A few weeks ago I posted here asking why my gas mileage was dropping. Turns out my hybrid battery is dead. Thought I’d share an update. Toyota wants $5000 to replace it, which is wild. I’m now trying to figure out a cheaper way to get a proper OEM battery.
Battery packs usually go from $800 to $2000. It depends on how long you plan to keep the car. Refurbished packs are about $800 and last a few years. New ones are around $1800 if you go aftermarket, and OEM ones cost a bit more but usually come with a longer warranty. Taking out the battery is pretty easy — just a few bolts. It can be a bit awkward, but not hard. There’s a video by ChrisFix on YouTube that shows everything clearly. Even someone who doesn’t know much about cars can follow it.
You can grab a $20 scanner from Amazon and buy the Dr Prius app for $10. It’ll help you find which battery cells are bad. Then you just replace the bad ones — they’re about $35 each.
So for around $50 and a few hours of your time, you could get your Prius working fine again.
Think about how long it takes to earn $5000. Spending 3 hours to save all that might be worth it.
@Jonah
This is so helpful. I was actually looking at sodium ion batteries but this seems like a smarter and cheaper option.
Paxton said:
@Jonah
This is so helpful. I was actually looking at sodium ion batteries but this seems like a smarter and cheaper option.
And it’s better for the environment too.
@Jonah
I did this on my 2005 Prius. It’s running great now and I’m getting 47 mpg again.
Harlyn said:
@Jonah
I did this on my 2005 Prius. It’s running great now and I’m getting 47 mpg again.
What was your mileage before you fixed it?
Harlyn said:
@Jonah
I did this on my 2005 Prius. It’s running great now and I’m getting 47 mpg again.
What was your mileage before you fixed it?
It dropped to the low 30s before I saw the red triangle. At first I thought it was just because of cold weather — I was idling the car a lot. Then one morning the dash lit up. I parked it and took my truck to work. When I got home, I scanned it with Dr Prius and saw one module was bad. Got a replacement from eBay and swapped it out. Everything’s normal now.
Depending on where you live, an independent shop might be able to put in an OEM pack for way less. At my place, we’d charge about $2000 less than what you were quoted. What year is your Prius?
Zadie said:
Depending on where you live, an independent shop might be able to put in an OEM pack for way less. At my place, we’d charge about $2000 less than what you were quoted. What year is your Prius?
2012 Prius C
Some mechanics just give crazy prices — kind of like those home renovation contractors. You need to keep looking until you find someone honest with fair rates. I’ve already made up my mind — if my 2010 Gen 3 battery dies, I’m replacing it myself with an aftermarket one.
It really depends where you are. I had mine replaced here on the west coast by a group called hybrid2go. Paid $1600 for a refurbished battery with a 3-year warranty. They came to me and did the install.
@Dez
Yeah, I’m on the west coast too and thought about using hybrid2go, but I read some worrying things on this forum. Like, they were giving out free batteries for positive reviews, and that made me nervous. So I’m going with a local hybrid shop that’ll install an OEM battery for just over $3000.
@JeffPatterson
They do OEM batteries too, I think. And they give a lifetime warranty on those. Might be worth calling them just to compare.
@JeffPatterson
We used Green Bean. It cost about $1800 if I remember right.
$5000? That’s way too high. I’d never go back to that dealer. Most dealers overcharge, and this is one of those cases.
For Gen 3 Prius and Prius V models, the full price for a new battery from Toyota is around $2589. You can find it online for about $2011 at wholesale prices.
So this dealer is charging you MSRP plus $2500 in labor. That’s insane. Some dealers even charge more than MSRP for parts, which should not be allowed. They realized they can make more money from parts just like they do with cars.
Don’t ever buy parts from a walk-in dealer. Order them online from wholesale Toyota sites. Way cheaper and it’s the same part.