The Toyota Prius is a super popular car with big cost savings but be aware that the costly batteries don’t last forever

#BeavertonCarGuy

Hello Loyal Beaverton Readers!

I would like to thank all who have written in, called or emailed about my last couple of articles. I appreciate the feedback as well as all the opportunities to be of service to my Beaverton neighbors.

This month I want to talk about Eleanor, a local Beaverton Resident. Eleanor lives in the Five Oaks neighborhood. She called to ask some questions about her 2012 Toyota Prius.

After a brief conversation about the car, we were able to get to the root of why Eleanor had called. Eleanor is a 72-years-old with no family to help her in certain situations.

Eleanor had purchased the Prius new in 2011 as she was on a fixed income and wanted to stretch her dollars as far as she could knowing the Hybrid Prius would get her close to 50 MPG in city driving.

One morning, as Eleanor backed her car out of the garage it died and would not move. With only 13k miles on the car, she was confused, but glad the car was still in her driveway. No matter what she did, the vehicle would not move. That is when she called me.

I went over to see Eleanor and take a look at her Prius as she was pretty concerned and needed to get some groceries. I first took her to the grocery store to gather what she needed and then we went back to her home so I could inspect the vehicle.

Upon inspection, I was able to diagnose the car’s issue and found the Hybrid batteries had failed. Yes, it was a 10-year-old car with ridiculously low miles, however the Hybrid batteries just would no longer store power and the gasoline part of the engine just was not enough to operate the vehicle.

I knew this was not a good situation for Eleanor as the cost of the hybrid batteries along with everything else that accompanies that have certainly gone up in price. Just before the COVID19 outbreak, Prius battery replacement was around $7,000 for parts and labor.

After calling more than one Toyota dealership, we were astonished to discover that parts, labor, and disposal of the old Hybrid batteries had escalated to nearly $8500. Eleanor was not happy, and she insisted on factory genuine parts for her car.

Toyota only warrants the Hybrid batteries for 10 years on the 2011 model or 100k miles. This car was outside of these parameters and Toyota would not help her with any of the cost.

Eleanor had purchased this car thinking it would be her last vehicle, use a lot less fuel and reduce her monthly bills by cutting costs. Since her income is fixed like many seniors today.

In the end, I was able to assist Eleanor with new factory hybrid batteries for her car and she was able to work out a payment plan with the dealership outside of Beaverton. I loaded the car on my trailer and hauled it to the dealership. To their credit, the dealership did a great job installing the new batteries and Eleanor is now back on the road.

If anyone would like to save time and $money or is not looking forward to the hassle of buying (or selling) a new or pre-owned vehicle, I’m happy to help! Email me at fergusonautobrokers@gmail.com

Have a used vehicle that you would like to sell? I can help with that too!