Intermittent Starting Issues

I have a 2005 Prius. Off and on it has been showing the ABS, VSC, (!) and Brake lights and will occasionally not go into READY mode (just ACC and IG-ON). The lights have been doing this at least 6 months and the starting issues are more recent. I brought it to the dealer last fall and they said the front brakes needed replacing and they did a battery test and said it was fine. I had the brakes replaced, but the lights stayed on.

Last week I brought it in to the dealer and of course these things just will not show up for them and they said to bring it back when the lights came on again so they could put it on the scanner. I returned on another visit to have them read the codes, and they said the scanner they had wasn't bringing up the code and I'd need a longer appointment to put it on the laptop scanner. I asked if the battery could be doing this as I read on these forums that the 12V battery is often the cause. I did the Vehicle Display Check using the instructions in this forum and it was dipping down to 11.5V when the car was put into IG-ON mode, and I explained that. The service guy said it very well could be and they could do a load test, but it would take awhile. I hadn't planned on a long visit and didn't have time to have them run it then. I also asked if it would start accruing labor fees, and he said yes. So rather than spend $120 on labor on top of the battery, I chose to buy the battery myself and put it in.

Today I put in the battery with my dad's help. I didn't get any lights on my hour long drive home, but the starting seems to be worse. Shortly after getting home, I went out again to a store 5 minutes away for milk. When I came back out, it took at least 5 minutes to get the thing to go into READY mode. Any suggestions on what could be causing this? I'm afraid if I bring it back to the dealer again the car will lapse into another episode of Dealer Aversion Disorder.

 

I can hook it up to my own laptop to run the codes with this?

 

About 146,000 miles on the car. I bought it used a year and a half ago.

 

I think they thought I was saying that a check engine light was on, although I was very clear about which lights were on and said that other than the (slightly overdue) oil change light and the aforementioned ones, no check engine light was on. Still, a huge waste of time with a 4 year old and a 2 year old in tow.

 

Last night that wasn't working, but I can't say for sure that it wasn't working before. I'll try again the next time. Would that show up in the codes if I buy the Mini VCI?

 

Well crap. My spouse drove it to work today and now the brakes are not working properly. They do nothing until you press them hard and then they pull strongly, and if you're holding them down hard at a light, but not all the way, sometimes they just let go for a moment. :-/ Making an appointment now. It's strange that they decided to go all crazy after we replaced the battery. I think the battery needed to be replaced anyway because it would die if you left the door slightly ajar, so at least that wasn't a complete waste.

 

It was the brake light switch as suggested by a couple people. Thanks! They tried to get me to pay them to replace a couple bulbs and the air filter, too, for an extraordinary amount, but I said I could do that stuff myself. Them: It's only $25 to replace these two little indicator lights, not big change. Me: Yeah, but the bulbs cost $3. I'll do that myself and save the $20, thanks.