Installed new Optima battery in my 2002

Hi All
When I had the hybrid battery on my 2002 Prius changed I noticed that it had a standard off brand lead acid battery installed. I had noticed that my prius did not shut off and run on pure battery nearly as often as my wife's 2001 that we have had for nearly 6 years and 60,000 plus miles. I thought it was because the hybrid battery pack was bad but even with a new hybrid battery the car rarely shut off and ran purely on the battery.

After reading a lot of Prius Chat posts it was clear the next thing to change was the 12 volt battery - I was going to go with either the Optima or a new OEM battery from Toyota. Five years ago we had installed a new OEM battery in my wife's 2001 and it has been working great. And others had recommended that we go with a oem over Optima because Optima had raised their prices.

Went to get a new 12 volt from the local dealer. Battery cost $396.00 with tax -uninstalled with no battery conversion kit.

Contacted elearnaid through links found on Prius Chat and had a new Optima D51R delivered for a liitle less than $240 dollars. Installed in about 20 minutes as car had already been modified and the Prius started right up.

 

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So to finish up the Toyota OEM battery has increased in price significantly in the last five years, at least here in Northern California. We paid about $300 installed for an OEM battery five years ago and that included the conversion kit to the larger 12 V. Now $400 for the battery alone.

After about 600 miles with the Optima the Prius is running a lot better - gas motor shuts off frequently like I was expecting - car seems to be running a lot smoother as the gas engine does not appear to be engaged near as often.

Gas mileage may be a mile or two per gallon improved but that may also be due to changing the transaxel fluid. More on that in another post.

Bottomline Optima battery seems to have been a good option. I keep track of each tank of gas and will be watching to see if I see any big gas mileage improvements.

 

Update - The battery I put in my wife's car is going bad - lasted about 6 years but now barely keeps things working to start the car - I switched out the Optima D51R from my Prius into her's and put the old Toyota Panasonic battery in mine - now her's is running great and mine has problems - delayed start and gas mileage down slightly - will be buying another Optima as soon as I can afford it

 

I agree - and I was really frustrated when I was told that the Toyota dealer supplied battery only has a 1-year warranty - 400 bucks and they only stand behind it for a year - I will stick with the Optima - works great and I feel that gas mileage is improved with the Optima

 

Had not seen the negative view of Optima - my 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac has a Les Swab battery with an eight year warranty that was in it when I bought it and is still going strong. For the Prius's I will be sticking with the Optima and will let the list if things change - I love it that people post their experiences so we all have more information for making decisions

 

Thanks to Wish4Me I have a nearly new Optima in my car - starting and running smooth and gas mileage is back up!