Air Intake Vent causing hybrid battery to overheat?

Hi AZ and bisco.

My 2016 is my first Prius. Now that the 12v battery has been mentioned, how long can we expect it to last? (My Camry battery usually lasted 3 years. Then it would just not start one day. With no warnings. Just DEAD.)
Is the 12v Prius battery just a regular battery? 3 or 4 years if you're lucky?

AZ, I am very sorry to hear about all the problems with your Prius C. I was convinced to buy a Prius, when I saw so many Taxi Cab companies switching to a Prius. They drive the heck out of 'em,... It must be a good reliable car.... or so I hope. And mine is also always parked outside in the sun. So Cal is not as hot as AZ, but we are always 90 in the summer. (Sometimes in December!)

Its hard to believe the lack of cooperation you're getting from your dealer. That's totally insane! Those guys usually jump at the chance to take money from people! And you offered to pay, correct? I'm surprised they're not "making up stuff", just to get your business and money. The dealers I visited certainly did! (But on the other hand, if it's truly warranty work, the dealers I visited tend to shy away from that. And/or they would conjure up some other phony maintenance, fake leak, or other false damage that needed to be fixed. Anything to pad the bill!)

And I never had any help or cooperation from Toyota corporate. They just told me that the dealers are "independent retailers", and Toyota has no control over their dishonest service depts.

Merged

If I start having ANY problems down the road, with my new Prius, it's history! Gone! See ya! Bye-Bye! Adios!

Hosta-La-Veesta! (I don't know how to spell it. Just picture "The Terminator." )

You're right, it's a complicated vehicle. And it's no secret that I am not very pleased at times, with my new Three model.

I would have no problems just going and trading it for a nice cheap Corolla! Or maybe a Honda civic. I'm 61 now, and life is too damn short to be dealing with car trouble! Especially when a person has more important duties, like elderly parent care.

 

the 12v in most prius is small and temperamental. but yours my friend is large and robust. being a new model, i can't say how long it should last. some like to change it at 4 years, prophylactically. mine have lasted 8 years, so i wait until i have problems. since your camry only lasts 3 years, you might consider that your norm, but i'm not sure why you only got 3 years. do you not drive much?

 

Hi bisco. I hope I'm not hijacking AZ"s thread. But, yes, I drove many short distances when I had my Camry. That poor car barely managed to warm up! My place of employment was only 2.5 miles away from home.

I too, was taking care of elderly parents. It was a full-time job for the last 7 years, assisting my mother in her home after my dad died. (My mom passed away last April at 94 yrs of age.) As you and AZ know, elder care involves running many errands, taking them to appointments, doctors, activities, etc... all within 5 miles of her house. I guess my Camry batteries went bad early, from all those short trips.

It's good to know that the new Gen4 12v battery is robust. I'm retired now, and looking forward to "stretching her legs." My first Prius Hybrid. And I named her "Penelope." (Don't laugh. )

 

penelope clearwater?

 

Hate to say this but with all what is going on maybe you should get rid of this car and get something else. Life has enough complications without a car acting up/endangering your life and a dealership that does not care.

Prius C is a reliable car and there are lot of taxi companies that use it here. Those cars run right throughout the day in hot sun and many of them are probably 2012 models because its the cheapest here. Your car is probably having a problem that can not be fixed easily. So it might be better to think about it. Also remember if you get an external party to fix the car you may lose the warranty.

 

The warranty doesn't seem to be helping a lot right now...

 

mazda?

 

mazda 3 gets a lot of talk here.

 

good, from what i've read.

 

you can get a cheap minivci from amazon to read prius codes. but you need an old windows laptop to run it.
don't think it does anything but toyota though.

 

check out the mini vci threads, there's some very helpful info and knowledgeable members.

 

The answer that my life experience has taught me about 12 volt lead acid batteries, is 5 years. Anything after 5 years, is borrowed time. My recommendation, is that if and when you get a lead acid battery, stick a sticker on on and write down the date.
YMMV
jp

 

Most of the new cars do have lot of electronics and its going to get even more complicated in future. So there is no way of avoiding it, the thing is there are millions of reliable Prius Cs running about without any complaints and there are some with problems, but that's not the majority. And then the cars that are hellbent on trying to kill its owners are quite rare. I was using a Toyota Vitz (Yaris in US) for close to 11 years. It acted weird when applying breaks sometimes and this problem came on and off and was not reproducible. But otherwise it was a very reliable car. Anyway as the vehicle gets old it starts developing various problems so wise thing to do is change the car before this begins

What you can do is stick to a non hybrid car so the complications are less, Toyota, Honda are all very reliable brands (I never liked or trusted Nissan, how could you with designs like the Micra K12 and Juke a.k.a Joke). Honda Fit is a nice little car, if I was not such a hardcore Toyota fan I would have bought it instead of the Aqua.

Keep us posted on what you are planning to do. Good luck..!!!

 

The dinosaur with Win XP might have an easier time of it, than the one with Win 8.

 

I agree, AZ. I feel that cars are getting way too complicated with all the advanced electronics, computers, TOUCH SCREENS, texting on the entune system, etc. It's a darn shame you are having so much trouble with your Prius C. They are complicated cars, aren't they?!

Most of that stuff can become a dangerous distraction; the 2nd leading cause of accidents now?

I didn't buy the "Touring" model with all the advanced technology stuff. In fact, I watched several videos where they were testing the "collision avoidance / pedestrian avoidance" feature. The Prius failed to stop in several of those tests. I guess you can't be going over 15 mph for it to work? Something like that. I don't know, there just seems like too much electronic stuff that can go bad.

One owner posted here, that his new Prius keeps beeping when he's in the drive-thru lane at McDonald's! (He's too close to the car in front of him.) And his car starts beeping when stopped at a red light, and pedestrians are crossing in front of him. That would drive me nuts. I think a lot of owners may end up turning some of those features off.

One of the best cars I ever had, was my old reliable 1995 Camry! I could still be driving that car today, if I wasn't stupid, and traded it for a new model. Just a good, reliable, basic, four-cylinder vehicle. NEVER had any problems for 10 years. And I inherited a '97 Camry from my parents; that car was super reliable, too. Just change the oil regularly, and go! (I gave it to my Niece.)

Have you maybe considered a Toyota Corolla? The base model still has the original proven engine and 4 speed auto trans. Or maybe the LE version with the same engine, but it has the new variable transmission. Best selling Toyota vehicle for something like 50 years???