Re: Which will make a better used car, IMA cars, or HSD cars?
Depends... If the battery is the only major component that fails in older Prii, then I'd say you still have an excellent and valuable car. Most cars have parts that wear and need replacing, such as clutches and DC starter motors, not to mention brakes and real CVTs and automatic transmissions. AC motors are highly reliable, much more so than any ICE, so they aren't likely to fail until well after the engine in worn right out. Brakes on a Prius will last way longer than ordinary cars and probably longer than IMA cars due to their larger generator and battery, so that can add up over the life of a car as well. I don't think having the battery replaced will be as big of a deal as people think, and they are likely getting cheaper as they become more plentiful as more hybrids are on the market. If you need a $1500 clutch job, CVT rebuild or battery job at 150,000 miles is it really any different?
You're probably right about people who don't replace the battery, maybe a Honda will keep on putting along, although doesn't the 12v battery get charged from the HV battery? And you still need to keep replacing the small 12v battery quite often since it would be much more abused from having to start from it all the time, if it would be able to charge it.
Last edited by Schwa : 08-04-2005 at 03:03 AM.
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