saving the world.
After the initial shock of a bill that big I suppose I should've seen it coming, at 11 years old. But given the US warrant them to 10 years I assumed a mean failure rate might be more like 15 years (they wouldn't warrant to 10 years if a significant % failed at 9 to 10 years). Do people think 11 years is reasonable or am I a bit unlucky.
I've also read that people replace individual cells themselves but I'm no sparky and it is HV and I'm time poor (as well as cash relatively tight). So I don't think I'll go down that path. I wish someone in Adelaide would start doing it. I spoke to my local auto-electricican and he said they'd need extra qualifications to do HV work and wouldn't touch it.
I'd consider a reconditioned one, but again, no-one in Adelaide. A Victorian company would ship one to me for $1250 but then I haven't found a mechanic that would do the job and if I did they'd probably charge say $350 so then I doubt it's worth saving around $900 but with a reconditioned versus new... I'd want it to last another 11 years at least. Which leads to another question - both are warrantied for 1 year. Why would Toyota only warranty the new one for 1 year versus the 8 years?
So many questions. At this stage I've booked the job with Toyota for Tuesday next week (earliest they could do) and I'm just driving with the warning lights on.
The extra concern for me is that I've just bought a 2009 Prius, assuming I'd get at least 15 years out of the battery but I'll be pretty upset if it dies at 11 years too (just 3 years away) before I get any real fuel savings.