Key stuck, battery problems?

Jump start the car very cautiously, you can do thousands of dollars of damage if you do it wrong, and order a new 12v battery.

 

Yes, the 12V is now bad.

The car can be jumped with as little as a lawn mower battery.

Best practice is a jump pack with reverse polarity protection. You do not need a tow.

 

I do not mean to scare you, but to urge you not to 'live with it', each time you jump a car there is some statistical chance you will do it wrong. For the Prius the results of wrong are multiple thousands of dollars, so you should not get to used to jump starting.

The OEM battery very frequently never really recovers from a single 'dead flat' experience. The after market Optima Yellow top seems to recover from more than one dead flat experience.

I am unaware of any other batteries in the US which are both AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) so the amount of fluid sulfuric acid is less, and externally vented, so explosive hydrogen gas cannot build up. Both are wonderful features of a battery in the passenger compartment!

 

Here is one that features reverse polarity protection

Walmart.com: Stanley 300 Amp Jump Starter: Automotive

The cheaper Schumacher units do not mention polarity protection.

 

You sound nervous, so I would recommend not doing anything yourself.
Do you have AAA or some other type of road service? If so, they can jump start the car. Are the doors open, so that you can open the hood? Once the car is started, drive it directly to your Toyota dealer and don't turn it off untill you get there! I had the same problem with an 2007, but the doors were locked. AAA had the device to fish a tool inside to open the doors & then they jumped the car!
Good Luck!!

 

Yes the 12v battery located in the trunk in back of the rear seat, passenger side.

 

The dealer will charge you somewhere between $200 and $300 to replace the 12 volt battery. Depending on how gullible you look.

 

Sorry, OEM means Original Equipment (from the) Manufacturer, it is the 12 volt battery Toyota will sell you for about $140 (plus installation) The 12 volt Yellow top runs about $200, but tends to last longer.

Thankfully, the big Battery is not involved!

 

There is also a jump point under the hood. It is located in the black plastic fuse box. Your manual has instructions.

Tom

 

Any good quality jump box should have a polarity checker. When you hook it up, if you are talking on the cell phone and not paying attention to what you are doing it will not allow you to try and start it with the cables reversed.

 

I hope you got things handled. I should have clarified, that the ideal jump start is with the driver of the wrecker or the little AAA service car pulling out their jump pack, rather than hooking up jumper cables to a 2000 CCA battery system in a diesel wrecker and having the driver gun it.

 

I hope things are looking up!

It would be easy to all be Toyota cheerleaders here and pretend that nothing bad ever happens. On the other hand, No matter how cynical you get, you can't keep up.

I try for a blunt reality that tells it like it is. I am sorry if that is sometimes scary, it is not my intent. I want to get you back to perfect as quick as possible, even if that means telling you what you don't want to hear. I hope in retrospect, you feel we gave you the advice you needed, even when it was not the advice you wanted.

If I terrified you into paralysis, I failed, and I apologize. (It could only be worse if you saw me)