One of the things that concerns hybrid owners most, and understandably so, is the failure of the hybrid battery. Hybrid battery replacement is notoriously expensive and can run a hybrid owner a few thousand dollars. The majority of hybrid vehicles come with an eight year or 100,000 mile hybrid battery warranty, but research has found that they can last as few as six years. Knowing what to do ahead of time in the event of hybrid battery failure is a good way to help quash some of that hybrid battery failure anxiety. Here are the three main options for replacement.
Call your dealership
The most obvious thing to do in the event of hybrid battery failure is to call your dealership. This way you know that what you’re getting is a quality product and that the people who will install it will do a proper job. The problem is that this is the most expensive option, and in some cases can cost up to half of the overall value of the car.
Look for remanufactured hybrid batteries
A less pricey option for replacement is looking for remanufactured batteries. Rather than being brand new, these batteries are dismantled, each part tested or replaced, and then reconstructed. These can be found online on sites like eBay, and are significantly less expensive than a dealership battery. The problem is that these generally don’t come with a hybrid battery warranty.
Look for aftermarket dealers
The last option here falls somewhere in the middle between the high cost and reliability of dealership batteries and the low cost and unreliability of remanufactured batteries. Aftermarket providers manufacture the batteries themselves and sell them for a considerably cheaper price than new factory batteries. These sometimes do come with a warranty and are often just as reliable as their factory made counterparts.
Do you have any experience buying any of these types of batteries? Let us know in the comments. More.
