Off-topic - Seeking Houston area Hybrid/Prius mechanic

[rocketman]

Apologies in advance for this off-topic posting.

I have a relative in the Houston area with a 2005 Prius who was recently told by a local Toyota dealer she needs a new battery pack and the associated computer. She got a quote of $4500, and this is not feasible for her. She has about 126k miles on the car, bought it used, is not at all mechanically/technically inclined, and I'm assuming the car has the original battery pack.

I'm hoping to steer her toward a mechanic qualified to troubleshoot this for her, and help her find a cheaper repair solution. This is her primary transportation.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. The next day the dealer reduced their price by 50%, so obviously they weren't up from with her....

 

[72firebird]

To be honest, chances are the battery is a dealer only part so she's going to have to pay full price for one. I'm not sure if they'll even sell them because of the risk. Search google and find a Prius forum and trying posting and looking around on there, they have a pretty big online community following.

This is similar to Mercedes, the backup battery which is hooked up to keep power to the computer is a dealer part only. Then when you replace it you have to use the Mercedes factory scanner (STAR) to sync the new battery.