2009 Prius

Nice!!!! That'll be my next one ;)

Hello Prius owners,
I bought my first Prius used and am going to need help diagnosing some electrical problems. The vehicle was running fine then one day the previous owner went to start it and there was nothing. No power at all, as if there was no battery at all in it. He did not want to get involved in diagnosing the problems so he sold me the vehicle at a reasonably lower market value. He said he priced the starter battery at $180. Is this correct? He was afraid he said to buy the battery and find it didnt need it. Aside from taking it to the dealer, is there some alternate ways of diagnosing some of this?
Joe

I am disappointed to hear that 2009 will not be a plug in electric with an on-board power generator. The Prius has many compromises; too much emphasis on ICE and not enough on more powerful electric motors and batteries. I like my 2006 and feel it delivers what was promised but it is time for Toyota to kick the "Synergy" to the next level. There are no technoilogical impediments to a complete electric vehicle with unlimited range brought about by on-board generator. We should be talking about 100+ equivalent mpg. The problem with all the manufacturers is that they depend on the dealers. Dealers do not want an all-electric vehicle because it has fewer moving parts and very little maintenance requirements. Dealers make big money on repair and part replacement.