Bah...Prius battery died

[niccig]

DH's 2004 Prius battery died today. We were hoping to get to end of year, then trade it in on a new car. DH has been wanting new car for last year and we were waiting for me to be done with school in May and working to save for deposit. Repair will be $4K. Not sure what to do? We will have to do the repair if we want to trade it in. We don't have deposit saved for new car, but will with tax return, could also pay off repair with tax return.

[JElaineB]

Did a Toyota dealer confirm the battery died? We thought ours did last year but it turned out to be some debris on a sensor.

[niccig]

Did a Toyota dealer confirm the battery died? We thought ours did last year but it turned out to be some debris on a sensor.

Dealer confirmed. We're in middle of house refi, so don't think we can take out car loan right now as may mess with the refi. We may end up repairing and putting off the new car purchase for extra year. May still lose money, but waiting may be better option. Timing really sucks. Just needed 6 more months.

[almostmom]

Just curious - how many miles are on the car?

[crispychicky]

There are independent specialty shops that will replace your battery for closer to $1k. I'd try to find one of those, especially if you really only need the car for 6 more months.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybradley/2014/04/09/replacing-a-dead-prius-hybrid-battery-doesnt-have-to-cost-thousands-of-dollars/

[turtledove]

Not hijacking, but thanks for this info! We also have a Prius and have worried about the dreaded battery replacement. Driving our Prius has HOV implications for us, so we want to keep it going as long as possible. There is a local shop that refurbishes Prius batteries at a fraction of he cost. Thanks again!


There are independent specialty shops that will replace your battery for closer to $1k. I'd try to find one of those, especially if you really only need the car for 6 more months.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybradley/2014/04/09/replacing-a-dead-prius-hybrid-battery-doesnt-have-to-cost-thousands-of-dollars/

[AnnieW625]

Sending good car vibes your way. I would try and independent shop, if that doesn't work I would sell the car for parts, and then take the $4k you would be charged to replaced the engine and buy a cheap used car for your DH to use for a few months until you can afford to replace it with something nicer.

[niccig]

Ahhh poop...I didn't see this about independent shops..too late. We're replacing the battery and putting off a new car purchase. Other than the battery, the engine, transmission..everything is in good shape and dealer thinks a few more good years easily. This is the first major repair mechanically (we replaced the touch screen a couple years back), it's got about 135,000 miles on it. With new battery it should have higher bluebook value too when do go to replace it.

DH and I are swapping cars and he's going to drive my CRV - it's newer and I never use any of the features like ipod jack etc that he wishes he had in the Prius. Though in winter, I will swap back to get the heated seats (Yes, I'm in CA and I'm a wimp so NEED heated seats). I don't care what I drive, as long as it goes. Actually, an 11 year old car is considered new in my family, so I'll be happy tooling along in the Prius for a couple of years at least. By then we will be in better position to buy the car DH wants (maybe even upgrade to a different car.)