Early Hybrid Failure

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by nurseaj, Jun 3, 2016.

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  1. nurseaj

    nurseaj New Member

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    We are looking at a used 2012 Prius Four, not IV, tomorrow(private sale).It has 30 k miles and has already had the hybrid battery replaced.The man who is selling the car for his parents said there was something wrong from the factory and the dealer replaced it and there is a 5 year warranty on this battery(I assume to make it equal to the initial warranty).I have not been able to discover that this is a widespread problem. Has anyone else heard of anything like this and is this a red flag for anything that we should be aware of ?They are selling it for Edmunds private value price,Thanks for any guidance that anyone can provide.
    PS We have never owned any hybrid
     
    #1 nurseaj, Jun 3, 2016
  2. ForestBeekeeper

    ForestBeekeeper Active Member

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    We have over 130,000 miles on our Prius. You have gotta expect that sometimes one car of every 1,000 may have some issue. If it has a new battery it should be fine for the next 200,000 miles.
     
    #2 ForestBeekeeper, Jun 3, 2016
  3. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    Get documentation...
     
    #3 RRxing, Jun 4, 2016
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! agree! ^^^^^ don't take peoples word when it's such an unusual situation. it's possible, but if it goes bad in 3 years, where's the proof it's under warranty. i have never heard of this before.
     
    #4 bisco, Jun 4, 2016
  5. yeldogt

    yeldogt Active Member

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    The car came with a factory warranty on the battery. I believe the minimum is 5 years and 100k. Those states with CA emission rules take the warranty out to 150k (I forget the time) .... it may be 10 years.

    In any event ... 2012 car would be covered. The emission warranty covers many other parts of the car.

    I would not be concerned buying a car with a replaced battery. If the owner lost the original paperwork -- it should be easy for them to get a copy from the dealer. Much is online.

    Some parts do come with a special warranty - but most are only covered up to the period on the car. You would have to ask the dealer about the coverage -- and this would depend on the state. Toyota may warranty a battery that a customer purchases for 5 years -- but this would have been a car past the factory warranty. Toyota is not going to extend the warranty past what a new car is going to come with for a battery that they replace.

    The batteries are very reliable -- they last. We have 140k on our oldest 2011.
     
    #5 yeldogt, Jun 4, 2016
  6. nurseaj

    nurseaj New Member

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    2012 Prius
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    Thanks for the timely replies. The seller is no longer selling.Does sound like it was an individual,defective unit -not a bad year.
    We did drive a 2016 Prius 2 today and were offered a 24788 out the door price(sales tax 71/2 %)price.Did not buy since we have time on our side.Alwys difficult to truly calculate the true cost of used vs new.
     
    #6 nurseaj, Jun 4, 2016
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    all the best in your search!(y)
     
    #7 bisco, Jun 4, 2016
  8. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

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    I don't think its so difficult. New will always be more expensive than used at every point in the ownership timeline. With the drastic depreciation of a new car in the first few years, I really don't think there's a question that even if you have to spend some money repairing a used car, you'll still come out ahead.
     
    #8 FuelMiser, Jun 5, 2016
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