One of my friends from college owns a 2006 Prius. I have done most maintenance and repairs on this vehicle since 2010. The hybrid battery has bit the dust at just under 140k miles. The usual fault codes and symptoms of rapid state of charge (SOC) cycling are present.
My friend is the second owner of this vehicle. This car spent 4 years in the Phoenix Metro area before it was resold as CPO by a Northern California Toyota dealer. While any hybrid battery over 10 years is probably on borrowed time (to an extent), I personally suspect that the vehicle’s time in the Phoenix high heat environment did not help with the hybrid battery’s longevity.
Furthermore, this vehicle has seen minimal use over the last 12 months. By minimal use, I mean a few thousand miles of short trip, in-town driving. I have been advised by a few industry experts that infrequent use of older hybrid vehicles can be very detrimental to the battery’s lifespan. Perhaps there is some validity to this theory. When I last saw this vehicle in July 2017, the car ran perfectly well and the hybrid battery displayed zero signs of obvious deterioration.
I will keep this thread updated with photos of the repair process. The current plan is to replace the battery with a new one from the dealer. Initially, the owner was considering various 3rd party rebuilt batteries but I strongly urged him to consider a new battery from the dealer for maximum longevity. Toyota has also reduced the list price of the hybrid battery to $1950, which really helped with the decision to go with a new one.
My friend is the second owner of this vehicle. This car spent 4 years in the Phoenix Metro area before it was resold as CPO by a Northern California Toyota dealer. While any hybrid battery over 10 years is probably on borrowed time (to an extent), I personally suspect that the vehicle’s time in the Phoenix high heat environment did not help with the hybrid battery’s longevity.
Furthermore, this vehicle has seen minimal use over the last 12 months. By minimal use, I mean a few thousand miles of short trip, in-town driving. I have been advised by a few industry experts that infrequent use of older hybrid vehicles can be very detrimental to the battery’s lifespan. Perhaps there is some validity to this theory. When I last saw this vehicle in July 2017, the car ran perfectly well and the hybrid battery displayed zero signs of obvious deterioration.
I will keep this thread updated with photos of the repair process. The current plan is to replace the battery with a new one from the dealer. Initially, the owner was considering various 3rd party rebuilt batteries but I strongly urged him to consider a new battery from the dealer for maximum longevity. Toyota has also reduced the list price of the hybrid battery to $1950, which really helped with the decision to go with a new one.