Help! Car won't shift into gear after I rolled down windows w/ power off

Hi all...

I'm having an issue with my car this afternoon. This problem has occured randomly about three times now over the course of two years. I've noticed though as of today that it happens whenever I sit in my car, roll down the windows and turn off the car to wait for someone or take a nap, etc. Is this a clue?

When I go to turn the car back on, the power windows roll up veeery slow. The car has pretty much all the lights on the dash - the red triangle, VSC, all of those in that row. Also, the brake light is red on the dash (I have attempted to engage/disengage the parking break but the red brake light still remains 'on' on the dashboard) and the brake button has a blinking green light. I also can not move the car into gear in any way - 'drive' or 'b', etc. The first two times this happened, I called AAA because I thought the battery was dead and they didn't know what to make of it as the lights were clearly ON on the dash so there was power to the car. They did attempt to jump it which didn't really do anything but somehow they managed to sort it out (not even knowing what they did!) and I could switch gears and drive again. This hasn't happened in quite a long while - not until today when I rolled the windows down turned the car off (I'm pretty sure I shut it off) and sat for 30 min.

What happens more often lately is.. I go to turn the car on in the Am and the red triangle goes on the dash and the car will not go into gear. I also get the 'transmission' problem on the display. So, I have to take my foot off the brake and just pretty much hold down the power button for a while until it shuts the car off - then when I press down on the break and push the power button again, it starts up normal and I can drive. This has happened more consistently then the problem mentioned about. I read on this forum that the problem seems to be the 12v battery needs replacing - but does that mean it's also related to the issue above?? I'm thinking since the power windows were in use this would be a related issue. Thoughts?

SOoooo, if this is a 12 v battery issue - what are my options? I'm stuck at work right now. Should AAA NOT try to jump it (I've been reading this is not a good thing to do unless the dash won't go on) but just tow it to the dealership and ALSO, how much will this cost to have Toyota repair approx? Is this covered under the warranty? I have a 2007 Prius.

Also, please let me know if there is something I can do on my end to remedy this.

Any help you could offer would be most appreciated, especially since I'm off work in about a half hour and need to figure out my options by the time AAA arrives.

Many thanks!

 

Thanks for the info. I was going AAA tow it but they said that they jump Prius' (or Prii?) all the time and that they're pretty experienced at it. The car ran fine home but this morning the entire car was dead. AAA came to my house, jumped it again and took it to the repair place - and yep, ended up being the 12v battery - though it took 'em a while to diagnose it. I guess the 12v reads differently at times or something.

I was going to have AAA replace the battery as the guy offered it but when he called and checked he told me that they only had batteries for the newer models and not 2007. It came to about $240 total with the examine, part and installation. *sigh* Oh, well, I guess my luck just ran out and it was time to replace it!

p.s. Since they repaired it my keyless fob doesn't start the car unless I put the key in to the dash. Something got messed up.. Wondering if Toyota will have to reprogram it or something. They did keep a battery plugged to it while the 12v was being replaced so that my other settings didn't get messed - however the keyless entry and startup are now screwed up. :-/

 

Yep, as I suspected in my original post and with all of everyone elses backup to my post it WAS indeed the 12v battery. :rockon: With all the trouble with this infamous 12v you'd think Toyota would send owners a notice to get reimbursed for the battery not lasting very long or a no charge replacement like they do with their other recalls.

 

With all I've read here I'm kinda leery when it comes to jumping my Prius. HOWEVER, I've had it done a handful of times by AAA and when you're a female feeling strandard without a vehicle it's very tempting to let AAA take the reins. The AAA guys I've talked to seem to say that this happens all the time where they have to jump Prius and some are repeat customers that require a twice a week jump because they aren't using their vehicle enough. I know it's definitely riskier than a regular vehicle but it's almost inconvenent to think that no one can jump your vehicle EVER. If I could purchase a Prius jumping kit that would be safer and have AAA use it on my vehicle, I would do definitely keep it in the trunk. Just don't know if there is something like that...