How to confirm a battery pack has been replaced?

I'm looking at a vehicle for sale and the owner said he is replacing the pack at the dealership. He is also raising the sale price. So, I can ask for papers before meeting. In case he "forgets" them or anything like that, is there a way to tell if a NEW pack has been installed?

Obviously he might not want me to dismantle the back of the car, so hopefully this would be fairly easy.

Thanks! Oh... and I love the forum.

 

Correct, this is not a wagon.

It is 115K on a 2006 for $7K. Typically they're $1,000 more and hundreds of miles from me. I've only talked to the seller briefly. He mentioned a bad block and something about the work being done under warranty. The warranty expires after 100K, right? He said this would extend it.

I got voicemail today that it's finished, so I'll call him tomorrow and get more details. I'll get the VIN and check it at the above site. Hopefully it is updated quickly. Thanks

 

I'm in a non-CARB state, which stinks.

He referred to the "bad block" as part of the battery pack. It wasn't a term I'm familiar with. I am fairly comfortable working with electricity (never "serious" DC power though), so I figured I would take my chances and replace a pack/cell/etc, if necessary. These cars seem pretty reliable otherwise.

I took notes earlier on "things to look for in a used Prius" in older posts, so I'll try to refresh my memory on that. Other than the pack, it seems like inverter pumps(?) sometimes failed. Then of course all the other stuff... title, leaks, etc.

Assuming nothing major goes wrong, I'll save $2,000/year in gas @ $3.75/gal. That's a no brainer choice for me. I plan to refurbish my own pack later, upgrade to an extended range kit, and charge with solar. I have a passion for sustainable projects (solar pv/thermal, recently aquaponics, now vehicle), so a hybrid or EV purchase is just a matter of time, not a phase for me.

Thanks again for the input.

 

Here were the codes for recent service. It looks like the battery wasn't from Toyota?

"CUSTOMER STATES VEHICLE USING EN GINE NOT BATTERY, RED TRIANGLE C AME ON, WARNING LIGHT, BATTERY K EEPS GOING TO TWO BARS ~|~FOUND CODES P3000, P0A80, P30 11 ~|~EST TO REPLACE HYBRID BATTERY WITH LABOR AND TAX $3294 CUST T O PURCHASE BATTERY ELSEWHERE AND HAVE INSTALLED HERE, EST $460 F OR LABOR"

 

Thanks. I thought it was a good deal too, and close which is rare. I'm meeting the guy today. I haven't mentioned the "used" battery yet because I want to see the expression & hear the story in person. He has been very polite and responsive to all of my questions so far. I'll test drive it. I read something about bad transmissions costing a fortune, and being "jerky" while driving, but generally haven't seen or read much about that online. Otherwise, I believe I need to look for the following (feel free to add anything):

Regular car stuff - oil, tires, bodywork, leaks, everything operational, carfax, etc.
Hybrid/Prius stuff: battery (and where it came from, receipt), stuck brake lights (bad switch?), service light (frequent coolant pump issues), headlights (HID?).

I did look at the service records from the Toyota site, but I don't understand some of it, like the codes. I'm thinking worst, case, this thing is junk and I might get $3K for parts. Otherwise, it's something like a $1K gamble if the battery is in decent condition. I could live with that because of the significant gas savings. If the battery is complete garbage, pretty rare it seems, then I might be out a few grand. Not really "cool," but not catastrophic either.

 

Ok, I drove the car and there was a little bit of "popping" like worn strut mounts. It was not a heavy, grinding noise or anything like that. Is this normal? Also the brakes or regen seemed louder than it should have been, but I haven't driven enough of them to know. Otherwise the car was in pretty good shape. Carpet was a little dirty, but everything paint or metal was really clean.

Toyota replaced the battery @ 40% of cost according to a 9/22 record. The 9/10 record may have just been a quote for replacing a battery. He has a receipt for this, but did not have it with him. He will bring it when we close the deal.

Even if the battery was used, it should not be likely that a crap one would be put in it, right? It was 65-70% charged from what I could tell. He drove it 30 miles to meet me. It seemed like the engine was running more than it should have been - A/C was on - but I haven't been in them much.

 

The popping was while driving over bumps and such, not while sitting, accelerating/decelerating.

 

Thanks! Ok, I went ahead and bought the car. It is AWESOME!! Over 250 miles, I'm averaging 53mpg and I'm ecstatic. That's 3X the mileage of my Xterra, lol. I typically coast a LOT anyway, so I think that's really helped the with the brake regen. Otherwise I'm mostly driving in traffic and limiting my top speed, which I my normal driving habit. The little ICE isn't super efficient and of course drag is increased exponentially with increasing speeds. Anything over 55-60 mph really seems to start take a toll on gas mileage. <60 is ok for me. What's the hurry, you know?

For the "clunking" noise, I'm almost certain now this is worn strut insulators. I have done my own struts many times (previous Maxima owner & had 3 sets of springs w/ adjustable Tokicos) and will probably replace them myself. I have not looked for leaking strut oil, but I will replace the struts anyway when I install new spring isolators. For anyone who hasn't done this, releasing/compressing springs is a very dangerous job so you need to be aware of that. Here are several threads regarding the issue:

Symptoms: Rattle clunk from front end | PriusChat
Symptoms: Noise / Rattle From Front Right Suspension? | PriusChat
Job: Hints Regarding Replacement of 2G Front Struts | PriusChat
Assembly: http://priuschat.com/attachments/front-suspension-jpg.40575/

I will ask the seller about the spark plugs. He mentioned all of the fluids being replaced, including the transmission, and they appear to be clean. He says he put ceramic pads on the front recently. I'm a little confused though. What's the orange fluid between the ICE and EV motor? This is not the transmission fluid, correct? Sorry, still learning.

The "grinding" noise during low speeds/braking has me a little worried. It sounds like bad wheel bearings or metal to metal pads to rotor, but the noise doesn't get louder at speed like my Maxima did and there is no brake fade. Is this part of the regen system making the noise? Replacing wheel bearings is not fun. I don't believe that's what it is because it fades with speed. The car was so quiet in fact, except for the strut clunking, at speed on a 100 mile road trip last night that I had to roll down the windows to keep myself awake! lol. My previous cars have had much more wind noise. Funny, I didn't think "quietness" could be a problem, haha.