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Originally Posted by Cd
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1) Battery pack health: Since so much of this car is related to the battery pack, are there some early warning signs of a pack going bad ? How can a person check the battery condition of a car when buying from an individual seller ? Can a standard garage do this check, or must a dealer visit be scheduled for this? What is the most harmful to a batteries life - cycles used ( miles traveled ) or time ( age of car ) ?
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I will only speek about the gen 2 or gen 3. The HV pack is divided in 14 groups. You can monitor the 14 voltages and the 14 internal resistances. For example use torque and a bluetooth dongle. Or a mini vci and the official program: techstream.
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2) Pack replacement/refurbishment: What is the cost of a replacement battery pack ? From what i understand, it may be possible to refurbish. What is an honest rate for this service ?
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Here, in France replacement with a new one is about 1900€, add labor.
Some diyers have changed one or several blocks using second hand one. You can not buy new blocks from Toyota, only the full battery.
On priuschat you have several threads,
this one for example.
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3) From what i understand, unlike an Insight 1st Gen, a Prius cannot run at all without it's battery pack. Is this true ?
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If the battery is dead before starting, the car is bricked. If this occur during driving you wil go to your destination. A battery usually don't dead suddenly. This is the computer (the hsd) that decide that some thresold had been reached. Usually you have the so known red triangle displayed. This will hapend at each trip until you solve the problem. With torque or other program you can get the dtc code. The problem may come not from a cell but a copper tab oxidezed.
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4) What things break and wear out most often on this car ? ( Things to check when buying )
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The most known is the 12v battery dead. Very old prius use engine oil.
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5) What tires does the Prius use, and if non low rolling resistance tires are installed, what kind of a mileage hit is to be expected ?
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The gen 2 in US use 15" tires. We use 16". The gen 3 use 15 or 17". Mileage depend upon temp, cross wind, rain, speed and so on...