Need Replacement Hybrid Battery For Prius Mk 2

[ProudPriusOwner]

Our 10 year old Mk2 Prius needs a replacement hybrid Battery. (The original one has suffered corrosion from a leak in the hatchback seals :-( !)

We would very much appreciate advice on how to go about this, by sourcing secondhand from fully reliable sources.

Many thanks in anticipation.

[Carltona123]

Wow - this is the first time I've ever seen someone post that needs a new traction Battery.

Such bad luck!

Anyway, the only one that I've ever seen advertise (on ebay) is a company in Coventry. It seems they specialise in breaking Priuses.

Their number is 07973138080.

My only dealings with them were when I was looking for a cruise control stalk - they seemed decent enough.

Failing that I would extend my search to the inner city of Birmingham. Lots of the private hire lads are now running Gen 2 Prius and so there must be a growing market for expertise and parts. You could start by giving A - Z a call on 0121 659 0963.

I got chatting to one of the drivers a while back and he gave me his mechanic's number - I can give it to you privately.

I really hope you get this sorted without too much hassle.

[Devon Aygo]

Once you have a price from the non genuine source just give your local dealer a call, we recently beat an independents price to fit a second hand Battery on a MK1 Prius fitting a brand new Battery with a full parts and labour warranty against a labour only warranty from the independant.

[Carltona123]

Once you have a price from the non genuine source just give your local dealer a call, we recently beat an independents price to fit a second hand battery on a MK1 Prius fitting a brand new battery with a full parts and labour warranty against a labour only warranty from the independant.

Sounds like a plan - is your car driveable?

[Carltona123]

Ballpark figure - City Autos (Reading) will "rebuild" your Battery for £600+VAT.

Seem to be genuine hybrid enthusiasts though some of the English on the website is a bit dodgy.

If only we lived in California - there'd be loads of places doing this kind of thing.

[IanIanIanIan]

City Autos is under two miles from me. I have popped in and chatted, small, clean, tidy workshop with good kit around, not a back street dodgy. Owned by a Japanese lad who is helpful and knowledgeable. He also imports and exports cars and parts to Japan. I would strongly suggest that you phone and talk it over, the £600 is a guide for rebuilding your Battery using secondhand modules and balancing, the actual price depends on the work and modules needed or he has second hand rebuilt batteries for direct replacement if time is a problem for you.

PM if I can help.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Once you have a price from the non genuine source just give your local dealer a call, we recently beat an independents price to fit a second hand battery on a MK1 Prius fitting a brand new battery with a full parts and labour warranty against a labour only warranty from the independant.

I agree. Always, always, always give your Toyota dealer the chance to price match or at least see what they can do.

Same with servicing. People grumble about high main dealer prices, but many are prepared to price match your local garage within reason. You don't ask you don't get.

The benefit of going through a main dealer for all your servicing is that you get the software updates (the Prius is a computer with a car attached) and they keep an eye on warranty work and also, if you're slightly over the warranty they're much more flexible to assisting you if anything ever goes wrong. My inverter was replaced 10,000 miles outside warranty as I had a full dealer stamped service book and the Mrs also has a Toyota from new. Loyalty in big companies is rare, but it's still there with some.

[ProudPriusOwner]

Many thanks everyone for your helpful and supportive comments.

I'm looking at this because our Prius has been such a joy for the last 7 years we've owned it. It's sooooo smooth and quiet, and previously our only bills have been regular servicing, tyres etc. so very economical and reliable until now. Taking comments in turn:

1. Thanks for the leads in Coventry and Birmingham.

2. Thanks also for the City Autos (Reading) info.

3. I think the best I can do at this stage is give them all a call and see what they can do and for how much, plus what warranty we might get.

4. I'm pleased to say we have an excellent relationship with our Main Dealer here in Derby, who told us how helpful the Toyota Owners Club membership is - and that's clearly true! We don't want to pay out for a brand new Battery (which would costs more that the car would sell for), but they are prepared to fit a replacement second-hand one if we can source it and get it sent to them, and they've told us what that charge would be. They've been really helpful over the last 7 years, I don't want to mess them around therefore.

Thanks again, and happy motoring everyone :-)

[Parts-King]

You need to make sure whoever does it actually knows what they are doing otherwise they could kill themselves!!

I hear what you are saying about cost, but second hand, somebody who is not sure??? Please be very careful

Have a chat with your dealer, you would not pay a lot more for a genuine brand new Battery (in the scheme of things)

[Carltona123]

Good luck Graham - I really admire the dignity with which you are approaching what must be a very stressful not to mention disappointing situation! And The Rams missed out on promotion too! Please let us know how you get on.

[Cyker]

Indeed! You're blazing trails here so keep us informed on how you get along!

I think you're the first person here who's gone through a Battery replacement procedure so it'll be very instructive for all! :)

[PeteB]

Once you have a price from the non genuine source just give your local dealer a call, we recently beat an independents price to fit a second hand battery on a MK1 Prius fitting a brand new battery with a full parts and labour warranty against a labour only warranty from the independant.

... People grumble about high main dealer prices, but many are prepared to price match your local garage within reason....

Absolutely - I've been very impressed with the dealer in Norwich (used them while I lived in Luton [100 miles away] until I moved to Norfolk 3 years ago!) - in fact I once got a tyre shop in London to price match Dingles of Norwich because I couldn't get to Norfolk at the time and needed the tyres!

[Duffryn]

Graham (ProudPriusOwner) - I notice that in your original post you mention corrosion due to leaking hatchback seals. Did you mean that this is the sole cause for the necessary replacement Battery?

If so, do you think you could you explain a bit more about the hows, whys and wherefores of these leaks? Would Toyota not offer a sympathetic ear (ie a bit of discount?) if replacement was due to failure of another part?

Long odds I know, but......don't ask, don't get!

[Parts-King]

Long odds I know, but......

Longer than than a marathon......... :D:

Toyota will always look at goodwill if the car has been fully maintained in the dealer network, if it has been self or independently serviced, then there is very little chance

The only way to do this is to go and see your dealer and ask them to handle it for you

[ian rooke]

Hi asking Toyota for a sympathetic ear is not going to work, after only buying Toyota's since 1986 when a manufacturing problem arose with my wife's IQ Toyota did NOTHING about it except ask for impossible conditions to be met and if I could have met them it was only a maybe that they would do anything..I have now moved from Toyota and when I informed them of this they could not be bothered to reply which is to be expected as when I wrote to them to complain they did not reply to 2 letters so good luck to getting something from them.

[Parts-King]

Well it does work, I have no idea about your own circumstances but Toyota DO have a very robust, and yes strict goodwill policy. The conditions are generally that you prove it has a full service history, so I have no idea what your "impossible conditions" could be

[Duffryn]

Speak as you find, and never had any dealings at all with Toyota HQ, but always had 'favourable' discussions with my dealer - particularly in respect of the wife's 20 year old Corolla (sadly now sold on) to get it through the MOT.

And - it doesn't influence my opinion of course - but I've just won a £200 M & S voucher for completing a Toyota survey following the recent Prius recall thingy!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

My inverter replacement outside of warranty has been well reported.

It's not just Toyota though. A handful of other manufacturers will offer good will warranty claims if you've always serviced your car through the main dealer network. As previously advised, they often price match (within reason).

My better half bought an IQ new due to the fabulous service I'd experienced from our local Toyota dealer. A total contrast to the **** poor service she got from Honda in Harrogate. The York Honda dealer was great but a 50 mile round trip.

But speak as you find.

[ian rooke]

Hi the impossible conditions were the IQ has a well documented fault with the ERV valve sooting up on the 2009 model which is a intermittent total loss of power aprox every 2 months for a matter of 2 minutes Toyota asked me to take the car into a dealer when this fault happens I asked how apart from driving round the dealer for 2 months and then getting the mechanic into the car when the fault is there or giving them the car to the dealer for two months till the fault happens I could not see how I could full-fill those conditions.

[kithmo]

Hi, sorry to hear your bad luck with the Battery failure, but If you love the car so much, intend keeping it a while and the leak is fixed, I would say it's worth buying a new Battery from the dealer with peace of mind and many years/miles more motoring in a a car you love, better the devil you know I say.

Forget the car's resale value, if you buy a new/newish one the the depreciation is more in the first year than the price of a new Battery. If on the other hand you're looking for a quick/cheaper fix to sell the car on then go for one of the other options.

[ProudPriusOwner]

Hi everyone, I appreciate that it's been a while since I posted. But that's because things take time, and I didn't want to get back to you until I had something useful to report.

I'm delighted to say I'm still smiling, AND a ProudPriusOwner! The local Dealer (Inchcape Derby) installed a new Battery since which I've done a few miles and it's great to have the smooth, quiet car back in working order.

There were some really good nuggets in the advice you all gave - for which serious thanks are due. Perhaps the biggest spur was advice along the lines: if you want to sell the car, get it done cheap; if you want to keep it, get the job done well. What happened was:

1) I went on the Toyota web-site and dug around, and found this:

http://www.toyota.co.uk/service-and-maintenance/hybrid-health-check

I had no idea that, if you get your hybrid Battery checked as part of an annual service it's free AND its warranty extends by another year. While I was on the site I was 'picked up' by a very helpful Toyota chat service and I was able to discuss this. It turns out the warranty extension (which might have entitled me to a free replacement?) only came in last year. And you can only extend your warranty for a year if your warranty hasn't lapsed - which ours had in 2012. I mention it here in case this is not be widely known. So do make sure you have the annual check if you are still in warranty, it could really save you money.

2) The Toyota web-site also said "In the unlikely event that the hybrid Battery does need to be replaced and the warranty has expired, the cost is approximately £800." So I went checking prices and can conclude (i) you do need to be very careful when seeking cost advice about a replacement battery, as there's a £1,000 surcharge on the replacement which you only get back if your old battery goes back to Toyota. (Not allowing for the £1,000 deduction can make the deal sound dreadful!) (ii) I also queried the quote with the Toyota chat facility, and was told that the figure didn't include VAT and labour. In my opinion it reads as if it does, so I hope this gets clarified on their site for the benefit of customers and dealers, so as to prevent misunderstandings.

3) I then checked around, discussed things with our main dealer here, and agreed a price for them to proceed. They couldn't have been more helpful.

4) Perhaps fortunately for us (though not so good on the bank balance) the car was due MOT and a service. So we had the MOT done first, and they gave the car a good look over to try and establish whether it was worth the expense. The answer was all looked fine, and we should get a few more good years out of the car.

5) So conclusion: forget depreciation, bring on the new hybrid battery!

If anyone has any queries I'll do my best to respond.

Thanks again everone. When all those warning lights go on, it's not too easy to see the best way forwards. All we have to do now is try and reset the radio so we can get our favourite stations back on (as disconnecting the battery undoes those settings). But if we get stuck, that's a different Forum Topic . . . . .

[kithmo]

It's very heartwarming to hear you got it sorted Graham, with the leak now fixed you should get another 10 years or more out of it. SWMBO has a 2006 Gen 2 and she loves it to bits, every year it sails through the MOT, she gladly pays the dealer for servicing every year (she only does about 5K miles) and the service department always comment on the good condition of the car.

[ProudPriusOwner]

And as a PostScript:

I'm delighted to say that an unexpected bonus has been the improved mpg we've experienced with the replacement Battery! I guess it's logical really, but the previous mpg was pretty constant from when we bought the car at 3 years of age, but it seems we could enjoy an extra 7 to 10 mpg for a while, because of our new Battery?

Fingers crossed . . . .

[puckdrop]

_{I'm just up the road from you in Chesterfield ! 07 with 160,000 miles and counting. Neglected servicing but still running strong.}

[barrycoll]

My reason for trusting Toyota was similar but opposite to Grumpy's....

My wife's 2009 IQ was running well, but from reading the IQ Forum, I found that an EGR problem was a distinct possibility, and knowing the symptoms,(but NOT actually having them) I went to my very small Toyota service place Twin Spark Motors of London NW6 (free plug), and as he had a service bulletin about this, and the car was just out of warranty, but with a Toy service history the whole exhaust system was changed and modified at a cost of £1300 to Toyota

I was seriously impressed, as all my VW experience had always been an arm wrestle...

So when the VW was due for replacement, Toyota has sold me a 2013 T Spirit as a 'reward' for looking after me....

Twinspark Motors even sourced me a a space saver wheel, when every other big dealer contacted told me that the computer said that the T Spirit does not come with a spare wheel................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I am very impressed that the HV Battery saga ended well....very re-assuring