The topic of how replacement EV batteries can cost users upwards of $10,000 has been covered extensively. But they’re not the only cars out there running around with battery packs that will eventually need changing. Hybrids, the lesser reported culprit, also require their batteries to be refreshed after a certain amount of time or mileage. And, depending on the age and value of the vehicle in question, such a job could financially total the car on paper – even if the rest of it is mechanically up to scratch.
Such was the case with the 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid that was brought to The Car Care Nut channel on YouTube, hosted by the Toyota master technician who goes by the name AMD. Why did the owners opt to proceed with the repairs rather than send the Camry off to meet its maker? And why would such a job threaten to write off a car anyway?
The host, who has years of experience working on Toyotas, explains the complexities of hybrid batteries and why they need eventual replacement. As with any battery, the cells degrade over time. How quickly this happens can depend on a multitude of varying factors, such as usage and climatic conditions.
Related: Toyota Master Technician Argues Against 10,000-Mile Oil Change Intervals With Busted Engine Teardown
AMD explains that while purchasing a much cheaper refurbished battery is technically possible, he doesn’t recommend it. That’s because so-called “refurbished” batteries often have individual cells replaced. As only the bad cells have been swapped out the rest are aged and threaten to develop similar faults at any point. The only surefire way to not throw money down the drain would be to get a genuine replacement.
However, that brings us to the tricky matter of just how much the entire endeavor is. Well, the cost of a new battery itself was a steep $4,600 without factoring in the labor. Complicating matters, it turned out that the same Camry needed a new ABS actuator, which was more than $1,660 to replace.
According to Kelly Blue Book, the average price range of a privately offered 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid in good condition would be between $4,090–$6,289. With repairs costing just under $6,000, most owners would have sunsetted the idea of restoring this 15-year-old Toyota.
See Also: Insurers Are Totaling EVs For Minor Battery Issues, And That’s A Problem For Everyone
So why, then, were the repairs carried out? It turns out that the family, who had been in possession of the car since it was new, were already in the market for a car they could give their daughter. The Camry that required repairs had done its job and had been since replaced by a newer vehicle.
But aside from the battery and the ABS, the car was known to the current keepers to be in good nick. It had no rust, had no accident damage, and, thanks to an engine that was rebuilt under warranty, was mechanically sound. In their opinion, keeping the old Camry running was a safer bet than rolling the dice with a second-hand car as their daughter went off to college. The only risk, as the mechanic sagely points out, is that if the vehicle was involved in an accident, the insurance would not consider the cost of the repair, and would instead compensate the claimants according to how the company values the car.
All in all, though, a perfectly good car was kept on the road, reducing landfill and likely improving the owner’s carbon footprint in some small way. AMD estimates that the vehicle could serve for another 10 years without any additional major repairs.
Sadly, the economics of the situation means that this is probably one of only a handful of hybrids that will be saved from scrappage. In fact, it highlights a very real talking point about the long-term benefits of hybrid vehicles – something that should be mentioned in the same breath as the future of electric cars that need battery replacement. Because if it makes no economic sense to keep one on the road, then the hybrid carcasses are just going to keep piling up at junkyards.