Hello all, I live on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, and there aren't many Prius repair shops around...so I figured Sacramento might be the best bet. I have a 2006 Prius with 120,000 miles and need some maintenance done for the 100K-120K mileage range - (spark plugs, fluid changes, etc.) most of that is OK and I can probably take care of much myself, but I also suspect the battery should be replaced soon as I get some nice warnings when heading up some of the mountains in the area...plus I can feel that it is less efficient and powerful given its age. Is there a place in Sacramento that repairs/replaces/rebuilds the battery? I would ideally look for some kind of upgrade to get a larger battery with a plug-in option if available. Something to go like 5+ miles on battery alone would be sweet. Thank you all, --Matt
What kind of nice warnings do you get? I don't think your issues are related to your HV battery. 12v battery maybe needs attention, along with other 120k mileage items (the ones you can do yourself)
Those battery upgrades for Gen II's never made economic sense and all those companies are out of business now anyway.
It's the triangle warning and loss of power during mountain climbing - when the display meter for the HV is down to 1 bar - though I know that is not an exact measurement. I don't have my code reader today to snag what it might be, but will take it to autozone or equivalent to see what codes are there. Good to know about the upgrades...I remember following those discussions like in 2008 but wasn't going to mess with anything until it needed replacement anyways. I guess my desired solution for a plug-in is to buy a new car! lol that aside, I found this place: GreenTecAuto but no idea about them...
If the red triangle comes on while you are driving, you should check to make sure you are not low on oil. Having 1 bar on the SOC meter while climbing is normal operation. It'll recharge itself after you are done climbing the hill.