Newbie wants to know. Is '01 the first Prius?

The 'bugs' were considered defects and were taken care of under warranty.

These defects included a problem with the power steering rack that casued a jittering. The original tire inflation specs were low, causing premature tire wear.

I'm sure there were a couple others, but I don't remember them because mine's a

2002.

Daniel

I have heard the replacement of the batteries can cost $3K? is that right.

>

Hard to say - I don't know if anybody has ever had to replace the traction battery. Like the rest of the hybrid system the traction battery is warranted for 8 years or 100K miles. Several have gone well beyond 100K miles, including at least one that passed 200K miles. It's certain the number available in wrecking yards from Prius that have been wrecked exceeds the number of batteries that would be needed. I can't imagine anybody buying a replacement from Toyota.

Mike

Just call your Toyota dealer and ask. As others have noted, there is an ample supply of Prius battery packs at wrecking yards simply because there are some that have crashed, and none that I've heard of (not that I've been searching) that have failed in normal use outside of the waranty period.

Unlike the battery you buy at Sears for your chevy, the Prius battery is replaced for FREE if it fails under the waranty (7 years, 100K miles for a 2001 IIRC). No prorating, no labor or parts cost. The 2004-current sold in Calif have a 10 year, 150,000 mile waranty.

That reminds me. It might be fun to go to the nearest auto dismantler to see what it would take to score some of those parts.

Daniel

Depends what you consider the first year model - is that the first year produced, the first year available in your country, or the first year after a redesign?

The NHW10 Prius was sold in Japan for model years 1998-2000.

The NHW11 Prius was sold internationally for model years 2001-2003.

The NWW20 Prius is sold internationally for model years 2004-?.

In the US, there have only been two recalls done on the Prius. The first was for a small handful of 2001 Prius delivered the summer of

2000, for a power steering rack, and the other is for the 2004 Prius' (and some other models') brake switch (to turn on the brake lights).

because mine's a 2002.

Just to note, the tire inflation specs are the same on the 2001 through current Prius, at 35psi front, 33psi rear, no changes. Yes, that's a little low, causing premature edge tire wear for some people. However, there was a "warranty enhancement" (now past date) for the 2001 and some 2002 Prius, to replace the "CHA" DOT-coded OEM tires with "JDH" DOT-coded OEM tires, which was supposed to be a tire compound change to have the tires live longer. That didn't change the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE92 XL tires' low treadwear rating of 160, though.

And yes, there is also a warranty enhancement for the 2001-2002 Prius for the power steering rack, which may exhibit some shuddering, which is good for 5 years/unlimited miles. I can't say that I've seen this on my 2001.

If you're out of warranty, and you buy new from Toyota...

Hybrid system warranty (which includes the hybrid battery) is 8 years/100,000 miles in the US. If you have a 2004 or newer Prius which is primarily driven in California-emissions states, the warranty on the battery is extended by the emissions warranty to 10 years/150,000 miles.

I've only heard of 2 out of warranty replacements. One was a 2001-2003 Prius, where an audio installer drove a 6" screw into the battery pack. (and yes, the car drove (with all the warning lights) to the dealership.) Since the audio installer was paying, it was all new parts (hybrid battery, casing, mounting clips, etc.), plus labor, came out above $3000. Another was a 2001 Prius near 200,000 miles that had a cell go bad. Rather than replacing that one cell, they replaced the entire pack with one from a junkyard (~$700), and claimed the $200 bounty from Toyota for returning their old battery pack to them for recycling.

That's such a shame, since a 6 inch screw (never seen one that size in a car, but that's not the point) would only damage one module, and the modules are designed to be replaced individually. A module would cost much, much less than a whole battery pack. It should have cost no more than any other 1 to 4 hour job on a Toyota.

Daniel

Not actually true, depending on your definition of recall. There are mandated recalls and there are voluntary service campaigns.

Mine was recalled (service campaign, actualy) to add extra sealant around the battery pack's battery terminals as they found that there could be corosion under specific circumsatnces involving cold and high humidity at the same time.

I heard some folks had a computer module firmware updated under a similar service campaign.

Daniel

Yes - if the owner was paying it probably would have been only the affected cell(s) and accessories.

From my experience mounting 2-way radios in trucks, I assume it was a self-drilling screw and that's why it penetrated the battery pack. We often use screws up to 6 inches long to penetrate the thick insulation in the floor, then the heat shield below it. I do worry a lot about running one into a transmission though; it takes some scouting to use those safely.

Mike