New Prius will not start

I would leave the car on for an hour so the HV battery can continue charging the 12 volt.

By that, do you mean drive around for an hour, or actually just power on the car, leave it there for an hour, and then turn it off?

There are some issues with the insurance company with adding this car and the driver, so I cannot really drive it around for the time being.

Thanks,
Vic

Just leave it on and running. The engine charges the HV battery which in turn charges the 12 volt.

Start it like your going to drive it, foot on the brake, push the power button!

Yep. Doesn't matter if the Prius is moving or not. It has no effect on how quickly/slowly the 12 volt charges. Just leave it in READY mode (READY light ON).

My 2012 turns on the interior lights as I approach.

I would press the dealer to replace the 12v battery. Tell them, once dead the battery will likely fail again. You shouldn't have to worry about that with a brand new car.

When you go and get your 1000, 5000 mile checkup make sure they test and charge the battery. Also my 2012, the interior lights do come on when I approach the car. Keep calling toyota care when ever it breaks down, do that first.

What's the date of manufacture on your car? Perhaps it was sitting on the dealer's lot for too long, and the battery died because they never had it on long enough to charge the battery? Especially if you can give them that scenario, you might be able to convince them that the 12V battery needs to be replaced.

Otherwise, if I were a dealer, I probably wouldn't replace a 12V battery after needing one jump start, unless I was feeling particularly generous. From their point of view, it's just not the most likely problem (more likely would be the customer accidentally leaving a light on), and normal use might fix it anyway.

In any case, if you can't get a free replacement, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I killed mine absolutely stone dead about 2 months after getting the car; it's been over 2 years since then, and I haven't had a single problem. This weekend, my wife even left the interior lights on (she doesn't know how - she doesn't remember turning them on, and it was mid-day when she was driving so she had no reason to use them) for about 5 or 6 hours until our neighbor knocked to let us know. The car still started just fine, though the battery was obviously low (the lights were dim and brake pump ran slowly until I went to Ready mode).

I wonder if that is a programmable feature? Mine doesn't turn on the interior lights as I approach it. Many rental Prii have turned on the interior lights when I got close to the drivers door.

Mike

Both my 2005 and my 2012 turn on the interior lights when I approach the drivers door. It's a nice parlor trick to show my friends.

Wonder what the Xgauge codes are to toggle that option?

Mike

On the '10 and '11s, it was a dealer customization via Techstream. See Things that can be customized | PriusChat. Some of those can now be set on the '12s via LCD.

I glanced at the Owner's Manual customization list, but I didn't see it there.

On the 2010, the car has to be locked for the lights to activate on approach. Was it locked?

Nope, I'll try the locked approach today. I always leave my car unlocked in my garage where it sits mostly

Mike

Oh, good catch! My car is always locked, and the 2005 was also. Didn't even think of that.

It also depends how good your ninja-fu is. I usually sneak up on my car fast enough that the lights don't start coming on until right about when I grab the handle - to an outside observer, it would look like the lights came on because I unlocked it, not just because I was nearby.

Just tested mine today and the lights do come on when I snuck up on my car with locked doors.

Mike

I erred by not waiting long enough in my earlier test.

Immediately after locking the car, the interior lights go out and don't respond to the key's proximity. Wait a bit and retest, and the lights do come on.