replacing hybrid car batteries

[Anonymous]

Google is not being my friend with this question.

We're looking at buying a used hybrid car (Prius or other Toyota, or Honda or Ford Fusion)

I am trying to get an idea what it would cost to replace the battery, since I assume this would be a likely big expense soon after buying a used hybrid.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the specific car. We have a 2011 Ford Escape and we replaced the battery ourselves last year. The battery itself is in an area where it’s fairly straightforward to access it - under the floor plate of the rear cargo area. It took about 3 hours of removing stuff to get the battery ready to come out, then we had to stop because we didn’t have the special release tool for the connector for the power cable. We ended up making one based on some pics we found on the web of the specialized tool, which wasn’t in stock anywhere. That added another couple days. We pulled the old battery, put the new one in, and took another half day getting the car put back together again. Cost for the battery was $5,200 including $1,700 for shipping for the new battery and return shipping for the old battery. Apparently the shipping costs are crazy high because of the dangers associated with battery fires. The instructions said to re-use the plastic shipping container for the old battery and schedule a pick up, which is what we did. All told it took about 2 months from ordering the battery to getting it and replacing it and getting the old one shipped back. The car was only out of service for the time we actually had it taken apart - about a week. We saved about $3,000 doing it this way, the dealership wanted $8,100 for a battery replacement.

[Anonymous]

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+to+replace+hybrid+battery&sxsrf=APq-WBvndJGmcqUMhdnhtcXflmCmIDMjxA%3A1646164111325&source=hp&ei=j3geYsjQEdKYwbkPg_OtqAU&iflsig=AHkkrS4AAAAAYh6Gn1GcSYLpZzmpn4Wj7bdil-HH9046&oq=how+much+to+repalce+hybr&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYADIECAAQDTIECAAQDTIECAAQDTIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeOgcIIxDqAhAnOgQIIxAnOg4ILhCABBCxAxDHARDRAzoLCAAQgAQQsQMQgwE6DgguEIAEELEDEMcBEKMCOggIABCABBCxAzoFCAAQgAQ6CAguEIAEELEDOggIABCxAxCDAToLCC4QgAQQsQMQ1AI6CAguEIAEENQCOggIABCABBDJAzoFCAAQkgNQ9wZYpSxghj5oAXAAeAGAAawCiAGME5IBCDE3LjYuMC4xmAEAoAEBsAEK&sclient=gws-wiz

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the specific car. We have a 2011 Ford Escape and we replaced the battery ourselves last year. The battery itself is in an area where it’s fairly straightforward to access it - under the floor plate of the rear cargo area. It took about 3 hours of removing stuff to get the battery ready to come out, then we had to stop because we didn’t have the special release tool for the connector for the power cable. We ended up making one based on some pics we found on the web of the specialized tool, which wasn’t in stock anywhere. That added another couple days. We pulled the old battery, put the new one in, and took another half day getting the car put back together again. Cost for the battery was $5,200 including $1,700 for shipping for the new battery and return shipping for the old battery. Apparently the shipping costs are crazy high because of the dangers associated with battery fires. The instructions said to re-use the plastic shipping container for the old battery and schedule a pick up, which is what we did. All told it took about 2 months from ordering the battery to getting it and replacing it and getting the old one shipped back. The car was only out of service for the time we actually had it taken apart - about a week. We saved about $3,000 doing it this way, the dealership wanted $8,100 for a battery replacement.

How did this compare to paying the dealership to change your battery? Seems like a huge PITA to do yourself.

[Anonymous]

You probably know this, but most hybrids have two batteries. The usual one the runs the electric and lights and starter (the one you jump if you leave the lights on too long), and the hybrid battery that runs the car (and you don't jump).

So make sure you are reading/asking about the right one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the specific car. We have a 2011 Ford Escape and we replaced the battery ourselves last year. The battery itself is in an area where it’s fairly straightforward to access it - under the floor plate of the rear cargo area. It took about 3 hours of removing stuff to get the battery ready to come out, then we had to stop because we didn’t have the special release tool for the connector for the power cable. We ended up making one based on some pics we found on the web of the specialized tool, which wasn’t in stock anywhere. That added another couple days. We pulled the old battery, put the new one in, and took another half day getting the car put back together again. Cost for the battery was $5,200 including $1,700 for shipping for the new battery and return shipping for the old battery. Apparently the shipping costs are crazy high because of the dangers associated with battery fires. The instructions said to re-use the plastic shipping container for the old battery and schedule a pick up, which is what we did. All told it took about 2 months from ordering the battery to getting it and replacing it and getting the old one shipped back. The car was only out of service for the time we actually had it taken apart - about a week. We saved about $3,000 doing it this way, the dealership wanted $8,100 for a battery replacement.

How did this compare to paying the dealership to change your battery? Seems like a huge PITA to do yourself.

The only PITA was not having the special tool and not being able to find it anywhere thus having to make it instead. If we’d had the terminal tool it would’ve been a 5-6 hour job. To save $3,000.

What’s your time worth? If you earn more than $550 per hour, I guess it’s not worth it. We don’t earn that much an hour, so it seemed like a pretty good deal for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the specific car. We have a 2011 Ford Escape and we replaced the battery ourselves last year. The battery itself is in an area where it’s fairly straightforward to access it - under the floor plate of the rear cargo area. It took about 3 hours of removing stuff to get the battery ready to come out, then we had to stop because we didn’t have the special release tool for the connector for the power cable. We ended up making one based on some pics we found on the web of the specialized tool, which wasn’t in stock anywhere. That added another couple days. We pulled the old battery, put the new one in, and took another half day getting the car put back together again. Cost for the battery was $5,200 including $1,700 for shipping for the new battery and return shipping for the old battery. Apparently the shipping costs are crazy high because of the dangers associated with battery fires. The instructions said to re-use the plastic shipping container for the old battery and schedule a pick up, which is what we did. All told it took about 2 months from ordering the battery to getting it and replacing it and getting the old one shipped back. The car was only out of service for the time we actually had it taken apart - about a week. We saved about $3,000 doing it this way, the dealership wanted $8,100 for a battery replacement.

Wow, thank you for replying. This is a sobering expense, even when doing it yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Google is not being my friend with this question.

We're looking at buying a used hybrid car (Prius or other Toyota, or Honda or Ford Fusion)

I am trying to get an idea what it would cost to replace the battery, since I assume this would be a likely big expense soon after buying a used hybrid.

What are you thinking in terms of miles and age?

I’d stick with the most popular hybrids out there for most options after market.

[Anonymous]

I have a 2004 Prius. I found a guy in Alexandria who put in a reconditioned battery for about $1000. I think at the dealer it would have been more like $3500-$4000. The expectation is that the reconditioned battery will not last as long. When I did it, I was just looking for a bandaid fix that would give me a couple more years while I figured out what kind of car I want next. That was 3 years ago... I haven't driven much at all since COVID hit and still don't know what kind of car I want next.

[Anonymous]

Almost seven grand for replacement batteries on an eleven year old vehicle. Makes a lot of sense… 🤦‍♂️

[Anonymous]

There seems to be no talk of how bad these batteries are for the environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There seems to be no talk of how bad these batteries are for the environment.

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

The battery in my 2005 Prius went bad about two years ago. There was one bad cell and two more that were borderline (out of 28 total cells). Fortunately, there are lots of videos online about how to deal with this. I bought three replacement cells on eBay and pulled the battery pack and replaced them myself. It took about five hours of work over the course of a week and my out of pocket cost was about $200.

That generation of Prius has been around for a while and there are companies who will replace your battery pack for $1000-$2000. They will either do the same thing that I did or just swap the battery pack for one that they rebuilt. Dealerships are like France - a place where rich people go.

Two years later, my Prius just keep rolling along with no issues. And what did I do with the old battery cells? Did I throw them into the Chesapeake Bay? No, of course not. I took them to one of the locations associated with Call2recycle.org

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There seems to be no talk of how bad these batteries are for the environment.

Who cares? That pollution is all the way on the other side of the world! And China has millions of child slaves to mine the lithium for new batteries!

I want my electric car!

[Anonymous]

Our 2007 Prius is still on its original battery. 180k miles and counting