Should I Be Wary Of A New Battery?

[Richard34]

I've found a private seller who is selling a Gen 2 T Spirit with 100k on the clock. The asking price is £5250. The thing is that 'it has had waterpump and Battery replaced by Toyota for £2637'. Now I know that batteries are supposed to last a lot longer than than so I'm a bit confused! So there's two ways of looking at this;

It's got a new Battery and therefore will last me a LONG time!

OR

This car has underlying problems and should be avoided!

Obviously I'm going to talk to the seller about it but I was wondering if you experts (flattery intended ) had any input?

Much appreciated.

P.S. When I take it for a test drive should the car run on silent up to a certain speed? I took one out yesterday and the engine kicked almost instantly every time which suggested that the Battery didn't want to know.

[Richard34]

Thought this would be worth adding to the post as I've just spoken to the seller.

He said that the reason that the Battery was replaced was that the previous owner had left the lights on one night. This led to a recovery firm coming along and towing the car away for him, which in turn messed up the Battery (I've heard that you can't bump start a Prius so maybe this is the same sort of problem?). What does that sound like to you seasoned Prius owners?

Walk away or take advantage of a good thing?

[ph47mf]

continuing from my reply to your other post, just a quick search on autotrader reviews there are approximately 23 Gen 2 Prius under £6000 with less than 80k on the clock. i dont think the deal you got there is any special. out of the 23, a handful are from the main dealer which means 1 year warranty!

look elsewhere!

[Richard34]

My budget is tight and whilst under 6k might sound the same as £5250, to me it's not.

I'm more concerned with having fewer owners and full TSH than a lower mileage.

If you can find me a T Spirit for less than £5250 with similar mileage/service history etc then I'm all ears......I've done a LOT of looking, and trust me there are no T-Spirit/T4 models with 80k on the clock from official Toyota dealers.

[acetip]

Most main dealers of all makes dont put cars over a certain miliage on there forecourts for sale.

At least thats what i found. maybe thats why you cant find what you want at Toyota dealership having covered 80k.

[ph47mf]

fair enough.

however there is a good reason why you should concentrate more on mileage. the hybrid components are covered for 8 years or 100k. if you buy a car with less than 100k, you will still have some warranty left in case any hybrid stuff fails.

[Richard34]

That's the chance I'll have to take but I've been assured that 2nd Gens run and run so I'll have to roll the dice.

Having looked at the Toyota approved priuses out there (already looked before but viewed again for the sake of this thread) they tend to go from just under £6k and rise rapidly. I don't have that sort of budget...

[timberwolf]

Thought this would be worth adding to the post as I've just spoken to the seller.

He said that the reason that the battery was replaced was that the previous owner had left the lights on one night. This led to a recovery firm coming along and towing the car away for him, which in turn messed up the battery (I've heard that you can't bump start a Prius so maybe this is the same sort of problem?). What does that sound like to you seasoned Prius owners?

Walk away or take advantage of a good thing?

Something is missing from that explanation as I can't see how towing the vehicle would cause any damage to the HV Battery.

Leaving the lights on would only have drained the 12V Battery, and that's about 90 quid to replace.

If someone screwed up a jump start of the 12 V Battery (leads the wrong way round, etc) they could damage one or more of the ECUs but I am surprised if the HV battery was a victim as 3 relays have to energize before the HV battery is connected?

There is a pawl gear than engages with a gear ring on the Power Split Device when the car is put into Park, and that mean the front wheels are also locked. So you can not tow or move the car with the front wheels on the ground when the power is off (car needs to be on and neutral selected and even then I don't think it is recommended).

[Richard34]

I actually spoke to a source at Toyota and it seems that the seller is confused! It was the 12v Battery and transmission (and pump) that were replaced and not the traction Battery. This explains both the cost and the reason for the failure.

What do you guys think?

[ph47mf]

and he spent £2k on that?? or did he get the sums wrong too?

[timberwolf]

The Prius Hybrid transmission is the lump of gears on the right of picture in the link below. I think that would cost a fair chunk of money to replace? :)

http://www.cleangreencar.co.nz/info_toyota-priusII-technical.asp

[wass]

I would steer well clear of this one.

[cootuk]

Sounds like the 12v Battery ran down, so the car wouldn't activate the solenoids for the HV Battery to start.

Along comes Mr Breakdownman who scratches his head at the new fangled hybrid thing.

Rather than using the 12V power input in the engine bay to trickle charge the 12V batteryt, he decides to take it to Toyota

he merrily drags it onto his flatbed rather than a 4wheel lift

Toyota then give him the good news that he's just trashed the transmission

Waterpump might have been the hybrid coolant pump recall?

[ColinBarber]

water pump failure is not unheard of on the Gen 2. My farther's Prius had this changed around 50k miles.