Toyota Prius battery warranty now eight years
June 29, 2009 by Alborz Fallah
Toyota has announced the extension of battery warranty on all its hybrid models (Lexus included). The new terms will now mean batteries powering the Prius will be covered for eight-years or 160,000km, which ever comes first.
Previously Toyota was only willing to cover the batteries for five-years or 100,000km. The new warranty comes in to practise today, however the ‘Big T’ will also extend this warranty to the 12,700+ Prius cars already sold in Australia since 2001.
According to Toyota Australia’s senior executive director sales and marketing David Buttner fewer than one-quarter of one per cent of Prius hybrid batteries have been replaced in almost eight years of operation in Australia.
“Their endurance has been tested under severe conditions, with several Prius taxis driven for more than 400,000km on the original battery in the hot, humid climate of Cairns. That’s equivalent to more than 20 years of normal driving.” Mr Buttner said.
If you own a Prius you will shortly receive a letter informing you of the warranty extension.
Lexus hybrid models: GS, RX and LS hybrids will also benefit from the extension.
Print it: 
Good work BigT! [tm.F-0]
Wonder what happens when the battery-pack is finally dead, like say in 15 years time?
Will a Prius run just on petrol and ignore the dead batteries sitting there, or does it need them to function?
I think its $1000’s to change, so be better if you just left them there and kept driving on.
What about a story on the NEW Kia Cerato [nee Forte] LPI LPG Hybrid?
Could be here next year, and the 1st hybrid under the $30k mark, will be THE
Rather a super-clean
This does mitigate buyer concerns and gives maybe even the 2nd owner some piece of mind.
However, I think that this is another Toyota marketing masterstroke, because as they claim, it’s not an item that is prone to failure anyway. Extended warranty on something that doesn’t tend to fail is a marketing free kick, that costs nothing, but makes the consumer all warm and fuzzy.
That unlucky 0.25% will benefit though.
Frugal, longer term question might only be answered once we get there.
I had a 2004 prius from new. Traded it in this year with 120,000k on the clock. I remember one dealer (Not Toyota) telling me they will not trade it in because the battery had not been changed and it is over 3 years old. What a load of crap. There is a lot of negative press on this which is NOT true.
FO: yes it can be driven without the batteries.
Hagar Says:
June 29th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
“I remember one dealer (Not Toyota) telling me they will not trade it in because the battery had not been changed and it is over 3 years old.”
What a retarded attitude. If I was running a dealership, I’d be happy to trade a Prius in. I wouldn’t be so happy to trade in something like a Hummer or a Cherokee SRT maybe…
hey Hagar,
i wonder that if you have driven the prius without the bettery for three years.. How was the comsumption? Is it still the same as before i mean like the first time that you purchased ?
What amazes me most about this story is the revelation that the motor vehicle thatwas going to change the world, and the type of vehicle that Australians really want (according to som bloggers) has sold an Astounding 1587.5 cars a year since it was released here!!!!!!!
Sorry, whilst it is nice that they allay the fears of expensive battery replacements, the vehicle that gets way more than it’s fair share of press still reemains as relevent as it NEVER was. Other manufacturers would either kill it off or remarket it with those numbers!!!
Reason why Toyota is number one!!!
They respond to customers full stop and get good publicity to boot.
Unfortunately Ford/Holden and others need to wake up!!!!!!
They may make boring uninspired camry based vehicles but they are on the ball like no other auto maker.
Toyota are just too clever. Turn a negative into a positive.
Rest may as well pack up and go home. Ford/Holden let issues bleed for years until people trade their Ford/holden for a Toyota.
TSI: No I have not driven without battery. There is a connector in the fuse box that disables the hybrid system. I would think it would go up to a normal 1.5L engine consumption plus 1-2 L/100km
New Toyota management is definitely a genius. This strategy will help increase sales, many buyers would really consider this 8 year battery warranty. Kudos Toyota!