In whole, or in part.
An Arizona car owner says he was shocked when he heard how much it would cost to replace a battery in his hybrid vehicle.
Lucas Turner told KPHO that he recently took his 2014 Infiniti hybrid to a dealership for a check engine light.
He said he knew something was wrong but wasn’t expecting it to be this bad.
“They told me that I need a new hybrid battery and it’s going to cost $18,000 for the battery and another $2,000 to have it installed,” Turner said.
Schadenfreude is a sensation I just can’t help myself from having.
+++Frs
It is a well-known fact that batteries do not love hot weather. Once the temp goes over 100F you are cooking that battery.
It is also well known that batteries don’t like the cold either. Once she drops below 10F, you better plug in that battery blanket.
And yet these [ahem] “individuals” are always surprised when their hybrid or Tesla or whatever craps out in the heat or the cold. Leading one to think that maybe our public school system might be so much worse than we think.
Our public education systems are a farce.
Very true Bruce.
Phantom – You have to read the fine print. Did you know that 95% of EVs are still on the road? The fine print: The other 5% made it all the way home “.
~:D Those 5% are the ones that went on fire in the garage and burned the house down.
That dose of reality is likely not enough to wake him up.
If he bought it new, it was over nine (9) years old. The sticker price on an Infinity hybrid back in 2014 was right around $45,000. Current actual cash value on the premium package is just over $14,000.
So, to replace his battery, he’s paying about $6,000 over the value of the vehicle. The battery, itself, is worth more than the rest of the car, but the ACV doesn’t go up when you put a new one in.
Oh, and he can’t trade it in or sell it…because who is going to buy a $14,000 car that requires a $20,000 battery (parts and labor)?
No resale on EV’s or hybrids it would seem. Anyone seeing a pattern here?
Or, pay $50-$60K for a new hybrid, or $80K+ for a new EV.
The cost of new vehicles have to be taken into account whenever a major repair is considered.
I faced this with my F350 3 years ago. Spent 15K on engine and running gear repairs, but had to think long and hard about whether it was worth it, on a 2005 that otherwise is in good shape. But, faced with the choice of buying a newer F350 for $50K, or a new F150 @$670/mo for 7 years, I proceeded with the repairs. Best decision I ever made, not being saddled with longterm debt, and, a reliable stump puller.
Certain vehicles may justify that decision, given the extreme cost/financing of NEW vehicles today. The yutes don’t understand that concept, for them, NEW IS BEST, and bury themselves in forever payments and forever debt.
Dan.
I bough a used ford f-150 (2013) 135.000 miles on it
It was in great shape not leaks no damage, but at 140.000k the 3.5 took a dump. The crank shaft broke , $18.000 to replace it
Nuts
Broken crank? On a 3.5? Dang!
Still, you should have been able to do better than $18K for a new engine. Sounds like the dealership didn’t want the job. I had a dealer here in Hamilton quote me $10K for a new 4.6L for a 2010 Mustang, because dropped lifter. I got it all done for $5k, but I shopped a new engine and I could get a Saleen 5.4L race engine for $6k. Local guy to install it, still came in under $10k.
Thieves.
F150s. Dime a dozen. Junk it.
F350 diesel stump puller? If it’s not a rust bucket, it’s worth it. New ones are well over $100K, and, frankly, an Effin waste of resources. It’s a truck, not a Rolls.
He drives less than 8,000 miles a year and chose a new hybrid? As you said, nine years old. Probably four or five new generations of battery electrolyte and configuration since then.
He’s getting press for a splinter in his finger while thousands of people are displaced by political decisions that chip away at our way of life. Government over- regulation, inflation, taxation, and government corruption steal people’s futures daily and there’s little mention of it.
The press spends their time chasing squirrels.
A quick search on line showed there are used Infiniti replacement batteries available for about 2,000 bucks Canadian with a 90 day warranty.
I have had a 2008 Toyota Camry hybrid (daughter still drives it) and I am driving a 2015 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid …. both batteries are fine and most hybrid batteries go for the life of the car. Thermal management is important but most cars do that well for both hot and cold.
For what it’s worth I had looked earlier this week and a replacement battery for my Acura is 4,600.
Last I looked early Prius batteries ie the 1997 & 1998 were at about 2 % failure rate after 20 plus years.
NOTE I AM TALKING ABOUT REGULAR HYBRIDS NOT PLUG IN HYBRIDS
The whole EV thing – and the future reliance on everything electric – is not going to end well.
No doubt about that, what with EVs being completely unaffordable to at least 2/3 of the population, and, THE GRID not being capable of handling a 10 fold increase in demand. Basic electrical engineering shows the grid fails with increased demand far short of this.
We are led by liars and fools, supported by idiots and fools.
“…that should be part of the pre purchase inspection, which you should always do whenever you buy a used car…”
You don’t say? What a novel concept. I’m sure he skipped that part…too busy braiding his pony tail.
Infinity threw him a bone by offering him a 50% discount.
Take it or shop around- Cause your car is worth diddly squat as it stands.
The cost of virtue signaling has gotten expensive with these hybrids and EVs.
But the cost to get Turner’s head out his arse?
Priceless.
Batteries typically cost from ”$1,000.00 to $8,000.00”. Ha! What a joke. No they don’t. We’re talking about the ENTIRE battery array … because they don’t get replaced piecemeal. Show me the 2,000 lb battery array that costs $1,000.00 to replace … dum dum de dum dum dum … I’ll wait.
The entire EV industry is built upon LIES.
We are talking about hybrids and their batteries are small and so used yes likely about 1,000 and refurbished a bit more.
You appear to be talking about a tesla battery but even they can be pulled and have the faulty module replaced and installed for about 7,000 US. Tesla won’t do that but lots of shops will.
It looks like the dealership is trying to screw him over. FWIW – Toyota now offers a 240,000 km. warranty on their hybrid batteries.
A battery for a hybrid and for a full EV are two different beasts, capacity wise, physical size wise, assembly wise, etc. they are apples and oranges.
The article referred to concerns a hybrid vehicle and not an EV. FWIW, Toyota (in Canada) offers the same warranty on the plug-in hybrid.
I wonder if it was deterrent pricing to push him to trade it in (at low value) on a new car so the dealer could replace the battery (at a much lower cost than the price they quoted him, of course) and they end up with used hybrid they can sell with a new battery.
If I could afford a new vehicle I would still buy used, too old for warranty. I’ll never sink that much money in a vehicle and be tied to dealer servicing to maintain warranty coverage and suffer thousands of dollars in depreciation and pay so much for insurance coverage.
Best to just crash the damned thing and get a proper write off.. Who has 20 grand to put into a 9 year old car?..
Quick search.. A 2014 Infiniti hybrid with 150 000 km is 17500 on CarGurus.. How’s that for a rebate?.. Sell your paperweight for parts and call it a day..
The idea that the good people are suffering the results of their own choices is not keeping me awake.. Any gas savings erased with a dose of “sell it after 5 years”.. Cars are risky toys..
$2000 for labour? It doesn’t sound like Infiniti built any kind of a battery door. How much of the car do you have to take apart to get that dead battery out?
But what do I know, i just have a Chevy Express van with 396,000 miles on it.
By the way, I love the $1440 State tax on that quote. How did voting for Katie Hobbs work out for you!
The check ENGINE light came on and they told him he needs a new battery? Sounds like they’re trying to scam him to me. I’d get a second opinion.
“It’s not uncommon for these batteries to last 15-plus years…”
Wow…I had know idea that there were so many 2007 and older EV/Hyrbrids to base this statement on.
First Toyota Prius was in 1997 I think.
As I said earlier they were failing at about 2 % after 25 years.
I checked 1997 Japan & 2001 for the US
A quick search shows that there are 324 used Lexus (Lexae?) cars for sale for $20,000 or less within 75 miles of Phoenix. For the cost of replacing the battery you could buy a 12 year old Lexus and still have $8,000 for gas.
Classic South Park “Good For You!!!” (Hybrid edition)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecnS1Ygf0o0
Didn’t read all the comments, maybe someone else did a lot of math.
A 9 year old vehicle, $18K repair, that’s $2K per year average + the install. I’m thinking that is not out of line for the number of batteries a hybrid requires.
Also does a hybrid save any gas purchases? If yes, that savings would reduce the overall cost.
And ICE vehicles also reach an age where a major fix makes no economic sense, yet if not fixed vehicle cannot be driven.
And yep the vehicle has little residual value, expensive to fix, worthless if not fixed/
By a rough calculation that is $1 for every .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 degree of global cooling achieved.
It’s worth it to save the earth.
But the Palo Alto moms won’t breathe cancer-causing (sic) tailpipe exhaust while they wait in the queue to pick up darling little Rochelle after school. And for THAT … they’re gonna FORCE you out of your perfectly good, highly efficient ICE automobile. It’s all about THEM.
Or can do what we do as soon as an O2 sensor goes out and the engine light comes on…JUST KEEP DRIVING IT.