2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid - New Battery $476.40???

[perdooky]

Hello,

I just went in for a 40,000 mile checkup oil change & rotate at the Toyota Dealership. They told me I needed to replace my regular battery (not the large hybrid battery), and explained to me that in hybrids even the regular batteries are special. They said that they are very hard to find, and that it would cost $476.40 to replace. Here is my quote:

Description: 07/09 OEM Battery
Part Number: T028800-28061
Price: $368.34
Labor: $54.73
Waste: $18.42
State Battery Fee: $3
Tax: $31.91
Total: $476.40

My questions are:

1. Is this a legitimate price for what looks like a normal car battery?
2. Is it really hard to find? Can someone please help me find this battery online? I looked at it and cannot specify what kind of battery it is, and the dealership could only tell me the part number.

If I can find this battery cheaper I will just install it myself. Thank you in advance!

[TrailDust]

Pure, unadulterated bull! That is outrageous, and why dealers give themselves such a bad name for service.

Here is a quick example of what a battery in that class ought to cost (approximately).

[perdooky]

Wow I thought so... I will definitely give the dealership a piece of my mind when I go back on Monday. I have to have a water leak needing to be fixed that is under warranty. I'll wait untill they fix it first.... Also, I'll run by a Auto Parts as soon as one is open.

Any other opinions are greatly appreciated, thanks TrailDust!

Edit - On second thought, who thinks I can leverage this into getting a free battery from the dealership? I'm thinking I'll walk in there and ask to talk to a manager, and ask them what they are trying to pull. Ask them why I would ever want to come back to the dealership ever again.

[TrailDust]

Originally Posted by perdooky

Wow I thought so... I will definitely give the dealership a piece of my mind when I go back on Monday. I have to have a water leak needing to be fixed that is under warranty. I'll wait untill they fix it first.... Also, I'll run by a Auto Parts as soon as one is open.

Any other opinions are greatly appreciated, thanks TrailDust!

Edit - On second thought, who thinks I can leverage this into getting a free battery from the dealership? I'm thinking I'll walk in there and ask to talk to a manager, and ask them what they are trying to pull. Ask them why I would ever want to come back to the dealership ever again.

I would offer then a couple more suggestions. One would be to definitely ask around (whether people you know in your area or here on TN) for a good, honest private mechanic in the Austin area. Reputable private mechanics are worth their weight in gold! I'd also take in two or three copies of replacement batteries from different online companies as an immediate "proof" of what these batteries actually cost, so that they know that you know you're being jerked around on the price. Another thing I'd do is when you confront the dealership, if you don't get any traction with the service manager then ask to see the general manager, and as part of that effort if they give you any grief then don't hesitate to mention that you'll file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General's Consumer Affairs Department. That's the nuclear option to be held in reserve, and it's usually good if you want to see most business hard asses crumble before your eyes.

[5thgencamryJ]

in my area all Toyota dealer service is ripoffs.

[damon329]

My brother just replaced his on a prius and they gave him a similar quote. He found that optima battery from sears has a reto kit for under 200.00 dollars. He said it worked like a charm. He described a procedure that holds the memory from being lost. Here is the link to where he bought it .http://www.elearnaid.com/opd35fortoca.html
Its on sale for 177.00 w/ free shipping!

[ukrkoz]

oh the way they use our ignorance!!!

1. at that low mileage, there's nothing wrong with your battery, unless you got "lucky"; take a voltmeter and measure voltage across the poles; if it's well above 13V, you good.
2. many have those batteries running well and healthy into 100 000 miles
3. it is a deep cycle glass mat battery; it does nothing more than simply backing up some power supply to electronics. IT DOES NOT WARE OUT LIKE REGULAR BATTERY.
4. buy a deep cycle charger and simply charge it, if you can't deal with the bs dealership put into your mind otherwise
5. OK, so you are the lucky one and that battery did go bad. Go to Sam's and buy yellow top Optima. Was $167, now it's $170 plus. It's direct fit/function. You'll need to do couple things though:
- find a backup battery, 12V, to feed power to the system while you are replacing the original one
- gently pry temperature sensor off the original battery with a flat knife or some, and re-install it onto the new one. It's simple sticky backing thing.
AT NO MOMENT SHOULD YOUR CAR STAY WITHOUT 12V SUPPLY, OR SERVICE HYBRID DRIVE (OR SOME LIKE THAT) WILL COME UP WHEN DONE. If this happened, cycle engine 3 times on and off, it should go away.

PS also, you'll need to disconnect hydrogen evacuation lines. Optima does not have them, but has general gas release vents. being a glass mat battery, it does not produce hydrogen anywhere close to what regular acid batteries do. If you want to make an issue out of this, then yes, pay for OEM Panasonic battery or, pm me and I'll tell you how to rig vents into Optima. Resins knowledge required!.

[perdooky]

Thanks ukrkoz. I may try and find a free install with purchase at an Autozone or Walmart or something. That's sounds a little more work intensive than I thought.

I'll definitely test the voltage first though. Does it matter if I test the voltage while the car is on or off?

[ukrkoz]

well, it depends.
1 WITH ENGINE RUNNING voltage on cable terminals should be around 13.8 to 14.2, showing good charge current
2. with engine off, voltage on BATTERY POLES should be well over 13V. that shows good battery charge status
some clarification. engine must be running in order to provide charge to battery.

now, here's the thing. install is actually very easy.
1. none of the parts stores does install of any parts they sell. or so they say
2. I SERIOUSLY doubt they have much experience with hybrid installs anyway
3. back up 12V supply to the vehicle is very easy to accomplish. just find a small cheap 12V battery and clip it to the battery cables while you are removing the original battery. cost will be around $20 or so for entire back up.
temperature sensor is easy to remove before you get to any swaps. it is as easy to stick onto a new one too.
entire swap takes about 5 minutes.
if you really have to go places and let somebody else to do this, make sure they have back up 12V connected to the battery cables.
ONCE AGAIN - UNLESS YOU HAVE BAD BATTERY, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT AT SUCH A LOW MILEAGE AND DEALER IS SIMPLY DAIRY QUIN-ING YOU. milking the job.
oh, and by the way, if you have nav system, I'll show you in a click how to check on battery status.
give me just a sec..

here ya go:

Diagnosis mode

[perdooky]

Okay you've convinced me, I'll do it myself if I don't find a free install.

I may not have time tomorrow to get to a store before I reach the dealer. I think I will try and have them pull out a voltage meter and have them test it right in front of me since it sounds like my battery should be fine.

No NAV unfortunately!

[perdooky]

Update - I went to a Texaco service station and they tested my battery for free. He tested it off, and on, and the voltage was good. He looked at the current when the car was on and said it was good. He said I do not need a new battery. I went to the dealership and told them how there are much cheaper batteries out there. He gave the same excuses about it being different and Toyota recommended. Then I told him I had a second opinion on the battery. The only excuse he came to me with was that we didn't do a "load test." He said that the current was low on the battery. I told him we tested it with the car on, air conditioning on, and radio on. He could not explain to me what additional stuff a "load test" would require. Then he eventually was like, well did you rev the engine? I said no, and he said that was probably it.

Thoughts? Can you even rev the engine on a hybrid while it's in park? I don't think you can... Also, when I go get my car later today, I will ask to see them do a load test. I've been looking online, and it looks like the battery should remain above 9v during a load test?

[ukrkoz]

no, the battery should remain above 13.8V. or 13.2, but either way, above 13.

here's my suggestion to you.
STOP FREAKING OUT OVER THIS.
nothing is wrong with your battery, your dealer is trying to simply make a few bucks on you. THIS IS NOT A REGULAR LED ACID BATTERY and they last and last.
yes, you can revv engine but only for brief moments, as ECM takes over and prevents it.
YOU MUST FOLLOW SPECIAL PROCEDURE FOR DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES. regular testers DO NOT PROVIDE OBJECTIVE DATA.
http://marine-electronics.net/techar...faq/b_faq.html

I am out of this. 40 000 miles only and all this effort for pure no reason but greed.

[ukrkoz]

AGM, or Absorbed Glass Mat Batteries

A newer type of sealed battery uses "Absorbed Glass Mats", or AGM between the plates. This is a very fine fiber Boron-Silicate glass mat. These type of batteries have all the advantages of gelled, but can take much more abuse. We sell the Concorde (and Lifeline, made by Concorde) AGM batteries. These are also called "starved electrolyte", as the mat is about 95% saturated rather than fully soaked. That also means that they will not leak acid even if broken.
AGM batteries have several advantages over both gelled and flooded, at about the same cost as gelled:

Since all the electrolyte (acid) is contained in the glass mats, they cannot spill, even if broken. This also means that since they are non-hazardous, the shipping costs are lower. In addition, since there is no liquid to freeze and expand, they are practically immune from freezing damage.
Nearly all AGM batteries are "recombinant" - what that means is that the Oxygen and Hydrogen recombine INSIDE the battery. These use gas phase transfer of oxygen to the negative plates to recombine them back into water while charging and prevent the loss of water through electrolysis. The recombining is typically 99+% efficient, so almost no water is lost.
The charging voltages are the same as for any standard battery - no need for any special adjustments or problems with incompatible chargers or charge controls. And, since the internal resistance is extremely low, there is almost no heating of the battery even under heavy charge and discharge currents. The Concorde (and most AGM) batteries have no charge or discharge current limits.
AGM's have a very low self-discharge - from 1% to 3% per month is usual. This means that they can sit in storage for much longer periods without charging than standard batteries. The Concorde batteries can be almost fully recharged (95% or better) even after 30 days of being totally discharged.
AGM's do not have any liquid to spill, and even under severe overcharge conditions hydrogen emission is far below the 4% max specified for aircraft and enclosed spaces. The plates in AGM's are tightly packed and rigidly mounted, and will withstand shock and vibration better than any standard battery.
Even with all the advantages listed above, there is still a place for the standard flooded deep cycle battery. AGM's will cost about 1.5 to 2 times as much as flooded batteries of the same capacity. In many installations, where the batteries are set in an area where you don't have to worry about fumes or leakage, a standard or industrial deep cycle is a better economic choice. AGM batteries main advantages are no maintenance, completely sealed against fumes, Hydrogen, or leakage, non-spilling even if they are broken, and can survive most freezes. Not everyone needs these features.

[perdooky]

After some research I found out a load test can be done by connecting a tester to the battery and simply pushing a button. The guy obviously didn't know what he was talking about.

I asked to see them do a load test. They did it, and the battery tested good. They were speechless. Gave a few excuses about temperature and the car sitting idle blah blah. I just called and filed a complaint with the Assistant to the GM and I should be getting a call from the Service Manager later today.

[z27ls3]

toyota motor co. actually pressures dealerships to generate X amount of battery sales monthly. they have a TCMC rep that specifically travels to dealerships, monitors service lane procudures and advises & measures sales + testing every battery that comes in. It is not unusual for a dealer to have service drive battery testers that "fail easy" and a
different tester in the shop for warranty battery tests that almost every time tell "recharge and retest". so if its on the manufacturer or dealer your out of luck, but if you fall for the upsell from the dealer you get the new battery. I'd ask that dealer to goodwill you a new battery for premature failure and mixed results at thier own service center. also a call to the toyota customer experience center does wonders for dealer attitude, make sure to give toyota your updated email address so you later can share the experience.