29th Dec 2008, 11:12
"But the Prius 180,000 or so sold the past year has to be the ugliest vehicle I have seen. It remains to be seen how $5K to 9K for replacement batteries at some point in time may affect a cost conscious young family."
First of all, I know a TON of people who think F-150's and Silverados are pretty ugly looking, so your first comment is a mere opinion.
Your second comment is inaccurate. I keep hearing all these "what about Prius batteries" comments from people who don't own or know much about these cars. We own a 2002 Prius, meaning it's now on its 7th year of reliable performance. It's also the first generation of the US Prius. The Prius actually came out in 1997 in Japan. The first Japanese model did have some problems where the battery wore out after a few years. This was because the battery was completely charged and discharged over and over versus the next model where the battery is only charged 40-60% then discharged also to around 40-60%. In doing so, this cycling puts very little stress on the battery. Thus with ours, the battery is expected to last as long as the car does. In fact, there are fleets of the older Prius in NYC used as taxi cabs with well over 300,000 miles with their original batteries. The current Prius also has a 150,000 mile warranty on the battery. That and the current generation's battery is half the price of the old one. On top of that, Toyota pays you $600 for the old battery.
Even if you had to replace the main battery, which so far very few have, the cost of replacement depends on what you do. Used units can be bought for $500-$800. The battery is bolted under the rear seat and can be replaced fairly easily. A moderate weekend mechanic could do so himself.
Look at it this way. There have been far, far more Cadillac Northstar engines that have needed replacements than Prius batteries.
All I know is that we've had zero problems with ours. Several of our neighbors and my Aunt have them too. Again - no problems.
26th Dec 2008, 21:22
"It remains to be seen how $5K to 9K for replacement batteries at some point in time may affect a cost conscious young family"
The batteries ARE very expensive, but I think it is more like $2000-$3000. However I have been told that some Toyota dealerships are charging $2000 labor to replace them, so your figures aren't too far off if you meant to include labor.
Prius sales have really tanked and have dropped 48% in the past couple of months. That's more than Ford and GM sales have dropped. Part of that may well be due to articles regarding the extremely high cost of maintenance on the Prius.