The 12v battery on my 06 Prius died very suddenly. I was able to easily jump start it from another car. I called around to various battery and auto parts stores and could not find a compatible battery, and ended up having to pay the dealer $200 for the battery ($170) plus installation and fees. This is unconscionable profiteering IMHO. Anyone know the best channel for filing a complaint and registering my displeasure?
you should of searched here more. using the mazda miata battery + japanese post adapter would of worked too. its really popular here. gets a lot of good reviews
jhg, Welcome to PriusChat. Typically, the recommended 12V battery replacement interval is 4 years. But hard service and extreme temps tend to reduce that number. For the record, how many miles are on your car? Do you live in a very hot or cold climate? Other than the final incident, did you ever have to recharge the battery before?
Thanks Rokeby, I have 46K miles, none of it high-stress. I live in Austin, TX so summer runs from early May thru the middle of October, and the last two winters have been non-existent (4-5 days below freezing each year). The battery failed completely without warning. It started fine in the morning, and was completely dead after a stop at an errand at 3:30 PM. Pressing START resulted in nothing but a very dim Check Engine light that faded out quickly. After hooking up the jumper cables it started immediately, and I was able to drive it to the dealer normally. There was a smell of H2S around the battery, but no evidence of any leaking fluids.
The Prius battery sold by the dealer is manufactured in Japan (not China) and therefore is quite costly. As you discovered, it is not easy to find a cost-effective substitute unless you are willing to install new battery terminals. Since you are driving >15K miles per year, lack of use does not seem to be a problem. My guess is that your battery's failure after two years was a fluke.
theres an ebay store thats selling the 12v battery for $65 plus $35 to ship it http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004...Z002QQitemZ120263531484QQtcZphoto#ht_1500wt_0 they have 3 when my battery crapped out in 20,000 miles, they gave me a free one
Mine died at 33 months and 47,000 miles. Had the dealer replace for $223 out the door. The only failure I've had to date. ---Kent
If you feel up to doing a little work yourself, a much better though no cheaper Optima battery installation is described here: Prius Optima Aux That page includes a link to a seller of the Optima and a custom installation kit.
