12 vt battery - is the dealer right??!!

I do not speak for Patrick, but the approved Denso battery fits, the Toyota dealer will not blame you for mythical problems, you do not have to wait for shipping, and it is cheaper. The Optima has the reputation of lasting longer, being lighter and having more power. Both are good choices.

 

All good reasons. In fact I just ordered an Optima - but I still have that nagging thought (not helped by the fact that I ordered on Wednesday yet they still haven't shipped, but fo claim to ship the same or next business day).

 

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The 12V battery available via Toyota dealerships meets my needs so I see no reason to go through the effort of replacing the positive terminal connector on the fuse block, and paying more for the Optima. (I already did a similar exercise on my 2001, including installing a new battery bracket, when installing the Panasonic battery recommended by Toyota via a TSB.)

It's also not obvious that the Optima battery is necessarily better although substantial PC member opinion seems to lean that way.

 

Even if the Optima lasts twice as long, (8 years vs 4 years) you need to own your Prius a long time to come out ahead. I plan to own mine 20 years, but if you have a lower number in mind, it may not 'work' for you. (sadly, bad drivers can defeat my plans)

 

The prius 12V battery has a pretty easy life compared to that of a more conventional car, especially not having to crank. I think even the standard Toyota battery would probably last 8 years if during that time we never accidently left a light on, or door open all night, or sat and listened to the radio etc until the battery was flat or near flat. It really seems to be how many times you do one of the above that determines the battery life more than anything else.

 

+1
If the OP does a search for elearnaid here on PC, they'll get tons of hits . . . . . and that should make it obvious that "if it aint broke...." is the worst advise you can get. If we all had a buck for each PC member who waited too long to change the aux battery, we'd all be driving Teslas ... including yours truely. Actually, the Prius, we changed in time. But our hybrid Lexus SUV? Waited 1 day too many ... and it's battery was a year newer than our Prius' battery was, when we finally changed it out for a yellowtop.


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I did the maintenance mode check of battery voltage at rest and with headlights on (low current draw HIDs even). The low voltage reading (under 10) convinced me it was time to replace the 5 year old 12V battery. $145 w/tax from the dealer and two hours later all is well.

My brother waited too long on his 2001 and it cost him a bunch since it made the engine/tranny make clunking noises that a mechanic was paid to look at. But it was just the battery.

Again, do the check and replace it before you double the cost with a towing bill.

 

And me too. And yes, it is possible for the battery to be so dead it won't take a recharge or a jump. And this was for a four-year-old battery. I still say it wrecked my little Battery Tender Jr. too.

So yes, I agree with the others, replace it around four or five years. Yes, you might have gotten a little more life out of it, but as with the other stories, I would have avoided a lot of aggravation having to crawl through to the back hatchback to manually unlock it, the time spent trying to recharge it, to jump start it, etc.

I like the eLearnAid kit with the Optima battery. It really isn't much more, and the battery has more amp-hours than the OE Prius battery, and is supposed to be a better-constructed battery. Although I think the original manufacturer for the Prius battery is of a high quality too. And if it is a bit lighter, that will help lifting it in and out of the tight fit in the car.

 

The local dealership doesn't even have a battery in stock, and want $328 for it if they did. Makes it a pretty easy choice.

 

Very warm weather can also kill batteries early. Here on Guam, I am in te habit of going to the Navy base and buying the very best AC Delco battery they will sell me. It ALWAYS fails within three years, and I get the replacements for about $ 20 each for the life of the car . . .