My girlfriend bought a new 09 Prius two years ago and whenever we're together she prefers me to drive so I have a fair amount of drive time and was wondering about a few things: how long time or milage wise can you expect from the hybrid battery, how much do they cost to replace, and with the starter doing so much more work than a regular car do they have a more heavy duty starter and do they wear out more? Also we both have noticed that it seems to take a little more concentration to maintain a constant speed without the cruise control than a conventional drive vehicle, why? It seems to be a good car but it took me a bit to get used to it but once I did I liked it. Gerry
There is no starter, there are 2 heavy duty motor generators (MG1 and MG2) and there are no reported issues with those "wearing out" or anything. The battery will last a variable amount of time. My '04 just turned over 115k miles and 8 years and is going strong. There have been several reports of batteries going over 400k miles, a bunch over 300k and 200k is old hat and doesn't even get anyone's attention any more when posted. Replacement cost depends--many are using rebuilt batteries that sell for $600-1000 and then install themselves or have a dealer install. If you buy a brand new battery from Toyota and have it installed by Toyota and don't do any haggling you'll pay closer to $4-5000, assuming you're out of warranty. Is Oregon a CARB state? I don't notice any difficulty maintaining a steady speed, but then I use CC when I'm on the highway and I tend to hypermile and am intentionally fluctuating my speed on surface roads. You may have a little harder time just b/c when the ICE isn't running there's little auditory feedback about how fast you're going. With a conventional gas car you hear a steady RPM rumble from the ICE so you know when it's working harder or less hard and have that to give you a clue to your speed.
It is by Model Year 2009. The battery will be a large but not impossible expense in 100,000 to 400,000 miles when it goes bad. If you are concerned about limiting repair costs, change the transaxle fluid (about $100 at a dealer) every 60,000 miles and get a new 12 volt battery the very first time you have to jump your current 12 volt battery. (Jumping your 12 volt battery incorrectly can cost $4500, so minimize your chances of that with a new battery)
So the OP should not have to worry about the Traction battery or any other hybrid components (including the "starter"-MG1) unti 2019 and 150k miles. I think you're in good shape.:rockon:
It is my understanding that for the past several years Oregon has the same CARB requirments as does the state of Washington and a couple of other states, Gerry
