Starting battery: which one to buy?

Was it a yellowtop Optima? They sell tons of defective batteries.

Your brother is correct, as a Prius 12v does not start the engine, it simply turns the computers on and then turns the high voltage battery on, which starts the engine. So instead of a regular car that needs cold cranking amps from 12v, you don't need that and instead can invest in high amp-hours. The one you bought for $250 is roughly 35 amp-hours. But hopefully you can return that as defective and buy one of these, which is 55 amp-hours and cost less than half the price: https://ebay.us/vN4JsP I've had a battery like this in my Prius for 9 years without issue.

 

$ 250 is in the normal range of OEM batteries from a Toyota dealer.
There is nothing "special" about them except the size and post configuration.

More important than the battery might be testing your charging system.
The "jump" that you did might have blown the converter........so that ANY battery you put in will quickly go dead.

 

i got the $800. battery, it was worth every penny

 

Not penny singular, I think you meant to say 80,000 pennies, as in plural...

 

You mind telling us why it was worth it? Mine's 6-7 years old, so I'd like to have a shopping list in case I need it.

 

my oem lasted 7 years, so i figured, why not get another? seems like a good value, perfect fit, decent warranty.
should last longer than i'll own the car.
nothing wrong with the cheapo batteries, but reports are inconsistent on quality, and they don't save that much money, unless you're the type of person who always has to save a penny.

 

I thought the OEM battery was $250. It's $800?? What's the part number?

 

Because there's $600 worth of piece of mind that it will work at least as well as the $200 battery or $700 worth of piece of mind that it will work at least well as that $100 ebay battery above (wish I'd have known about it last summer.)

I bought the $200 Autozone battery last year and it has been flawless. It replaced the original 2007 Toyota battery (date code was on it.) This $200 AZ battery is also worth the $800 that other dude up there spent.

 

I just bought an OEM at my local Toyota dealer for $250 or so. The last one I bought from Toyota lasted almost 8 years and was still working fine when I replaced it.

 

It probably was supplied and fitted by the dealer for $800. The battery itself is $200 - $250 depending on the dealer. I'd say bisco's dealer charges significantly more than that for the battery.

 

My local dealer is now selling the factory 12 volt battery for $ 222. If you have the battery installed by the dealer @ $175 an hour I don't know what the book says for labor hours but I would be surprised if they didn't get you for at least 2 hours:

$222 + markup lets call it $300
2 hours: $350
shop supplies: $ 25.
Sales Tax : $ 25
$ 700

Some people cant install it themselves. If so you need to find a decent local mechanic. Most in my area are $80 an hour for instance.
Major city's will be much more all around.

 

The Toyota dealers I’ve used sell the batteries installed, not a labor add on price.

 

If you really want to spend money buy this 100ah battery and some terminal adapters. I am sure you could have it installed and fit into your $700 budget.

 

interesting
Do you have experience with using it?
Is it longer lasting, not until discharge but rather its lifetime?

also why do you regret selling your 2008?

 

The lithium battery is good I am sure but was offered as humor to meet the referenced ridiculously high quote.

The gen3s have proven to be less reliable and more expensive to maintain as they age versus the gen2s. Obviously its not apples to apples since my 2008 today would be thirteen years old versus the 2012 v that is nine. If Toyota had sold a v with a gen4 engine it would have been a marketing masterstroke in 2016 as suv fever was exploding.

 

I bought the Optima Yellow Top through SaskBattery, for $229 CDN, no provincial tax, and free shipping, going on 6 years ago this coming September. I just checked Canadian Tire: currently nothing for Prius. So checked SaskBattery again: they still have the Optima for sale, but:

 

As a serious response, I don't think it would be a good idea to go with a lithium battery. The car is expecting a lead acid battery, which has different charging requirements and discharge capabilities. It's possible that the car wouldn't charge it properly. Lithium batteries also tend to hold a pretty stable voltage, then suddenly drop when they get low. The cars computer may end up consistently overcharging the battery, which will shorten its usable lifespan.

I personally suggest sticking with a lead acid battery for the 12V.

 

As long as you have a battery management system for your Lithium 12v it will work out... Wouldn't be wise to do it without... And those of us using NexCell lithium HV replacement packs in our Prius are definitely intrigued about the idea of a DIY built lithium 12v that cost less than $100 to put together.

 

• 11 YEAR WARRANTY
  
• Dakota Lithium 12v 60Ah Dual Purpose 1000CCA Starter Battery Plus Deep Cycle LiFePO4 Performance
  
  $600