Unexpected Death of my Prius - what's the best way to replace car?

united4ever

I have a Toyota Prius 2007 (bought 5 years ago) for 6k. Had some warning lights on the dash this week which I went to a local garage to get fixed. They said a battery replacement would be best (12v) but wanted £400 to do that - over the phone Toyota dealership quoted £125 so I took it there - they then called to say there was water damage in the battery and the boot of the car - the water, it seems was getting in through various seals around the hatch and the lamps and resting in the lowest point where the battery is in the boot next to spare tyre. They said also the hybrid battery is damaged in part too. They quoted £2900 to do the repairs which is pointless given the value of the car. Some web research and it seems this is a fairly common fault with 2007 prius.

Anyway, what to do next. We need a replacement car, what's the best way to get anything cash wise for the car? is it worth even trying to trade it in somewhere for a second hand car or is it scrap? As you can probably guess, I am not the most car savvy person so maybe leasing something would be better but I heard that is generally the more expensive option.

Here is a link to a pic showing what happened to the car

https://imgur.com/u7YrWKG

born_again

Well some companies are offering scrappage schemes. Which you could use your car for. So long as you can drive it there.

Herzlos

Presumably the Prius will still run on the petrol engine even if the hybrid battery fails? If so it's not scrap and could still be used?



Your best bet in terms of getting rid are to list it honestly on ebay with no reserve and see what you get - someone may well want the rest of it, or to take advantage of any scrappage schemes going.

shaun_from_Africa

Herzlos wrote: »

Presumably the Prius will still run on the petrol engine even if the hybrid battery fails? If so it's not scrap and could still be used?

Can a Prius be driven with the hybrid battery removed from the vehicle or will the computer not allow it?
I wouldn't fancy driving around with a dodgy 60 or 70 kg lithium battery in the back of the car.

eamon

To the OP.


Do you have any private hire taxi firms that you use? If they have any hybrid cars they will know of somebody that could be useful.

Norman_Castle

They quoted £2900 to do the repairs which is pointless given the value of the car.

Does this include replacing the hybrid battery? If the 12v battery and seals were replaced would the car be usable but with poor hybrid battery storage.

The hybrid battery may have been slowly failing for years.

shown73

Tons of You Tube videos regarding Prius batteries, some may be interesting, if only to find out what you are dealing with.

nickcc

Knowing how many Prius are used as Taxis I would have thought a scrap yard may have had a reasonable replacement battery.