PLEASE need your help!!! Should I buy it or not? What is your opinion?

[silviuu]

Hello everyone,

 

Long story short: right now I have Auris 2016 and want to change as part exchange on Toyota dealer for a Prius Excel top range, 2016 year model. The only concern I have is: this car has just 19k miles (genuine miles). Was driving like 1-2k miles/year. My question is: Is the Battery health will still be ok? Toyota offers a warranty up to 10 years (which will be extra 3 years of life of this car), but if there is any mechanic around or anyone who can advice me what should i do. The car looks like new as was not used much at all. But I'm worried about this hybrid Battery as was not used that much. 

 

 

 

Please, guys, I need your help as I'm about to buy this car. 

 

Thank you for your time to answer on this matter

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Silviu

[FROSTYBALLS]

Covid may have partly been the reason for the low mileage - lockdown in 2020, partial lockdown in 2021, and possibly if the owner has been working from home since 2020. What was the annual mileage pattern before and after 2020?

As you're buying from a Toyota dealer, the car presumably will be serviced prior to sale - or you can specify a service should be done as a condition of sale given your concerns - and as part of the service, a hybrid Battery check should be done. This should determine the health of the hybrid Battery, and provides an extended warranty on the hybrid Battery of 1 year/10,000 miles.

As regards the hybrid battery extended warranty, this may be extended up to when the car reaches 15 years of age, and is separate to the Relax extended warranty scheme that you mentioned. 

See https://mag.toyota.co.uk/toyota-hybrid-health-check/

 

[Bper]

Hi Silviu, 

If it was my decision I would find out how much a replacement Battery would cost. I would then look at how much I am paying for the prius. Also service history of the car .Based on these three items I would see if it was financially viable. Also are you buying from a dealer or private sale. If a dealer can they offer an extended warranty on the Battery. 

It also pays not to get carried away when buying a car as we often overlook obvious questions to ask . Hope some of this advice helps you to make a decision. 👍

[silviuu]

Thank you for your time to answer me.

Yes they will give a full service and MOT and health check on the car before.

So you think they should give an extended warranty up to 15 years? They told me will be up to 10 years (means another 3 years of the car) reason i'm concern. It's there any official statement from toyota where it says they should push the extended warranty up to 15 years if I do servicing with them etc? 

 

Thank you in advance 

 

Kind regards,

Silviu

[BhxTrev]

35 minutes ago, silviuu said:

Hello everyone,

 

Long story short: right now I have Auris 2016 and want to change as part exchange on Toyota dealer for a Prius Excel top range, 2016 year model. The only concern I have is: this car has just 19k miles (genuine miles). Was driving like 1-2k miles/year. My question is: Is the battery health will still be ok? Toyota offers a warranty up to 10 years (which will be extra 3 years of life of this car), but if there is any mechanic around or anyone who can advice me what should i do. The car looks like new as was not used much at all. But I'm worried about this hybrid battery as was not used that much. 

 

 

 

Please, guys, I need your help as I'm about to buy this car. 

 

Thank you for your time to answer on this matter

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Silviu

Hi Silviu,

I’ve been driving Toyota Prius’ since 2010. My present Prius Excel was bought new in 2016. This car as well as the previous Gen3 Prius I had, have never had any hybrid Battery problems, in fact I’ve never had any other serious problems whatsoever with either car. I used to do higher mileage but over the last 3years have done only a few thousand miles a year in fact since the last service in August 2022, I’ve only done a couple of thousand miles. I always have services & MOTs carried out by a Toyota dealer & hybrid checks, even for the low mileage I cover, have always been okay. It’s like one mechanic said to me the Prius is indestructible, probably not quite true but I think he was simply trying to say how reliable the Prius is! Hope this helps. 

[Cyker]

It's a low probability as the traction batteries have proven to be very long lived; Usually if they're going to develop problems it's earlier into their lives.

Just double-check the Battery is still under warranty and qualifies for the HHC, then as long as you service it with Toyota, or at least get the HHC done regularly, the Battery will be covered in the unlikely event it goes wrong.

The batteries in the hybrids are tiny anyway - They tend to cost a couple grand or so from what I've seen, so far far cheaper than e.g. the traction Battery from an EV. Getting it replaced would cost on par with replacing most major components, e.g. gearbox or AC system or something like that, so pricey but not insanely so.

 

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

21 minutes ago, silviuu said:

So you think they should give an extended warranty up to 15 years? They told me will be up to 10 years (means another 3 years of the car) reason i'm concern

If a hybrid health check is done every year/10,000 miles, this can provide an extended hybrid Battery warranty up to when the car is 15 years of age. The hybrid health check is done as part of a service at a Toyota dealer or, if you have servicing done elsewhere, you can pay separately for a Toyota dealer to do a hybrid health check. Current cost around £50 or so.

Additionally Toyota provide the Relax extended warranty - which is the extended warranty the dealer has mentioned - which can provide a 1 year/10,000 mile extended warranty on a range of components when the car is serviced by a Toyota dealer. This extended warranty can be provided up to the time the car reaches 10 years of age or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first, provided the car continues to be serviced by a Toyota dealer.

[silviuu]

Thank you for all your answers guys.

I know the cars, especcialy hybrids are made to be drived. That's the reason I'm concern about the health of the Battery after those 3 years left (of how they give me waranty for it). 

I will do all checks etc on it, but I'm worried after those 3 years if I need to change the Battery or not. The car it's been fully serviced in Toyota, full checks etc. 

[Cyker]

The traction Battery is fine to be left, it's the 12v Battery that's the problem if the car isn't used much.

The traction Battery has a low self-discharge and, unlike the 12v battery, it's completely disconnected when the car is off so there is no parasitic drain on it (Which is the usual problem the 12v battery has, as that's always connected as it has to power all the stand-by electronics). It will hold a charge for far longer than the 12v battery when off, and is relatively unaffected by low use as the battery management system for the traction battery does a really good job of keeping it in good health when the car is used.

Honestly the traction battery is the least likely problem thing you should worry about - I'd look more at more likely things, e.g. corrosion/rust!

 

 

[silviuu]

Thank you for your opinion. I will have a deep look into this 12v Battery. 

[Catlover]

I am another who has had a 2016 Gen3 Prius. Best car I ever had and now at my age, likely to have had. The Relax warranty takes you to 10 years so long as it is serviced at a Toyota garage. The hybrid Battery warranty is something outside of Relax. Annually the hybrid Battery needs to go through a Toyota technician who does a Battery health check and you get a new certificate. This can be done at the same time as a vehicle service and it’s is free if done at the same time. You can, independent of the vehicle service, have a hybrid battery heath check done for circa £50 (at todays prices) and get your certificate just the same.           
The 12v battery problem raised its ugly head because of lockdown and lack of use. Some people travel every day to office all of a sudden working from home. Older ones used to going for drives around anywhere were asked to confine themselves. Not confined to Prius, it affected most Toyota hybrid cars. Totally lack of use. The 12v battery is an AGM type battery. Probably circa £125 from Toyota dealers and it needs to be AGM. (Toyota dealers tend to be competitive with batteries and tyres but always price check).            
The hybrid engineering on the Prius is rock solid. Been on the UK market since 1998/99 and I can’t remember reading of anyone having serious problems with hybrid engineering. In the US it is very common to hear of Prius doing 200,000 miles+ and even 300,000 miles. Amazing cars.

You will not regret getting a Prius car.

 

[BhxTrev]

5 minutes ago, Catlover said:

I am another who has had a 2016 Gen3 Prius. Best car I ever had and now at my age, likely to have had. The Relax warranty takes you to 10 years so long as it is serviced at a Toyota garage. The hybrid battery warranty is something outside of Relax. Annually the hybrid battery needs to go through a Toyota technician who does a battery health check and you get a new certificate. This can be done at the same time as a vehicle service and it’s is free if done at the same time. You can, independent of the vehicle service, have a hybrid battery heath check done for circa £50 (at todays prices) and get your certificate just the same.           
The 12v battery problem raised its ugly head because of lockdown and lack of use. Some people travel every day to office all of a sudden working from home. Older ones used to going for drives around anywhere were asked to confine themselves. Not confined to Prius, it affected most Toyota hybrid cars. Totally lack of use. The 12v battery is an AGM type battery. Probably circa £125 from Toyota dealers and it needs to be AGM. (Toyota dealers tend to be competitive with batteries and tyres but always price check).            
The hybrid engineering on the Prius is rock solid. Been on the UK market since 1998/99 and I can’t remember reading of anyone having serious problems with hybrid engineering. In the US it is very common to hear of Prius doing 200,000 miles+ and even 300,000 miles. Amazing cars.

You will not regret getting a Prius car.

 

Hi Joe,

Nice to hear your input on this topic.  Hope you are keeping well. Regarding the 12v Battery, during the lockdown & with lack of use, the Battery on my Prius actually succumbed & I had to call out the Toyota breakdown service to get the car going. After saying that the Battery was in its fifth year & I guess if it was fully charged again it might have been okay, but you know me, I got it immediately replaced with a new one plus a 5 year guarantee!
 

My Prius is still running like a dream so I certainly won’t be getting rid of it yet. Besides that I really can’t see, other than an ev vehicle, that there’s anything I’d prefer to the Prius. Slightly off topic but how are you finding your Skoda compared to your previous Prius?

[silviuu]

Thank you again for all your advices and ideas on how should i proceed with this matter. 

Apreciate your time 

[Harters]

I have had my Prius since 1st March 2017 and have only done 19,000.

It is serviced every year with Toyota and always passes its hybrid health check.  I am on the original 12v Battery too.  During lockdown I was a bit paranoid about the 12v Battery as read of so many people having to get new batteries, so I bought myself a smart charger and left it on that during the main lockdown period.  I use it every now and then, just to give it a bit of love.

Its the best and most reliable car I have owned and only every goes in the garage for its annual service and MOT.

[BhxTrev]

21 minutes ago, Harters said:

I have had my Prius since 1st March 2017 and have only done 19,000.

It is serviced every year with Toyota and always passes its hybrid health check.  I am on the original 12v battery too.  During lockdown I was a bit paranoid about the 12v battery as read of so many people having to get new batteries, so I bought myself a smart charger and left it on that during the main lockdown period.  I use it every now and then, just to give it a bit of love.

Its the best and most reliable car I have owned and only every goes in the garage for its annual service and MOT.

Hi Stephen,

My experience of the couple of Prius’ I’ve had is exactly the same. I think the reliability of the Prius is probably the most important reason to have one. Add that to the economical running costs & a comfortable, quiet roomy car & in my opinion it’s one of the best ever cars, let alone hybrids, on the road. 

[TonyHSD]

I don’t think there are any reasons to be worried about the hybrid Battery because the car been low miles. The car comes from a dealer and there will be purchase warranty plus manufacturer extended warranty when serviced at the dealer plus these cars are ultra reliable. If it’s a good deal why not then. 👍

[Catlover]

On 1/16/2023 at 4:53 PM, BhxTrev said:

Hi Joe,
My Prius is still running like a dream so I certainly won’t be getting rid of it yet. Besides that I really can’t see, other than an ev vehicle, that there’s anything I’d prefer to the Prius. Slightly off topic but how are you finding your Skoda compared to your previous Prius?

Hi Trevor,          
Skoda CitiGo compared to the Prius…… apart from 4 wheels and an engine, completely different. CitiGo is fun to drive, like our Citroen C1 (Aygo) the wife had for 6 years. We did a week hol in south North Yorkshire, and later a week in north North Yorkshire. It’s hilly but did very well. Best mpg I could do was low 60’s. Surprised how comfy the front seats are. Even after 140 trip to north N.Yorkshire we were not achy.                
For me though, the step down from Prius Excell to CitiGo was too much of a step so in December I changed to a Skoda Fabia 1.2 tsi SE L. The wife inherited my CitGo and we traded hers in for the Fabia. More power in the Fabia (110bhp), about same mpg, and MORE TOYS…I did miss them. 😀.           
Back in the late 1990’s onward we had 3 new Skodas one after another, then the 2 CitiGo’s, now another Fabia, so 6 in total.  Makes Skoda the most of any brand we have had (6), though Vauxhall (5), Citroen and Toyota (4 of each) come close.

[silviuu]

Thank you everyone again for all those detailed info and sharing experiences with Prius. Apreciate it 

 

[silviuu]

Quick update. 

I got the car and I can't agree more with everything what you advice me about. The car it's amazing on every inch. Thank you again for support into this and for your time to share your experience.

Kind regards,

Silviu