stamperlu

I have a 2006 RX400H with 173,000 ... I bought the car used in 2009 with 55,000 miles. I am nervous about how, when and where the battery may go out. Does it just die on you? Could I be driving on the highway at 65 mph and loose power? Is there a way for me to test the life of the battery? Thanks for any imput...

maseace

The hybrid battery is constantly checked by the computers, and you would get check engine light error codes if any of the 15 battery cells (blocks) go out of spec. Battery block temperature, voltage, and internal resistance are constantly monitored.

litzdog911

It's a very rare issue for these hybrids.

smassey321

I have been on these forums for 6 years and hybrid battery failures are pretty rare. The good news is, that as every year passes, the battery replacement cost goes down. By the time mine goes bad, I hope to be able to get it rebuilt locally for $2kish. When they go bad, you just go into limp home mode. Your gas engine will have a single speed transmission and be pretty sluggish. That is what happened to my wife's prius when her inverter went.

Lazyj321

What kind of company rebuilds battery's, can this be a dyi project like ordering battery's online or will I have to take it to Toyota/ Lexus for replacement, when the time comes?

coolsaber

the Hybrid system in Toyotas is quite reliable UPTO the 10 years based on the forum threads here.
-System is well checked constantly so you will know, but it will just throw "check hybrid system"
Now if you are a DIYer then the labor costs are considerably less (of course your still gonna spend hours researching etc in preparation).
-If you are use to gasoline engine repair costs its not going to be similar at atll. Hybrid parts are high 3- low ks in price. That could range from cells or even Inverter etc.

But to be frank, at 10 years nearly 200k miles I think your at the point where any additional miles is the cherry on top

maximizese

Limp mode is nothing to fear. Ours did just that after the 12V battery died and was replaced. After 1/4 mile drive, the hybrid and VCS warning lights came on. I did a reset with "Techstream" and everything was fine afterwards. Limp mode just feels a little sluggish, especially from a stop because the lack of torque without the electric motors.

jooksing82

There are places out there out there. This one does Prius rebuilds, not sure if they will do Rx's
http://autobeyours.com/

http://www.besthybridbatteries.com/s...d_Battery.html