2005 Prius 12V Battery Questions

Makes me wonder WHY they don't carry it anymore???

 

Right?

I spoke with the manager at the store, they are going to give me a full refund seeing that its within the 3 year full warranty. Actually Im less than 1/2 way through the warranty but whatever. Then Im going to waltz right over to Toyota and get a GOOD battery!

The Manager did confirm it is no longer available for sale. So unless its a regional thing here in Michigan, Priuschatters can scratch off Advance Auto Parts as a source to buy a 12V battery.... and the manager did say, the Optima was the only battery for the Prius they offered.

 

Maybe they were getting too many returns.

Another possibility (for your run of bad batteries with them) might be that they had known for some time that they were going to be discontinued, and were just clearing out old stock. Maybe they hadn't had any new stock for ages and had just been clearing out whatever dregs had been sitting around their warehouses for too long.

 

That's a preposterous claim.
No such thing happened.
This is getting WAY out of hand.
I'm definitely done this time.

 

My old fave, Advance Auto Parts in Fort Collins, Colorado is offering the Optima at $220 USD -- not including CORE. It's in stock.

An area Toyota dealer (not in Fort Collins) is offering the Toyota TrueStart at $160 USD -- not including CORE -- this being a special coupon price for "valued customers." In the past the same TOY dealer has consistently charged Toyota MSRP plus 25 percent, so don't know if they are changing their "pricing structure" or not...

 

Im going to bring my original sales receipt with me tomorrow. On the way in to work, Ill stop at the Toyota Dealer and buy the Toyota battery. Then, Ill go to work, swap out the batteries and go return the Optima. Get my cash back from that ($158.99) and put it back in the bank to cover the $180 Toyota is charging me for the OEM battery.

 

Just checked my readings tonight via the MFD:

Cycles between 12.3 & 12.4 in acc. mode
12.1 Ign On
13.9 Ready

My daily commute is only 13 miles each way now, and I ran the heat & compressor on the way home today. So, I'm satisfied with these readings. I just dropped in a new Optima about a week & a half ago. My old OE battery was going into its 7th year, so I just replaced it. The Optima's date code is Jan 4, 2014. I hope that date turns out to represent a good batch! At least there is their 3 year free replacement warranty if not. The Optima is a higher capacity battery than the original base Prius battery, which is part of the reason I opted for it. However, I learned after the fact that if you use the Optima, you really need to replace the battery tray with the longer one used in the Prius models with the bigger battery. I'm probably just going to modify my old tray, though.

 

FWIW, you could have bought the bigger battery that Toyota makes for the non base model and the amp hour rating would actually be higher than the new Optima you bought. Your Optima is 38 amp/hr, whereas the battery for the Gen II with SKS and so forth is a 45 amp/hr battery.

Here's a picture of the battery that Toyota sells for the SKS version (bigger battery). Note it is plainly marked 45 amp/hr. The battery below is the same size as your Optima also. Remember I mentioned to you previously about the different trays.

 

Just got back from the Toyota Dealer $190 and some change later, I have a Toyota True Start (made by Interstate the parts guy said) battery with a date code of 1/2014!! He said the Interstate Battery guy comes every few months and rotates the batteries. He takes the older date codes and replaces them with newer batteries.

THATS how it should be done. Advance Auto Parts could learn a thing or two from these Toyota people, ya know?

 

Does your batt look just like the photo Ron posted just above your post? Just curious, because under that TrueStart Sticker on the top of that battery in the photo is a a "made in Japan" sticker....

I know Interstate is a fairly reliable maker, so either would be good, but just curious...

 

Yep! Let me take a picture and Ill be back in about 15 to post it..... Installing the battery right now as we speak.

 

New Toyota True Start Battery:


Made In Japan:


Old Optima:

 

That's the second true start I have seen posted here! And to think a dealer in Houston actually told me there was no such thing... But yet another dealer a year ago told me about the "Interstate" thing that PG32 mentioned. Go Figure.


Good job Prius Guy 32. I think you will like that battery. Keep it charged up with a good AGM type charger and it should last a long time.

 

The actual manufacture date is not based upon the 1/14 sticker, but rather the six digit code next to it, in DDMMYY format. Unfortunately your photo is too blurred to see that number.

 

Ahhh Interesting. Let me go back to the car and get that code, lol. BRB.

BTW, on another interesting "just my luck" kind of thing, the NEW Toyota battery disconnected before I installed it into the car the first time or anything - read 12.1v when measured across the posts with a DVM.

I am at work and do not have access to my smart charger, which is at home. Should I charge it when I get home? and if so, what amperage should I select (my charger gives the option of 2a, 5a or 10a charge). Thx.

Whatever I do, I do NOT want another experience like I had with that Optima. Btw, AAP gave me my money back with no questions asked. They said they receive a LOT of Optima warranty exchanges.

 

What is the ambient air temperature there now?

Yes, definitely charge the new battery overnight, using the 5A setting. The warning label suggests using a maximum charge of 4A but if you use the 2A setting, it will take forever.

 

Thanks Patrick, I will do that as soon as I get home.

The ambient temp is Miserable... lol. Actually its about 5F and overnight tonight its going to be -9f as the ambient temperatures. The wind will be gusting up to 40mph!! We are breaking low temperature records set back in 1875!

With that being said, my Prius is parked in my garage at work and its about 60f in the garage.

When I go home tonight, the Prius will be outside in the -9f ambient temps. Is it still ok to put it on the charger at those temps?

 

OH! and the date code was 27092013, Which Im deciphering with my super special battery code sunglasses as September 27, 2013 as the manufacture date.

 

Yes, OK to charge the 12V battery at -9 degrees F. If you were driving the car in that weather, the battery would be charged by the DC/DC converter.

I agree with your date interpretation. If you see a made in Japan sticker on your battery, I would say that it probably was made by GS Yuasa, and the Toyota TrueStart stickers were added once the battery found its way to the US.

 

Ok cool. I hope being ~6 months old and sitting on the shelf wont be a problem like it was with the (sub)Optima...lol.

Im going to go home and hook it right up at 5amps. It takes hours to go through all the steps of charging (I think its a 5 step process)... but I will post the results as soon as it gets done!