Just bought 2011 THREE I'm afraid battery is faulty. Please help

ask for the receipt from the Toyota dealer if they cant produce it demand they take it there with you and watch them test it..
be sure everything is turned off before you park the car for the night and leave everything off when starting the car, see if it makes a difference ..if not Id be going back to car max...odds are good it was a rental car as most of them are from these off lease dealers.

 

There have been posts in Prius Chat where peoples Hybrid Battery failed within the warranty period and parameters and Toyota replaced the HV battery.

There even are some posts where the HV battery has failed outside of the warranty, and Toyota helped cover a percentage of the cost.

I believe the hybrid warranty is transferable.

But the first step, is to find out what is going on, and whether you need a battery replacement.
Yep, I'd want a receipt or some proof from Toyota that a test has been done.

Also doesn't Carmax offer a short period of time where you can return the vehicle? I think it's like a 5 day money back guarantee.

 

I would invest the diagnostic charge and take the car to another dealer and let them check it out also ask for a print out of the service history of the car and do a car fax search...a little late now that you bought it but at least you will know if its junk or not

 

I sense you're not happy with the purchase.
Has it been 5 days? Because I think you can return it if within that time frame and bought from Carmax.

If it's been more than that?

Then you're on a mission to find out what is wrong.

If it IS your hybrid battery, it should eventually throw a code.
How much have you driven it?

 

Are you getting a check engine light or hybrid warning signals? Do you have any faults displayed at all?

 

In TX you have a 8 year (so at least 2018) and 100,000 miles (whichever comes first) warranty on the Hybrid battery.

 

welcome! there's nothing to be done until your dash lights up. how are your mpg's? yes, they will give you a new battery, there are plenty of posts here regarding that, but not until the car throws a code. reset your average mpg's on one of the trip meters, go for a good long drive and report back here. all the best!

 

That's why I asked how much she has driven it.-That might be the best advice. Either the vehicle will throw a code, or perhaps everything will start working better.

I would however suggest keeping your fully charged cell phone with you, and going on a long "Safe as possible" drive, just case the vehicle does suffer a significant break down.

 

im going to say NO,
a weak battery needs constant charging causing the engine to run burning more gas and less MPG..
MERGED BACK TO BACK CONSECUTIVE POSTS
try putting the cars VIN number into this website
you can pull up its service history
Toyota Owners Official Web Site

 

Like all cars, your Prius has a 12 volt battery which (like all cars) tends to need replaced about every 4 years.
One way a battery can fail (a shorted cell) will make it never get to 12 volts, if this happens, the car will try FOREVER (when Ready) to charge it, which uses quite a lot of gas.

Like many cars, your Prius has a battery in the Fob, if it goes dead you have to use the mechanical key to get in, it would be worth while to spend under $10 to replace it when you replace the 12 volt car battery.

Unlike other cars your Prius has a hybrid battery, there are a great many senors which would light up the dash if it had failed. It is 100% covered by Federal warranty for 8 years/100,000 miles which ever comes first. If it fails completely the car will not start at all, but I have not heard of any failures where the MPG is diminished. (I may not have been paying attention)

 

If there are no dash warning/caution lights, your battery is not faulty. Are you running the AC on high all the time?

 

All batteries hate being not charged, I bet the 12 volt never recovers (it may already be new) and the Hybrid battery may be in trouble if it was not charged for a year, Toyota mentions 3 months as the maximum time not to be charged somewhere.

 

It could be some of the problem. Have you never 'found' a forgotten flashlight and have it actually shine?

You will hear stories of Prius taxis lasting 500,000 miles. The owners drive them every day, often 24 hours a day.
the Hybrid battery has good isolation when off. (both the positive and negative cable are disconnected. But ANY battery hates being left uncharged. I never recommend a Prius to snowbirds who leave it for some part of the year. (here is my 'who should not own a Prius' post
considering a Prius | PriusChat )

 

nellybbb, i think you're panicking. take a deep breath, relax, see what carmax comes back with. i'm sure there is nothing major wrong with your car.

 

If you have not yet reset both Trip A and Trip B since buying the car, do so now. That will clear the MPG displays of the previous drivers and their poor routes or driving practices, so it will then show only your own MPG. Then set the display to show either Trip A or Trip B, and use that displayed MPG number. It will be somewhat optimistic, somewhere between 4% and 10% too high, but is good enough for general use.

Don't try to use the vertical bar graph next to the speed number to gauge average MPG, it doesn't work for that.

Also, don't try to gauge MPG by how fast the fuel gauge drops. The gauge doesn't show the full range of the tank, several gallons of safety margin are hidden below the last warning, and the bars may not be evenly spaced.

There are tricks to getting good MPG, many ways for normal drivers to get poor results, and several very easy ways for Prius newbies to sabotage the MPG. To give us more clues to guide feedback, please answer as much of this questionnaire as practical:
Fuel economy complaints/queries? Please copy, paste & answer these questions, esp. if you're new | PriusChat