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Just got a text from friend - he also got a hybrid. UPDATE: My Prius is totalled!

Eug

Eug

Lifer
As some of you know, I drive an ancient Prius (2004). I just got a text from a friend saying he is copying my idea to buy a hybrid...

...except the hybrid he just ordered is this one:

Global-launch-campaign-for-BMW-i8-02.jpg


Yes, he has money to burn. And it will be his only car too. His wife will get an SUV though, so that should work for the winter.
 
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SAWYER said:
Have you ever had to replace the battery on your Prius?
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No. I'm on the original hybrid battery and even still on the original 12V battery. I only have 158000 km and change on it though, so a little under 100000 miles.

P.S. I've jump-started a few regular cars with dead batteries using my Prius 12V battery. However, I've since learned that this is a big no-no, since the Prius 12V battery is smaller capacity than most traditional car batteries, so it's easy to drain a Prius 12V battery doing this. Nonetheless it's still working fine.
 
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There's an outfit an hour from me that will repair Prius batteries for $895. Looks like all the hand-wringing about the battery being such a huge concern amounted to nothing.

Future googlers for prius battery replacement: autobeyours.com

Edit: Love the i8, sorry for semi-threadjacking.
 
nedfunnell said:
There's an outfit an hour from me that will repair Prius batteries for $895. Looks like all the hand-wringing about the battery being such a huge concern amounted to nothing.

Future googlers for prius battery replacement: autobeyours.com

Edit: Love the i8, sorry for semi-threadjacking.
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You sure that you are talking the correct battery? The small battery in a Prius is $400. At $800, it is a ripoff. The big battery would cost way more to replace.
 
nedfunnell said:
There's an outfit an hour from me that will repair Prius batteries for $895. Looks like all the hand-wringing about the battery being such a huge concern amounted to nothing.

Future googlers for prius battery replacement: autobeyours.com
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That's where I got my touch screen display. My dealer wanted a few thousand $ for a new replacement. I was like "WTF?!?". So they said they could put in a refurbished one for $1200. So, I called autobeyours and they had a deal where if I sent them my old one, they'd fix it for $300 and send it back to me, even though I was in Canada. They gave me long instructions on how to disassemble my dashboard and remove the thing. Took me over an hour just to remove it because I didn't know what I was doing, but to save $900 I'd say that's worth it.

BTW, I'd say the actual electronics in that part is probably worth about $50.

Edit: Love the i8, sorry for semi-threadjacking.
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I've never seen an i8 in person. I'll have to check it out when he gets it.
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
You sure that you are talking the correct battery? The small battery in a Prius is $400. At $800, it is a ripoff. The big battery would cost way more to replace.
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Yes, the hybrid battery, not the SLA 12v battery. I've toured the shop and bought stuff from them before. $895 doesn't get you a new battery, it's a refurbishment- but still, not the game-changer "everyone who buys a Prius is going to regret it" that was popular to parrot a few years ago.

Eug said:
I've never seen an i8 in person. I'll have to check it out when he gets it.
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I saw one in a dealership. Looks sweet! Did you see the TG segment on it?
 
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nedfunnell said:
Yes, the hybrid battery, not the SLA 12v battery. I've toured the shop and bought stuff from them before. $895 doesn't get you a new battery, it's a refurbishment- but still, not the game-changer "everyone who buys a Prius is going to regret it" that was popular to parrot a few years ago.
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I wonder if they're gambling it is only a cell or two that went bad and it will cost them way less to fix.
 
nedfunnell said:
I saw one in a dealership. Looks sweet! Did you see the TG segment on it?
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No. I don't actually follow this stuff, and perhaps just saw a picture of one here and there. I didn't think any of my friends or colleagues would actually buy one either.

BTW, my friend says the guy who runs the dealership has one, and drives it all winter long. I also know a guy who drives a Ferrari all winter long. He even moved his in Ferrari. Packed it full of stuff, and even got a roof rack.

That just doesn't make sense to me. Even if I were to get one of these cars, I would only buy it as a second car, to be used from spring to fall. But I won't spend that kind of money on a car. Maybe half of that at most, but more likely a third to 40%. Other than that, my next big spend is going to be a kitchen reno.


Kelvrick said:
I wonder if they're gambling it is only a cell or two that went bad and it will cost them way less to fix.
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They have a ton of these batteries and swap out the bad cells. Warranty is 6 months, and then prorated for 6 months after. Not that it would help me though, since I live in Canada and they won't be shipping the batteries here. You can sometimes get them at the wreckers locally though I believe, if you can find someone to install it.
 
The question about battery replacement is rather moot now. My Prius 2004 was wrecked today. Car got rear-ended and now the car is totally undriveable. My front panel was going crazy flashing all the symbols.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt, although my toddler was super scared.
 
NoCreativity said:
Glad to hear nobody was hurt. Sorry you lost your car. Going to buy another Prius?
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I was going to wait until the 2016 model to see what the Generation IV Prius (or subsequent Prius V) had to offer, but I can't do that anymore. However, my wife wants a bigger vehicle anyway, and I kinda want AWD. None of the current Priuses have AWD. There were some rumours the 2016 would get it, but like I said, that's moot now that I need a car now. So, I'll probably get a non-Prius mid-size crossover or something. I'm not sure I'll get another hybrid though. The great tax incentives for hybrids I got no longer exist, and most of the bigger hybrids have a really high price premium IMO.

Of course, I have to wait for the insurance adjuster's assessment though. This was a three car crash, but both I and the guy and front of me were stopped at an intersection, so I believe the cop on site agrees it was 100% the fault of guy who hit me (and then pushed my car into the car in front of me).

I personally think the car is a complete write-off, esp. considering the blue book value of this car is probably around US$5000, but I don't have any experience in collision assessments.
 
I'll have to do my research. I wasn't planning to buy for a couple of years from now, so I hadn't really started looking yet.

My sis (with expensive car tastes) suggests I buy a Lexus RX 450h, but that is way more than what I was planning to spend.
 
It can do 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds on what's basically a turbocharged sport motorcycle engine. Can't complain about that. Electric hybrids are going to be the future of the high end sports car. You just can't get that level of on-demand torque with a gas engine alone.

Plus, the less money going to those oil sheikh in Saudi Arabia, the better.
 
Yowzers! Sorry to hear about the wreck Eug. Glad to hear nobody is hurt. Hopefully your toddler is not too traumatized from this.
 
I got rear ended in my Avalon and it was still driveable, just a smashed up rear fender, truck etc and it was totaled by the insurance company.
 
michal1980 said:
and consumer reports thinks its a joke to pay thousands more, for a ~3mpg improvement over the none hybrid.
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That isn't the reason to get the hybrid, it's just a nicer car. Having a little torque fill doesn't hurt either even if the mileage isn't much better.

The Crosstrek Hybrid was a final contender when I was car shopping late last year but we ended up getting a CX-5. In the end it's just a much nicer car for $5k more at the sacrifice of some gas mileage and AWD performance. Given that AWD is probably not truly necessary here where plows and salt are used liberally it seemed like a reasonable compromise. Blizzaks all around have concealed any inadequacies in Mazda AWD so far this winter.

Viper GTS
 
Yeah, the little one was totally freaked out for about 45 minutes after it happened. She also was talking about it all evening after that, and this morning too. 🙁 But physically she is fine.

Below is the carnage. The first two pics include the front end of the car that hit me.

You can't see it in the pic, but there were puddles of red in front of my car, as if the car was bleeding. I think it was transmission fluid.

IMG_5200_zpsfqzh9ew6.jpg


IMG_5195_zpslegxofmm.jpg


IMG_5196_zpsjd8rgsdh.jpg


IMG_5198_zpsssgrqm8k.jpg


IMG_5199_zpstv068xi3.jpg
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
You sure that you are talking the correct battery? The small battery in a Prius is $400. At $800, it is a ripoff. The big battery would cost way more to replace.
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I replaced my 12v a while back as a preventative measure. It cost $163 from Amazon and I subsequently saw it on sale for a lot less. I have 151k miles on the odometer and no problems with the big battery-in fact the only repair I ever had was a failed water pump.
 
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