Hello. So my Prius has 125,000 miles on it. The battery is going warranted in NY for 150,000 as far as I know. My previous luck has been days after a warranty expired something went wrong. I don't have the $5000 or how ever much to replace the battery if it dies. My wife drives the car and tells me almost every morning the display panel for the battery only shows 2 bars. Is it time to trade it in or what should I do. iPhone ?
Since you are still under warranty, I would take it into the dealership and complain about the battery. If they do decide to replace it, then good. If not, wait a bit longer and do it again.
Yes, very important to have that complaint on file as that can be helpful with Toyota if the dealer doesn't address the issue now and the hybrid battery fails later.
no offense, but you either need to drive and observe the car's behavior for yourself, or pay the dealer to do it. 'almost every morning, the display panel for the battery shows only two bars' is vague and meaningless. they will give you nothing for free unless the dashboard lights up. most likely, everything is fine. mpg's are the best measure of battery health.
dealer can put it on techstream and run a load test for a few hundred bucks, but all they will tell you is that the battery degrades over time, and 150,000 miles is the expected life before total failure of a cell, which would show up on your dash.
Maybe what you could do is to turn AC on and put gear to neutral (e-brake on) wait for the battery to go to one bar and press park button. Or even just to drop to zero bars (don’t wait any longer since you don’t know what is happening). If battery is in bad shape you would get fault code and light and Toyota would replace the battery. If you wouldn’t get fault code you would know that battery still has life left in it.
This is a picture my wife took a few weeks ago. This was when she was driving up a slight incline. The bars do go back up. iPhone ?
You can’t know anything from that picture. In some situations is normal that it has 2 bars and battery is discharging.
This isn't a technical question. It's a personal one. Let's assume nothing is wrong with the battery. It is operating as it should. Will you find something else wrong? Like the AC doesn't blow cold. Or the engine makes a weird noise every time you turn left on a one way street. The way you wrote your question tells me you will worry. It may be beneficial to you and your wife's peace of mind to trade it in on a new one if you're going to worry. Financially, the numbers say you should keep it. But if you're just going to worry, you might as well look at your finances and see if you can't swing a deal on leftover 2015 models that are going for under $20k for a two.
I have a 2005 and a 2007. Both of mine will reach 2 bars on extended inclines (I make a trip at least once a month with a 2,000-ft climb over about 5 miles and a 6,000-ft gain over the entire course of the trip). On rare occasions, they'll reach two bars after sitting for a few days as well. I bought them used with high miles, but neither one has ever thrown a code and neither one shows any indications that the battery is low. In short, getting to two bars isn't a bad thing, necessarily. If I were you, and I was truly concerned about this, I would take the advice of other members here. Get your complaint on file with a Toyota dealership. After that, don't worry about it until you KNOW it's a problem. My guess is that if your MPGs are normal, everything is fine.
Will the Prius still drive if the battery dies? And my wife is the one worried about this. She wants to trade it in but we still owe $6000 on it so I am trying to calm the storm. iPhone ?
It depends on what you mean by "dies." If you mean completely, 100%, all dead (Billy Crystal style), then no, the car will not drive. It won't turn on (similar to how "regular" cars won't turn on with a dead battery). The hybrid system is what turns the ICE on. If the hybrid system can't turn on, the ICE can't turn on. If you mean "zero bars on the MFD" dead, then yes, the car can still drive. The car will simply use the ICE more heavily until it charges the battery back up to a "normal" range. The car has measures built in to protect itself from fully draining.
It is an '09 with 25,000 miles left on the warranty. You have nothing to worry about! As a matter of fact, if the car is in good condition, with no other issues, KEEP IT! If it were mine, I would HOPE that the battery failed BEFORE I hit 150,000 miles. Toyota would replace it for FREE and you could keep the car for another 150,000 miles! In a CARB state, you have NOTHING to lose by keeping it... Maybe the wife just wants a new car...
You're 25,000 miles from having to worry about this problem, and if you cannot afford to replace the battery you REALLY can't afford to replace the car! Trading in a car is nearly always a multi-thousand dollar mistake! If you're wanting to get rid of the car, then place some ads in CL and/or a credit union's swap-n-sell paper or investigate how it's done on eBay. If the G2 is in great shape? Post an ad here and see if you get some bites. A dealer is either going to under-pay you on your trade or over charge you for the replacement vehicle. Usually? It's both. If you're that worried about the battery, start saving for a replacement now. I wouldn't worry about it, since it sounds like it's doing what it should be doing, and what mine has been doing since day 1. Good Luck!
