Low miles on 2008 Prius!

Yes very much so especially if it has spent its whole life in Florida. BUT....it may be worth it to spend $400 and buy a battery charger/dis charger and see if you can wake it up with a discharge/full charge cycle. It may come alive nicely especially if garaged its whole life.

But, at that mileage it sure is worth putting a new battery in it if you can buy it right. You'll be good for at least 10 reliable years.

 

While low mileage isn't always good for the battery health, it' not necessarily a terrible thing either. Your car has only done about 65 miles per week, but that's enough to keep the battery charged and occasionally cycled.

I believe that the best predictor of a batteries future health is its current health. What is the current condition of you battery like? Is it running well, no anomalous behavior, no rapid changes between green and purple or vice versa?. If so then your battery has as much chance of a good lifespan (in years) as any other.

 

www.hybridautomotive.com

 

Not sure if I put the link in the right spot, but go to http://www.hybridautomotive.com and check out their products.

 

And if you're anywhere near Tampa, @TampaPrius.com (Home - Tampa Hybrids Inc.) is a great resource.

 

Only hard part to the charger is you have to open the battery case and bolt in the charger lead to the battery side contactor. Its not hard its just time consuming as alot of the rear interior has to be removed to get to the battery. Hybridautomotive charger comes with very good instructions.
But if your battery is running ok now it will run really good after a full discharge/charge cycle. You can also take a peek at all the battery modules and the bussbars and the nuts & bolts and see if there corroded or not. Do that before you install the charge lead as it may be very corroded or not corroded at all. If very corroded you know the battery will need service soon. Hundreds of posts about the hybrid battery rebuild and pictures of corroded bussbars etc. A car that has sat for a while tends to get corrosion at any battery terminal.

 

maybe you should consider selling your battery and buying a used one with higher mileage.

 

i know, the '08's are rock solid.

 

What's going to limit your battery life is a combination of heat, charge/discharge cycles, and the number of times that the earth goes around the sun.

Your battery is rated for x many years or x many miles.
Whichever comes first.

I would expect however, that if your car is driven weekly and it's not roasting out in the afternoon sun, and unless you live very near the ocean (salt air corrosion) then your battery pack will last probably longer than the house bet, which is (IIRC) 10 years/150,000 miles........
Maybe a great deal longer!
Priuses have been known to last longer than 10 years........and run much longer than 150,000 miles.



..........whichever comes first.