battery warranty question

[neal90]

I have been looking through the warranty book i just got with my new car and it looks like to me that the battery in really only under FULL warranty for 3 years not the 8 that i keep reading. And for the remaining 5 years you only get a credit that keeps getting worse and worse as the battery gets older. And that credit is only towards the battery and not the installation. So after the first 3 years you will pay to get it installed if it goes bad. Just wondering what the warranty on the batter for the prius is??

[adric22]

Originally Posted by neal90

So after the first 3 years you will pay to get it installed if it goes bad. Just wondering what the warranty on the batter for the prius is??

I honestly don't know why so many people are worried about their HV battery going bad. Initially Honda and Toyota offered a longer warranty to help offset people's fears of the battery failing.. but I think time has shown that the batteries seem to last a very long time. I'm not 100% sure on the Honda IMA but I've had this conversation a few times with my best friend who is a Toyota mechanic. He tells me it is very rare to replace the battery on a Prius. Except for the 12V battery which they seem to have a lot of trouble with.

Still, the HV battery in the insight would not be very expensive to rebuild. I'm betting there is only 80-something cells in there and could probably be rebuilt between $500 and $1,000.

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by adric22

I honestly don't know why so many people are worried about their HV battery going bad. Initially Honda and Toyota offered a longer warranty to help offset people's fears of the battery failing.. but I think time has shown that the batteries seem to last a very long time. I'm not 100% sure on the Honda IMA but I've had this conversation a few times with my best friend who is a Toyota mechanic. He tells me it is very rare to replace the battery on a Prius. Except for the 12V battery which they seem to have a lot of trouble with.

Still, the HV battery in the insight would not be very expensive to rebuild. I'm betting there is only 80-something cells in there and could probably be rebuilt between $500 and $1,000.

The 1G Priuses had problems and teh 2G Priuses are only 6 years old max. From my experience, the Toyota Synergy system is less likely to have a problem, but by the time it does, the battery is in worse shape.

Expect about 7 years out of your battery. Also expect that it will be no more expensive to fix than a Gen1 battery is.

See me when the time comes. I'll fix it.

[Dick_Larimore]

The warranty coverage on the 12 volt lead-acid battery is 3 years with pro rated coverage after that.

The IMA system is covered under the emissions warranty. For all the states not covered by California emissions, IMA component coverage is shown below:

8/100 Battery Assembly (including all internal components)
8/100 DC-DC Convertor
8/100 Motor Power Inverter Module (including Voltage Converter Module)
8/100 Motor Control Module (including Battery Condition Monitor Module)
8/100 Motor Rotor
8/100 Motor Stator

3/36 Motor Current Sensor
3/36 Battery Current Sensor
3/36 Motor Control Module Relay
3/36 Motor Rotor Position Sensor
3/36 Motor Power Cable (including Motor Drive Module Capacitor)
3/36 High Voltage Motor Power Inverter Module Cable
3/36 Motor Power Inverter Module/Battery Module Fan Assembly (including Air Ducts)
3/36 High Speed Motor Power Inverter Module Fan Control Relay

As always, the ten states that follow California emission requirements have longer coverage for the 3 year / 36,000 mile components shown above. The 8 year / 100,000 mile warranty coverage is the same for all states.

I found this info on the Honda Owner Link website. It should also be in the back of the warranty booklet that comes with the Insight.

[E27006]

2010 Insight how does the Car restart? on the IMA motor or the conventional 12V Starter motor?

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by Dick_Larimore

The warranty coverage on the 12 volt lead-acid battery is 3 years with pro rated coverage after that.

The IMA system is covered under the emissions warranty. For all the states not covered by California emissions, IMA component coverage is shown below:

I can't tell you about the G2 Insight, but for the G1 Insight and G1 HCH which are extremely similar to the G2 HCH and Insight, I can give you an idea of how frequently these parts fail and how expensive they are from a junkyard (which is where you'd go after the warranty is up). I'll also list what I charge for the corresponding G1 part (used).


8/100 Battery Assembly (including all internal components)
Fails eventually on all cars and is expensive because it must be repaired or replaced with a new pack, not a junkyard pack (a junkyard pack WILL fail).
Cost to repair: $750-1250, cost new: $3000


8/100 DC-DC Convertor
I have never seen one of these die, and they are cheap and plentiful. $100

8/100 Motor Power Inverter Module (including Voltage Converter Module)
Rarely die, and they are cheap and plentiful. $100 Typically, you just swap out the entire module to replace the capacitors.

8/100 Motor Control Module (including Battery Condition Monitor Module)
I sell them for $200

8/100 Motor Rotor
I have never heard of an IMA motor going bad. Junkyards are DIEING to sell the ones they have.

8/100 Motor Stator
See rotor

3/36 Motor Current Sensor
These are in the inverter module

3/36 Battery Current Sensor
Part of the junction board. I sell the entire board for $200

3/36 Motor Control Module Relay
It's an ordinary relay. Cheap

3/36 Motor Rotor Position Sensor
These are $60 each new. There are three of them on the G1s

3/36 Motor Power Cable (including Motor Drive Module Capacitor)
Every junked car has one of these and nobody buys them (unless their car is damaged), so any junkyard will sell this cheap.

3/36 High Voltage Motor Power Inverter Module Cable
It's a big, thick wire. How often do they break?

3/36 Motor Power Inverter Module/Battery Module Fan Assembly (including Air Ducts)
These are sold on eBay by a member here for about $30

3/36 High Speed Motor Power Inverter Module Fan Control Relay
It's another cheap relay

Originally Posted by Dick_Larimore

As always, the ten states that follow California emission requirements have longer coverage for the 3 year / 36,000 mile components shown above. The 8 year / 100,000 mile warranty coverage is the same for all states.

I found this info on the Honda Owner Link website. It should also be in the back of the warranty booklet that comes with the Insight.

[insightfulone]

If you live in California, Connecticut,Massachusetts,Maine, New Jersey, NewYork, Rhode Island, or Vermont, and have the AT PZEV model (mine has a sticker on the driver side rear window), then your battery is covered for 10yrs, 150K and motor and other IMA parts 15 yrs/150K. Check the owner link site under warrantee, the news is all good .

Battery Assembly (including all internal components) 10/150
DC-DC Convertor 15/150
Motor Power Inverter Module (including Voltage Converter Module) 15/150
Motor Control Module (including Battery
Condition Monitor Module) 15/150
Motor Rotor 15/150
Motor Stator 15/150
Motor Current Sensor 15/150
Battery Current Sensor 15/150
Motor Control Module Relay 15/150
Motor Rotor Position Sensor 15/150
Motor Power Cable (including Motor Drive Module Capacitor) 15/150
High Voltage Motor Power Inverter Module Cable 15/150
Motor Power Inverter Module/Battery Module Fan Assembly (including
Air Ducts) 15/150
High Speed Motor Power Inverter Module Fan Control Relay 15/150

and just for good measure they add -
"Miscellaneous Parts that are used in conjunction with the items in this list are
covered. Some examples are clamps, brackets, piping, nuts, bolts, fasteners, switches, sensors, solenoids, wires, harnesses, connectors, seals, software updates, and gaskets"

I for one am not going to lose any sleep worrying about fixing the battery or IMA system.

[numbness4sound]

Originally Posted by insightfulone

If you live in California, Connecticut,Massachusetts,Maine, New Jersey, NewYork, Rhode Island, or Vermont, and have the AT PZEV model (mine has a sticker on the driver side rear window), then your battery is covered for 10yrs, 150K and motor and other IMA parts 15 yrs/150K. Check the owner link site under warrantee, the news is all good .

Are they all the "AT PZEV" models?

[insightfulone]

I think the short answers is no, they are not all AT-PZEV.

From Honda press release:

"AT-PZEV models are certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
and are available in California and certain states that adopted the CARB
certification standards (CA, CT, MA, ME, NJ, NY, OR, RI, VT).
ULEV-rated in all other states."

The language of this statement, I believe, means that Honda omitted some pollution controls in the other states. Otherwise if all models were AT-PZEV they would have said that, but since it is unlikely they are proud of the fact they put less emission controls and a lower warrantee in some states to save money the statement is somewhat vague. Particularly since the list price is no different. I think it is common for auto makers to leave out pollution controls required by the CARB rules in states that do no require them. Even the Prius sold in some states is only SULEV. If you live in a non CARB state perhaps a letter to your state rep would help.

The difference between SULEV and PZEV ratings is the lack of evaporative emissions and warranty requirements. ULEV is even a step below SULEV.

From Wiki:

"A ULEV or Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle is a vehicle that has been verified by the Air Resources Board of California, USA to emit 50% less polluting emissions than the average for new cars released in that model year. The ULEV is one of a number of designations given by the CARB to signify the level of emissions that car-buyers can expect their new vehicle to produce and forms part of a whole range of designations, listed here in order of decreasing emissions

SULEV: Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle. SULEVs are 90% cleaner than the average new model year car.

PZEV: Partial Zero Emission Vehicle.

PZEVs meet SULEV tailpipe emission standards, have zero evaporative emissions and a 15 year / 150,000 mile warranty on its emission control components. No evaporative emissions means no unburnt fuel escapes from the fueling system.

AT PZEV: Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle.

AT PZEVs meet the PZEV requirements and have additional "ZEV-like" characteristics. A dedicated compressed natural gas vehicle, or a hybrid vehicle with engine emissions that meet the PZEV standards would be an AT PZEV."