It's a risk. Sometimes it may be OK. Plenty of others times you will be left stranded. Are you feeling lucky?
I suspect that many rebuilders are inexperienced and getting their experience at the expense of their customers. If it was mine, I'd try to find a used, known good Gen 3 battery and transplant the cells to your battery and then sell the car at your leisure.
I wouldn't want to be going down the mountain when the traction battery fails. Discretion is the better part of valor. Take the LEAF.
I did pay cash and I am letting him try to resolve the situation with another try. I knew the risks going in and I appreciate the fact that the rebuilder is honoring his warranty and swapping in another battery tomorrow. I know it's another gamble but salvaged batteries seem impossible to find in my area and the only options seem to be rebuilt or brand new. I took the cheaper route mainly because the people pulling my codes led me to believe that other things may be wrong with the car. This guy is relatively new to the rebuilding trade but he offers a 1-year guarantee, assuming he honors his agreement - which I'll find out tomorrow. I am driving the leaf for now and, thankfully, I work close to home so, when we complete the next swap, I'll be able to test it near home. I also signed up for AAA, just in case I do get stranded somewhere. I'm also starting to look for a "new-to-me" car but I also know those come complete with "new-to-me" problems too... The rebuilder says that he'll come tomorrow and swap in another battery. After that, I'll drive it around for a few errands around town and see how it behaves. I've already set a limit at 3 battery swaps - if "third time" is not a charm, then I'll try to negotiate getting some kind of refund. I'm cautiously optimistic that the next battery might work out. I'll see and report back in a week or so... Thanks for the input.
Hope everything works out ok. Don't know about the others, but my fingers are crossed and I'm holding my breath as best I can. Good luck.
Well...so far so good but I know it's really way too soon. The rebuilder did honor his word and swapped out the HV battery again tonight. It is *my* battery back in a rebuilt form. The 12v battery was totally dead when I went to move the car so I had to wait for him to come with cables and jump it. He swapped the HV battery and said that if this one also fails, then he will discuss giving me a full refund - he *is* turning out to be a VERY honorable fellow He also left the jumper cables with me as a "just in case" since I didn't have my own and he said to help make up for the inconvenience of having to do this twice now. That was thoughtful. My dad hammered it home enough when I was younger to *drive* the car for a while after a jump to make sure the battery gets nice and charged so I took a night drive around my area. Drove for about 15 min, stopped for gas, and it restarted just fine. I'm planning to take it to work tomorrow since I work close to home. Tomorrow night, I'll drive it to a friend's house and hang out for a while and drive home. Right now, I think I'm at the about 25-mile mark and historically, lights start shining around the 60-80 mile mark so...I'm hoping for the best and I'll post back later.
Like the armadillo said, half way across the road, "So far, so good!" Let's hope it stays that way. That's a terrific response from the rebuilder. Two thoughts on the 12V: 1. If you do need a jump, please be dead certain it's connected properly. I'm sure you've already seen warnings about the results of getting it wrong on a Prius, but I just wanted to make extra sure. 2. Since the 12V has been run down so flat, it's very near to its end of life. The Prius battery doesn't do well after going flat. I would start shopping now for a replacement so you don't get left stranded.