A friend is looking into buying a Prius but has concerns because she leaves for 6 months a year and the car would just be sitting there. People have told her this is the wrong car for that--opinions???
Sitting for six months is not especially worse for a Prius than for another car. It's better to have someone drive it around for 20 minutes once a week and keep the tires inflated. If not then disconnect the 12V battery or be prepared to give it a jump upon her return. Maybe a better question is that of the use of capital (ROI). If it's going to sit around six months each year it would be a lot cheaper to buy a used car.
6 months is too long for a car not to be driven. I agree on disconnecting the battery and hook it up on a high quality 'battery tender' that will trickle charge the battery without overcharging it. offgrid, you can also do her a favor by offering to drive the Prius once a week.
I can relate to your friend's question/concern. I was in the U.S. Navy for over 20 years. In that time, I was on ships for over 12 years that made 6+ month deployments at least every year, sometimes only 4 months between return and redeployment. During this time, I owned cars and would put them in large fenced-in and locked long-term storage lots. Only items I did before leaving were oil change, put in fuel stabilizer, fill-up tank, tire pressure check and disconnect + battery lead. On return, I hooked up the battery, started car (jump start if required -- only needed that once), checked tires (refilled if needed), then within a month, oil change. Never gave it a thought that there would be a problem (other that possibly jump starting). The '07 Camry Hybrid manual states that: "If the vehicle is to be parked for a long time, the hybrid battery will discharge gradually. To keep the hybrid battery in good condition, drive the vehicle at least once every several months . . . If the hybrid battery becomes fully discharged and the vehicle will not start even with a jump start to the 12 volt battery, contact your Toyota dealership." Granted, the paragraph uses the nebulous words "several months". Several, well that could be ANYTHING more that two! (Just to cover Toyota's back-side.) And, this is MANY pages into the OWNERS manual (page 10, to be exact). I know we're discussing the Prius, but I imagine the same type of caveat would apply to the Prius. Yes, you can jump start the 12-volt battery, but NOT the hybrid battery unless the Prius battery was JUST at the edge of being too discharged. (Then you could use the special restart capabilities that the Camry doesn't have.) If I was still in the Navy, and purchased the TCH (or Prius) and THEN found out AFTER I got home (and read the manual) that I could not let the car sit unattended for 6+ months at a time, I would be extremely upset. This type of information is not in any brochures (or mentioned by the salespeople, if they even know about it).
Not being technically oriented, and having just purchased my first, 2010, Prius, it sounds like the consensus is,since I have no one to drive the car for 5 months each year would be to do the basic maintenance things like condition the gas and make sure it has fresh oil etc and use a trickle charger on which of the batteries, I understand it has 2, or both?
The charger goes on the 12V small battery. Don't use a trickle charger, use a good quality battery minder. A trickle charger will slowly kill your battery from overcharge. You can connect the battery minder under the hood, at the jump points, or wire it in directly to the battery under the hatch floor. Tom
You say "no time to drive it". Do you have time to turn it on ("Ready") and leave it in Park for a half-hour? Doing that one a week would be sufficient. It doesn't actually have to move.
What, if any, time could you leave a Prius without special modifications or plans without being started? Is 3 days too long? Thanks!
I suspect there is some mis-information here. I do not believe the 12 volt battery is the issue. First, I do not believe the 12v battery is what starts the ICE. Remember, it is not a conventional system and the ICE has no starter as conventional cars do. The 12v can be charged, but the ICE will still not start if the HV battery is depleted. I would personally make no effort to charge the HV battery. I have read that you cannot jump start a Prius, (not the HV battery at any rate). In 6 months, I am certain the high voltage battery would be depleted. For all the attributes of the Prius, there are just some situations where the Prius is not a good choice .... like driving off-road; driving in deep water; pulling a trailer; .... and letting it sit for 6 months. Now on a topic that I know something about: Last month I left mine for 6 weeks. I had read others mention theirs had discharged after a month at an airport parking lot, so I asked a fellow Prius owner to drive mine after 3 weeks. When I returned, I started the Prius and drove it off. The HV battery showed 5 pips, and quickly increased as I drove around town. Good luck.
3 days is nothing if the 12V battery is in good condition. icohen2, felt made me re-think my earlier reply. I'd be nervous about the big HV traction battery over five months. The simplest solution would be to show some reliable person how to start the car and leave it running for 30 minutes each week. If the HV battery self-discharges too far then the car will have to be towed to a Toyota dealer to use a special HV charger. It can't be jumped where it sits.
Everything is written in the Prius' User's Manual about long term storage - read it - it says everything you and your friend need to know. If you don't own a Prius 2010 or cannot find a 2010 manual, ask a dealer about it.
Two or three weeks should be no problem, I would say two months or so would be fine for your '07. Just remember to turn the SKS off. Probably the worst that would happen might be a dead 12V battery but most likely not even that. On the 2010 some people have found dead 12V batteries after a couple of weeks but I don't think we know why yet. Might have something to do with the fact that the SKS can't be turned off on the Gen3 cars, it is suppose to turn it's self off after a few days.
I've got a 2010 and the manual, but can't find any reference in it to long term storage. Any suggestions as to where to look?
I need some help with a Prius IV 2010, Navigation package. My Prius IV was originally purchased in Phoenix AZ, with it set up for the heat and dust storms known in that area. However, 2 years after my purchase with my driving the car every day during these 2 years, I moved to the foothills west of Reno, NV. At this point, it sits outside 24/7. This, due to medical issues on my part...my garage slot is currently storing my household goods. In the past 8 months, I have had to have AAA out to jump the car 3 times-hooking up their battery jumping equipment to the terminals under the hood. My issue is the long periods of time that the car has had to sit without being turned over and driven. This last period of no activity for the car was over the holiday, only 2 weeks of not being driven. When the car was last driven, both batteries showed the batteries at over 3/4 charged. Now, the battery that turns over the car, I gather the 12V battery, does not have enough juice to start the car. My question is this: Has anyone had experience with a Trickle Charger or a Battery Minder on their Prius IV ? And/or, does this sound like a bad battery? Thank you for your comments.
I recommend you start fresh with an Optima Yellowtop that is designed specifically for the Prius. Once you run the battery down, it needs to be slow charged for several hours. A simple jump usually leaves the 12V battery at a chronically low state of charge, until at some point it just won't hold a charge anymore. Many people here keep a Battery Minder, Battery Tender, Optimate, etc on their lightly used Prius. Optima BatteriesOptima Batteries DS46B24R YellowTop Prius Auxiliary Battery
