Considering of shopping for a Toyota Prius? A Prius not solely saves you appreciable fuel cash, however it additionally delivers in terms of fashion, consolation, and efficiency. Higher but, it’s at all times good to know you’re doing all your half to avoid wasting the surroundings. What’s to not love?
However there’s one burning query that’s stopping you from shopping for one.
How lengthy will a hybrid battery final?
Extra to the purpose, does it include a Prius battery guarantee that gives sufficient protection to make the acquisition price it in the long term?
When you’re performed studying this text, you’ll know what to anticipate from a Prius battery when it comes to its lifespan, guarantee protection, and what your greatest choices are in case your hybrid battery fails after the guarantee interval.
In different phrases, you get all of the solutions you have to maximize your Toyota Prius possession expertise and to navigate higher your funds when you grow to be a Prius proprietor.
Prepared? Let’s get the ball rolling.
How lengthy will a Prius battery final?
Many potential Prius homeowners ask this query on a regular basis.
If we had been to present you a default reply it’d be, “so long as a typical automotive would final.”
Desire a extra particular reply? The overall consensus amongst Prius homeowners is {that a} Prius battery would final round 8 to 10 years and between 120,000 to 160,000 miles.
Not unhealthy, proper?
However like all issues in life, it relies upon.
On the finish of the day, a hybrid battery’s longevity depends upon many elements, such because the proprietor’s driving habits, the automotive’s age, utilization price, driving situations, and extra.
In the event you’re, say, a full-time Uber driver who drives over 1,000 miles per week, then likelihood is you’re going to chop your Prius battery’s life expectancy in half.
Alternatively, conserving your Prius battery well-maintained and sustaining good driving habits can even go a good distance into extending your Prius battery’s lifespan.
No matter which spectrum you fall as a Prius proprietor, one factor’s for sure: you need to prolong the shelf-life of your Prius hybrid battery for so long as doable.
With that stated, as a client, you deserve some type of assure from the automotive producer (Toyota) that the hybrid battery that comes along with your Prius will work as meant, and that they may present the required repairs and replacements ought to the hybrid battery fail earlier than its time.
Which brings us to…
Toyota Prius Battery Guarantee: Protection
Shopping for a Toyota Prius, or any automotive for that matter, is an enormous funding. And to guard that funding, you have to make it possible for what you’re shopping for comes with a beneficiant guarantee protection.
Fortunately, Toyota delivers on that finish.
For Toyota Prius fashions launched earlier than 2020, you get a guaranty battery protection of 10 years or 150,000 miles in states which have adopted California emission legal guidelines, and eight years or 100,000 miles in states that comply with federal requirements.
Additionally, Toyota has lately provided an prolonged guarantee. Beginning with 2020-year-models, Toyota has elevated the protection for all hybrid automobiles from 8 years or 100,000 miles, to 10 years from the date of first use, or 150,000 miles whichever comes first.
In case your hybrid battery dies on you earlier than the guarantee expires, all you have to do is take your car to a Toyota dealership and so they’ll provide you with a battery alternative and even set up it for you without spending a dime! Can’t get any extra easy than that.
For extra details about your Toyota Prius’s battery guarantee protection, please confer with your Guarantee and Upkeep Information or give your Toyota dealership a name.
Your Prius Battery guarantee has expired—what now?
As soon as your guarantee has expired, all repairs will probably be your monetary accountability.
Yep, scary thought. However what you are able to do is decelerate the degradation of your hybrid battery by good driving habits and common upkeep. Taking off slowly, stopping slowly, conserving the battery energy degree to below 80% however no decrease than 35%—all these preventive measures can go a good distance into prolonging the lifespan of your Prius battery. Extra importantly, you have to be at all times looking out for indicators of battery failure and deal with them rapidly.
Listed below are telltale indicators of a failing hybrid battery to look out for:
- Unusual engine noises. When the battery is underperforming, the ICE (inside combustion engine) tends to choose up the slack, which causes the bizarre noises.
- Decreased MPG. If there’s a sudden drop in MPG, that might imply your hybrid battery isn’t charging to full capability.
- Fluctuations in state of cost. Giant swings in your state of cost might point out points along with your battery.
- Dramatic drops in battery bars. A sudden drop in battery bars might be an indication that your battery is shedding its capability.
In case your hybrid battery is experiencing any of the above signs, it’s time that you’ve got it checked.
Restore or exchange, that’s the query
When you have your Prius battery checked, it’s time so that you can resolve whether or not to have it repaired or changed.
Hybrid battery repairs
A number of broken cells account for many early hybrid battery failures. Bear in mind, a hybrid battery includes many cells. When just a few cells are broken, it doesn’t make monetary sense to exchange the complete hybrid battery cell. So why not simply exchange those which were broken? Nonetheless, It gained’t do to solely exchange the broken cells, you additionally have to steadiness the battery pack to make sure the battery’s longevity.
If the broken cells are greater than a handful, changing all of them isn’t one of the best plan of action, both. You would possibly as properly exchange the complete battery cell proper? Nonetheless, when you don’t have the price range to purchase a brand new hybrid battery, the following greatest (or cheaper) possibility is to do a hybrid battery reconditioning/rejuvenation, which is finished by charging and balancing the battery’s cells. In a approach, it’s like respiratory new life into your hybrid battery.
However thoughts you, a reconditioned battery isn’t the identical as a brand new battery. It’s extremely unlikely {that a} reconditioned battery will final so long as a brand new battery. Consider battery reconditioning as a approach so that you can prolong the lifespan of your battery (it can provide you an estimated 60,000 further miles). The largest draw of battery reconditioning is that it permits you to prolong the shelf-life of your Prius battery by paying solely a fraction of the value of a brand new hybrid battery.
Hybrid battery alternative: prices and concerns
Typically, the higher possibility is to only exchange the hybrid battery altogether, particularly in case your Prius battery is over 10 years previous. As a result of on the finish of the day, a brand new hybrid battery will at all times be higher than a repaired one.
That does beg the query:
How a lot wouldn’t it price you to purchase a brand new hybrid battery?
To reply that, it’s important to ask the next questions:
- What’s the make and mannequin of your hybrid automotive?
- The place are you shopping for it from?
What’s the make and mannequin of your Prius automotive?
When shopping for a Prius battery from a Toyota dealership, count on to spend between $3k and $4—labor or set up prices not included.
To present you an thought, right here’s an inventory of varied hybrid Toyota fashions since 2001 (these are dealership costs):
2001-2003 Toyota Prius (1st era) – $3,649
2004-2009 Toyota Prius (2nd era) – $3,939
2010-2011 Toyota Prius (third era) – $4,080
2012-2015 Toyota Prius Liftback – $3,939
2012-2016 Toyota Prius V – $3,939
2012-2016 Toyota Prius C – $3,807
As you possibly can see, dealership costs aren’t precisely low-cost. Toyota dealerships are infamous for charging excessive costs. Which isn’t stunning contemplating large firms like Toyota have tight margins and excessive overhead prices.
Nonetheless, you continue to need to give your Toyota supplier a name to see what choices they’ve on provide. Apart from, shopping for from a Toyota dealership feels extra “official,” which can provide you some peace of thoughts. In the event you don’t thoughts the associated fee, shopping for a alternative hybrid battery from a Toyota dealership isn’t a nasty name.
Shopping for from a personal vendor
If spending not less than $3k for a alternative hybrid battery is out of the query, fret not! You should buy one for half the value from a personal vendor or a hybrid specialty store. In fact, you don’t simply go for the most cost effective battery out there. You need to rating one from a vendor you possibly can belief, and who has a good observe document for promoting dependable hybrid battery items. And for apparent causes, it’s at all times a good suggestion to search out an unbiased store that has a extremely skilled and skilled hybrid mechanic.
Extra importantly, you need to make it possible for the vendor you’re shopping for from provides a beneficiant Prius battery guarantee. Why? As a result of a Prius battery guarantee is a seal of belief between you and the vendor. It’s proof that they stand behind their product, that the hybrid battery they’re promoting you has been manufactured with the utmost care and with the very best requirements in thoughts.
Last Phrase
Toyota Prius automobiles are recognized for his or her reliability, security, and efficiency, and shopping for one is without doubt one of the nice investments you may make as a automotive proprietor.
A Prius battery guarantee serves as basis for maximizing that funding. In any case, you need to be sure to’re coated ought to your hybrid automotive have points and defects in the course of the preliminary possession interval. And in case your hybrid battery goes out of guarantee and begins to fail? It’s good to know there are lots of out there choices on the market which can be extra financially prudent and sustainable than what you’ll get from Toyota dealerships.
Want a refurbished or a brand new Prius hybrid battery? Make certain to take a look at our choices. Purchase considered one of our new hybrid batteries and luxuriate in our unique 4-year guarantee!
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