I am wondering what people out there think a fair warranty for a replacement Prius hybrid battery would be?
(FYI) Toyota offers a one-year warranty, unlimited mileage. When we purchased our 2001 Prius we got 8 years/100,000 mile warranty on our hybrid battery. It lasted 115,000+ miles.
Fair to who? Toyota seems to feel one year is “fair”…Since Toyota builds the cars and writes the warranty terms, it’s not really a subject for debate. It’s take it or leave it…
I agree it is take it or leave it. If it were me, I would leave it. I am sure that battery is not cheap at all. Will you have another $1,000.00 in a year to pay for another battery. Trust me, it is not personal its just business. Dealers really do not make a lot of money off selling a car, they make it up on parts and repairs.
Dealers have little to do with warranty on an item. Toyota backs it up and they deem that acceptable.
Dealers making a significant amount of money selling certain new cars and definitely selling used cars. They also make loads of money from selling extra’s, financing and the like.
This big change in Toyota policy would seem to say they are getting very tired of replacing Prius batteries for free…
Well, you have to say that Toyota has pegged the useable life of your battery pretty well. Unless QA has fallen, I would expect similar life for a replacement battery. The 1 year warranty would cover manufacturing defects. I would think that if you wanted a better warranty Toyota finance or an extended warranty company could provide one for a fee. So IMHO, I think the warranty is probably fair.
BTW what is the cost out the door of the new battery pack?
Most of the prius owner sites are pretty encouraging about battery life. For myself, Mine failed (one cell went bad, they replaced the array) around 80,000 miles - under warranty. Original replacement cost was near $3000. Last I heard closer to $2000. Plus there are used arrays available now through auto recycling centers.