Neutral

There is no easy way to be in neutral without the car in READY. You would have to hop out and pull some well-chosen fuses after pulling into the car wash, which would probably be frowned on by the attendants.

It is easier to make sure the battery is at a decent state of charge on the way in, and make sure to turn off all large electrical loads (especially the air conditioner) during the wash.

 

You don't have to be in Ready to be in neutral but the car has to be in the On Mode (2 presses without the brake). However the AC will run which is a significant hv battery load. So the best thing is to turn off the AC and lights. Ideally you have a good charge as well. In reality just turning off the AC and lights is probably just as effective in Ready. Most full service car washes will do this when you give them the car.

 

Stick to the style of car wash where the car is stationary and the equipment moves?

 

Let's ask the question a little differently.

If / when that happens, does it also "drop out of neutral" ?
I would hope NOT since N is there mostly to allow it to be moved (towed) with the engine OFF.

And if it stays in N when the system shuts OFF.......what happens when the conveyor spits your car out at the end ?
Will it start back up OK ??

 

When the car shuts off it likely also goes into park.

 

The best car wash is a hand wash. Saves money after you amortize the new water deionization system, the specialized pressure washer with foam cannon spray gun, an electric blower to push water off, maybe a carport and bundles of microfiber. But then you can start a side gig as a detailer.

Seriously, the OP's short hv discharge issue is one of the side effects of an aging battery. There are ways to kick the can down the road including shutting off the ac. But if the car is cherry enough to deserve deionized water (a significant ingredient in most commercial car washes), then it probably deserves new hv cells or a new Toyota battery module.

Deionized Water Systems | Filtration Packages | Obsessed Garage

 

That would defeat the purpose of having the REQUIREMENT for a Neutral position in the first place.
AND......what happens if you are cruising down the highway and notice the engine acting strange.......and you shift it into Neutral.......and then the engine goes OFF (drops out of READY mode) ??
I certainly hope it is NOT going to go into Park.

 

Powering the car off, from the button, always occasions an automatic shift to Park if the car isn't moving; that's in the owner's manual, and the reason why the occasional religious threads on 'should I press Park before powering off?' have the answer 'whatever feels right'.

Losing power may not always shift into Park, depending on why it happens and how abruptly.

Worrying about a shift to Park at speed is probably unnecessary; it won't do that even if you deliberately press the Park button. It will beep and shift to Neutral instead.

(Below a certain speed, a couple MPH or so, you can press the Park button and it will shift to Park, with a bit of a jolt. Probably does that if you power down while moving at that low a speed, too.)

 

I have never seen 1/2 a bar..............

 

in reality, Toyota strongly recommends going into neutral at speed if there is a reason to do so, such as the unintended acceleration which was a news maker a couple of years ago. They promise it won't damage the engine even if you are at full throttle. However getting it there is not well understood by most drivers. You have to shift to neutral and hold it there about three seconds. The same strategy applies to shutdowns at speed, you press the button for three seconds. Toyota has also demonstrated that applying both throttle and brake at speed will cut engine power and allow the brakes to stop the car.

Unfortunately, there is no charging in neutral, which is the heart of the Op's problem. It does automatically shift to Park when stopped and shutdown. Which for some is a feature, not a problem. However too long in neutral while running is an issue since the hv battery can seriously discharge, which also seems to be what happened.

 

Or get a non hybrid ICE vehicle..............

 

or like me, 'don't wash'. hey, it's 8 years old, and i have duck tape on the bumper

 

you have a duck taped to your bumper.....that's mean.....