The first to decide upon is the general condition of your vehicle and how cost effective it is to have the traction battery replaced versus what the car is really worth. We have many clients that love their hybrid and spend the money regardless of what it costs and this is a decision only you can make.
Generally, if your hybrid has been looked after and well maintained then once the traction battery has been replaced the car will drive just like new.
The main issue with having your traction battery reconditioned is (not something we do here anymore) is that the condition of the cells that are re-used can't efficiently or accurately be measured to guarantee sufficient life after the repair. In other words, in six months time you may find a battery failure will occur again.
The other issue with battery reconditioning is you cannot buy genuine Panasonic cells to replace the damaged cells with so the cells they are changing out are already old and more likely to fail at any time.
Some of our clients have had their batteries reconditioned elsewhere at a cost of anywhere between $800 and $1200 only to find out the battery has failed again within a year and they have to spend another $2500 to have the battery replaced altogether.
In my opinion based on experience, it's far more cost effective to replace the battery with a brand new genuine unit that will come with a Toyota warranty and guarantee many years trouble free motoring. There are no aftermarket equivalents available at this time and I would be reluctant to use them even if they were available.
Hope this helps.
Gavin
Current Tech Automotive.
