A better 12V battery?

Hello,

My second 12V battery just died, making 2 in 4 years. Does anyone know of an off-brand battery with more power that will last longer and not void my warranty?

On my old Camry, I was able to buy a battery that was intended for a much larger car but had the same footprint and position of the terminals. It used to last more than 5 years where OEM and similar batteries of the same power, even the best diehard battery, would last less than 3.

My car tends to sit idle for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks at a time, which is really bad for the 12V battery. I would like to find one with more power that will last longer.

Thanks for any advice.
Scott

 

Hello.

I am plugged in to a battery tender right now as I'm trying to recharge the battery so I can use the car until I replace the battery. But, I would not feel comfortable doing this on a regular basis for the following reasons:

1) I'm in a condo. The socket I'm using in the garage is not on the meter for my own apartment.

2) I can't leave the garage open while doing this, so am going against the recommendation in the owner's manual to do this in a well ventilated area.

3) I worry a bit about my next-car neighbor not noticing the tender and knocking it over.

4) I have the parking space next to the main gas line for the building.

So, I would really love to just find a battery with a "normal" life expectancy for a battery, if this would not void my warranty. I know I had this same issue for the same reason with my old Camry.

BTW, I just checked the dates, the first battery lasted 2.5 years. The second less than 1.5.

I searched online a bit. I noticed that Sears does not even make a Prius battery. But, Interstate does. They made the batteries that worked well for my Camry. Do you know if trying one of theirs as a replacement would void my platinum warranty?

Thanks a lot.
Scott

Hi.

This is not a factor of it being a smart vehicle. I had the same issue with a 1992 Camry.

Is Optima a brand of battery? I'll look into that. Thanks. I'd rather find a battery that will not discharge. I do not leave the car long enough to consider it hibernating over winter. In fact, I often drive more in winter.

Thanks for the info.
Scott

 

Thanks to all of you for the advice. I really do appreciate it. I tried to get the dealer to install an Interstate (AGM) battery, which is much more readily available than Optima in this area. They originally said they would, but when I got there, they told me it was a slightly different size.

I have somewhat of a conundrum for the next time this happens. This is now the second time that they have just replaced the battery for free, no cost for either the battery or labor. It's really hard to turn down free.

At the same time, I know this will happen again and again based on my driving habits.

They did test the vehicle for any drain on the power. There was none. This really is because of my driving habits. I know an Interstate or Optima AGM battery would be better. I've been doing research on them since the suggestion of Optima on this thread. The first time they attempt to charge me for a new battery, I will definitely buy a better one.

This time though, I specifically asked that they talk to me before installing the battery. They didn't. They just replaced it for free. So, I have another 1+ year of battery for free. I will buy a tester (pause, just heard that my father-in-law has an extra) so that I can test and know before it just dies. That will at least remove the most painful aspect of this.

That said, being an environmentalist, I hate the waste of constantly replacing these crappy (for my use) batteries. Sooner or later, Toyota is going to stop paying for them for me. But, they say that if they die within warranty, they will replace it free. Why does Toyota want to pay for this? I have no idea. Why don't they have a way to recognize when this battery is wrong for a particular driver and use a better battery? I have no idea.

So far, both times I've been stuck was in my own garage. And, I have a charger. So, the cost has been not being able to leave when I want on the day it dies. But, there is no cost at the dealer. I guess I have a year and a few months to think about what to do next.

I can use a battery minder. There are electric garage doors in my garage and extra sockets for them. The problem I have with doing so on a regular basis is a moral one. The electricity bill for these outlets is shared among the 30+ unit owners of my condo. I cannot run a cord from my apartment to the garage, so cannot run this on my own electric bill.

When you put the Optima battery in, did you do it for yourself? Or, did you have it done at either the dealer or somewhere else? I thought I had my dealer convinced to give me an Interstate battery. But, they didn't. They just changed to another crappy battery without talking to me first. It actually really pissed me off. But, they did it for free ... again.

I know I can walk into an Interstate battery shop and have them change the battery. I just have visions of them opening the hood and asking me where the battery is. I don't know how many Prius owners in the NYC area take their cars to someplace other than the dealer and how many battery replacement shops would even know to look in the trunk, let alone know if there are any special issues with a Prius.

 

Nope. But thanks for the accusation. That's very constructive of you.</sarcasm>

This is true on both this car and my prior car. I occasionally go on long drives, often go on shorter drives, and very often leave the car sitting locked in a heated garage, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks.

No 12V lead acid battery in the world likes that.

Some batteries are more tolerant of such driving habits. In my old Camry, a Sears 7 year battery lasted less than 2 years. An Interstate (AGM) battery rated for 5 years actually lasted 5 years.

I have a 4 year old Apple macbook pro. I had Tekserve in Manhattan, an Apple specialist authorized to provide in-warranty service, replace the original 4G of RAM with 8G of after market RAM. They sold the original 4G, did a burn in, charged me far less for the upgrade than any Apple store, and did not void the warranty. Oh, I also bought a Samsung phone there.

The Toyota dealer told me that they do sell Interstate batteries. So, they must occasionally do so. This time, they didn't. They say that the Toyota OEM battery is slightly smaller. But, that's not what the manager of the service department said on the phone.

 

AGM batteries are lead acid batteries.

VRLA battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Whatever the Toyota battery is, AGM or not, it is crap. Compare the numbers on the Optima battery. Click on the second graphic where they give the spec comparison.

DS46B24R YELLOWTOP® Prius® Auxiliary Battery 8171-767 | OPTIMABATTERIES

Obviously, living in LA, you have no clue what it means to not drive every day. I would suggest that until you learn that AGM batteries are lead acid and until you live in a walkable city, you stop giving bad battery advice. You just don't know what you think you do. All 12V batteries, AGM or not, work better if they are used frequently.

Another thing you may not understand living in LA is that, yes, when you start your Toyota, the ICE (internal combustion engine) must run until it reaches a minimum temperature. This typically happens 2-3 seconds after I turn on the car and put it in reverse. So, yes, even if there were enough power to turn the car on, which there wasn't, it would still be necessary to crank the engine.

Perhaps if you park in the LA sun, this is not necessary. I wouldn't know, just as you don't know what it is to live in a cooler climate. But, I do know that when you can no longer run on the hybrid system battery alone, yes your 12V battery will need to crank your ICE. Or, are you saying that this is done by the hybrid battery?

But, you are correct that the warranty will only provide a Toyota battery. The question is whether it is worth it to pay for a real battery instead of having to replace the Toyota craptery every 17 months. And, I am sure from experience that with the 2 year crapteries they install, this will happen every time. These were not defective batteries. They're just crap for my purpose. And, I may be willing to cough up the bucks to fix the problem if the dealer will let me do so.