12v Battery Question

Also as you should not jump start other cars from your Prius, having a Jump Pack allows you to be a good Samaritan.

 

^ What he said.

Does the v have an under the hatch floor tray? I found in ours (regular 3rd gen Prius) the relatively flat JNC660 fit easily. Their line has several with similar shape. Last time I used it was for our daughter's truck.

 

also, when you listen to the radio, etc., always leave the car in ready and park. it will keep the 12v charged. you don't want to drain it, even if you have a jump pack, it's very bad for the battery.

 

Anyone know what the life span of these 12v batteries are?

I know they are not like regular car batteries, so I assume you cannot compare lifespans.


iPhone ?

 

Duplicate


iPhone ?

 

You mean Prius battery or the jump pack batteries?

 

it's all over the place, depending on neglect. i don't know if there's an official lifespan, but members who haven't drained them get about 8 years or so. you can't be sure though, because there's no way to know what the dealer did to it before purchase.
my 3 prius all came right off the truck, i've never drained the batteries down, and never had a problem.

 

Funny you should start a 12V battery thread, the day before Yule Eve, pouring rain, and I needed to go out and do some shopping, but imagine my surprise when I powered on my car, and the Great Triangle of Death appeared on the display, and the dome-light dimmed in a most un-festive way considering it was amost Christmas. Now I'd expected something might happen to the 12V battery, since I was having problems last week with the SmartKey system (I ended up replacing batteries in the FOBs), but that problem might well have been exacerbated by the 12V battery! I remembered all the stuff I'd learned here on PriusChat, and used my JumpStarter from BatterMart.com (see threads passim), and after doing my errands, swung my the local Toyota Dealer, and arranged for them to check the battery the next day. I had planned eventually to get a replacement battery from BatterMart.com (~$150 plus shipping) - but the dealer quoted $230 fitted which sounded reasonable since that would have been less than an hour's labour which is quicker than I would have been able to do it, plus the work would be guaranteed, and I was heading north to visit friends for the next couple of days. So I went with the dealer, and looking at the records, the car is 6 years old, and the 12V battery has never been changed, so I suppose I should have expected it! (BTW - that's the third time I've used the JumpStarter (the first on my own car) so I think it has more than paid for itself! )

PS: I also noticed before I jumped the battery, the "click" of electric door-locks sounded quite feeble compared to the normal "thunk" when they operate! (another dead give-away!)

 

Definitely, as others have mentioned!

 

as advanced as the prius is I was really surprised it does not have a battery run down preventer..
even my crappy 2001 cavalier had it, if the dome light or radio was left on it would shut off after about 10 min's

 

A friend of mine asked me why did I get a prius, I should have looked into a Volt because prius' are old technology.

May be there is some truth to that statement... I don't know as these types of cars are new to me.


iPhone ?

 

nah, there similar age tech. 2 different cars, that's all. volt has more batteries, prius is larger, and gets better mpg's. ask him why the 'newer technology' can't get 50 mpg in a smaller car.

 

from what Ive seen the volt isn't living up to the hype anyway, the resale value is low and most don't make it to 150,000 miles..why buy a copy of a prius when you can buy a prius? the new ones just have more gadgets that can break, Ill be buying gen 2's for as long as I can find them. don't like the gen 3's interior and the new one looks like it hit a brick wall before it left the factory

 

There's a very small learning curve required for a prii, and it's thew 12v, never, ever...use "acc" mode in a prius, always put it in ready, it's a really hard level of learning, takes years