A battery drifting apart
A growing gap between blocks. Symptoms: less electric-only driving, the engine starting more often, worse fuel economy.
Toyota and Lexus hybrid diagnostics
Toyota and Lexus hybrids are a speciality of mine. On these cars I reach the high-voltage battery data at the level of individual blocks, not just a list of fault codes. That is the difference between "the battery is not reporting a fault" and "I know what condition it is in".
Battery read block by block
Call-out — Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Żyrardów, Brwinów, Pruszków
Before a purchase or on your own car
Hybrid battery test
from 250 zł
Computer diagnostics from 80 PLN, call-out from 150 PLN. The full price is agreed before I set off.
Call and describe the car
Why these makes
Toyota and Lexus — where I see the most
Not every tool reaches the same data. On Toyota and Lexus hybrids I get in deep.
Toyota and Lexus share the same hybrid system and have been the most common hybrids on Polish roads for years — including at the car lots around Żyrardów. That gives me the most cases behind me on these cars and the best access to their data: not just fault codes, but the voltage of individual battery blocks, how they behave under load, and the system counters.
That matters when buying. A hybrid battery only raises a fault once the spread between blocks crosses the manufacturer's threshold. Until then the car drives normally and a scanner reads clean. Seeing the blocks separately, I see the condition before it becomes a fault.
On your own car it works the same way, except the question is usually different: is it really the battery, or something cheaper next to it? The inverter, the DC/DC converter, blocked cooling, or an ordinary 12 V battery — which in a hybrid can imitate a serious failure convincingly.
Models
Hybrids I work on
The most common ones. If your model is not listed, call me and I will check before we book.
| Make | Hybrid models | What buyers most often ask about |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota | Prius, Prius+ | Battery condition at high mileage, cooling flow |
| Toyota | Auris Hybrid, Corolla Hybrid | Block voltage spread, hybrid system fault history |
| Toyota | Yaris Hybrid | Battery in a city car after heavy use |
| Toyota | C-HR, RAV4, Camry, Highlander | Battery and inverter condition, likely repair cost |
| Lexus | CT 200h | Same system as the Auris — battery and cooling |
| Lexus | IS 300h, ES 300h, GS 450h | Battery, inverter, service history stored in the modules |
| Lexus | NX, RX, UX | Battery condition before purchase, faults in history |
How much data is available depends on model and year. I always say on the phone what I will be able to read on your particular car before we book — no promises made in advance.
Typical cases
What I usually find on a hybrid
Not every hybrid problem is the battery — and that is usually good news.
Blocked battery cooling
Ducts and fan clogged with dust or pet hair. A cheap fault that can destroy an expensive battery.
Inverter and converter
A share of failures blamed on a "dead battery" actually sit here. Worth separating before anyone quotes a repair.
The 12 V battery
In a hybrid the small battery brings the whole system up. A weak one produces symptoms that look like a major failure.
Faults cleared before the sale
Memory wiped an hour before the viewing. Counters and history still show something was going on.
Imported cars
Checking whether the hybrid system has been opened up and whether the battery is made of matched or random blocks.
From our work
Hybrids in practice
A 2018 Toyota Auris Hybrid checked before purchase: voltage of each of the 14 blocks read separately, spread under 0.15 V while loaded, zero faults.
Toyota Auris Hybrid 2018 · battery test before purchase
Toyota Prius · broken circuit in the steering columnThe AD Garage YouTube channel — more hybrid diagnostics and electrical repairs.
Questions
Common questions about Toyota and Lexus hybrids
Question not here? Call me — I will answer straight away.
On Toyota and Lexus hybrids I reach the block-level battery data. The scope depends on model and year, so I always say on the phone exactly what I will read before we book.
Computer diagnostics from 80 PLN, hybrid battery test from 250 PLN, call-out from 150 PLN. The full price is agreed before I set off.
I do diagnostics: I tell you what condition the battery is in and whether the problem is in it or next to it. Rebuilding the pack itself is separate, specialised work — if that is the case, I will say so plainly.
No. I come to the car — to your home, to the car lot, to a car park. The whole diagnostic happens on site.
Not necessarily. Mileage is a weak indicator — I have seen good batteries at high mileage and badly drifted ones at low mileage. What decides it is the state of the blocks and whether cooling is clear, and that only shows in the data.
Yes, though the available data is often narrower than on Toyota and Lexus. I say so on the phone — if I will not see what matters on a given model, I tell you rather than charging for an incomplete result.
Own a hybrid, or looking at one right now?
Tell me the model, year and mileage — I will say straight away what can be read.
Real repairs, not a brochure
I film what I actually do — including the jobs that did not go my way.