Comments on: Prius hybrid battery fails at 70K miles, Toyota won’t pay for $3700 repair

By: Otis Maxwell

Otis Maxwell — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:48:52 +0000

Melman, I had an 2006 we bought long before this happened…that was my second Prius. The 2001 was sold to a private party who was happy to get it for low Blue Book with a brand new battery. So that’s the story of my Priuses, and I’m looking forward to learning more about the 2012.

I said “changed the equation” because you pay more for the hybrid initially but you expect to have better mileage and a car that lasts at least as long as a regular car. In my case this was not true until Toyota made it right by paying for the battery.

By: Melman

Melman — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:48:33 +0000

Why did you buy another Prius if the experience of a failed battery “changed the equation” for you? I assume you traded the 01 in for the new Prius; what did the dealer give you for it?

By: Toyota’s epic PR fail | Copywriting and Marketing Ninja Skills

Toyota’s epic PR fail | Copywriting and Marketing Ninja Skills — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:18:32 +0000

[...] my original post about my dead Prius battery has become one of the most-read articles ever on this blog. Lots of new [...]

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:59:43 +0000

Why does “Toyota need to fix this”? The battery is old. It is “out of warantee”. HP doesn’t give me a new battery for my laptop just because it dies out of warrantee. I don’t know how anyone could not be aware of the impending battery cost on a hybrid, or any other battery operated device for that matter. The Prius battery replacement cost was well publicized at $4000 or more. Since it is “only” $3700, I would count yourself ahead of the game. Just don’t buy an electric car next time. The replacement battery cost is over $20,000. This is a good reason why not go to gung-ho into a technology without checking things out (unlike the California Air Resources Board).

By: T.G.

T.G. — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:33:23 +0000

With the problems Toyota is having atm I would think they would be bending over backwards to try and help people with problems like these. Shouldnt be buying imports anyway, yeah I know built here blah blah blah but the money still goes to the home country of the import.

I have been a GM man since the 80′s but since they are now 61% owned by the .gov I will be switching to Ford, I refuse to reward incompetence.

By: Otis Maxwell

Otis Maxwell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:54:50 +0000

By the way, a lot of my new readers seem to be coming from this site: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/off-topic/2530590-the-prius-backlash-starts.html . I used to do some work for the Eckler’s catalog of Corvette accessories. I come in peace in other words…

By: Otis Maxwell

Otis Maxwell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:32:46 +0000

Ouch, guys. Color me naive but when we bought the car we just didn’t think about a battery warranty. The salesperson implied the battery would last the life of the car and we were so excited by this green experiment we didn’t push it. It wasn’t until the failure happened that I discovered there actually was a limited warranty and it was only 8 years.

Also, hybrid owners did and do pay a premium up front for the battery and the technology which more than offsets any gas savings. We really are trying to do the right thing, though you’re right we should probably just buy a horse.

(But those pollute too, though in a different manner. I’ve read somewhere that there were serious air quality problems in NYC during the years when it was full of horse drawn vehicles.)

By: Darrell

Darrell — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:32:57 +0000

So you are complaining about $300 per year? You save this much a year in gas, at least. Guess you thought you could have your cake and eat it too. Nine years for a battery seems pretty good to me. You wanted “Green”, so now you need to pay for it.
Cracks me up, people expect cars and trucks to last forever. Maintenance and repairs are necessary people, you still have to feed the horse.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:03:58 +0000

Your warranty is EXPIRED. Is that so hard to comprehend? You should have purchased an extended warranty of you wanted them to cover it past the original one.

That battery is going to do FAR more damage to the envrionment than a regular car would. Whay can’t you people understand that? I agree with David above, go to a battery plant and see just how green they are.

You now need to pay your “stupid tax” and the amount is $3700. Me = ROFL @ you.

By: david

david — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:45:20 +0000

Not only all that gas you saved, but think about how much cleaner the environment is going to be your green technology batteries seaping into the environment.

Ever been to a battery plant? All Greenies should go! Green Technology my a$$.

Can’t wait to see what goes wrong next.

Go Green – Buy a Horse!