Survey, Oldest 12 Volt Battery

4-6 years is about all you can get out of the 12v battery.

 

I heard today from one of my Yahoo Prius group buddies whose 2001 Prius still has the original equipment battery, but he's decided to replace it now as a preventive move.

Since Sacramento has reasonably moderate weather I would say you can count on at least six years of battery life assuming the car is driven daily and logs 12K miles/year or more.

I believe in preventive replacement of the battery since I don't wish to be inconvenienced by a battery failure which usually happens at an inopportune moment. Hence I suggest replacing after 4 years if you live in an area where snow covers the ground in the winter - or if you drive only 5-6K miles per year; and after 6 years if you live in a moderate climate and drive the Prius more regularly.

 

Actually, Sacramento can have really hot weather in the summer (over 100°F for several days) and my experience is that hot temps can also kill batteries before their time.

It remains to be seen, but the Prius may have an advantage because the battery is in the cargo compartment and is not exposed to underhood temps like all of my other vehicles. My GF's Avalon battery lasted about 5 years IIRC.

 

I still have my GS from '04, but it's not in the car anymore.
While powering a little inverter rig it only delivers about
8 amp-hours anymore, so I think it's gonna get recycled soon.
.
_H*

 

My 2004 Prius at 171,500 miles still has both original batteries.

Update: 2/13/2011 at 191,000 miles and the little 12v is still going. My 2004 was purchased in April, 2004.

JeffD

 

our 04 is 5 1/2 years old and the last 3 years parked outdoors in vermont with our daughter. no prolemo so far.

 

Got 10 years in a BMW

You did not explicitly specify Prius battery in your question. So I'll mention in passing that I got 10 years out of a Sears Diehard in a 1987 BMW 325i. When it was time to replace the battery, I found the documentation in the glove compartment and assumed it was for the previous battery, since I had no experience of batteries lasting more than half that long. When they pulled the old battery out the date mark on the battery was consistent, so ten years it was.

The truly flabbergasting thing about that experience is that approximately half a dozen times I have accidentally left headlights on for the day at work. On that model headlights on but ignition off gets translated to parking lights on, so nobody reports your car to security. That was enough to discharge the battery during a working day to the point it would not rotate the engine, and somewhat marginal lighting up the instrument panel--not dead flat but bad. So I had assaulted the battery with several pretty deep discharges in its life, and still got 10 years out of it.

I think the real message is that different usage histories and different specific models of batteries can have wildly different lifetimes, so general rules simply measured in years are rather suspect.

 

You park your daughter outdoors???

 

'01 with 98K miles and the original 12V battery, BUT, we just encountered a problem with the HV battery and are in the process of repairing it ourselves. Along with the P3006 code, we set P3151(?) (don't have the info here at home), anyway, the second code addressed the 12 v battery. So, as soon as we have completed the repair of the HV battery, we will go back to the dealer to get the only correct 12 v available.

 

Wow! This has to be the record of Prius 12V battery longevity. 2001 till now is almost 10 years!

By the way welcome to priuschat.

 

Re: Got 10 years in a BMW

In the same vein, I can answer only for non-hybrids so far. My household usually gets 7 or 8 years, one went 9. This is in the Puget Sound lowlands, lacking the heat of Sacramento and places south, and lacking the inland cold.

A pair of big deep cycle gel cells attached to my 'toy' (50W) solar panel are 16 years old, and still in daily use. Don't ask me how little capacity is left -- it isn't much -- but they are much happier since I changed the lamps on it from fluorescent to LED last fall.

 

My 2008 12V battery needs replaced. It drops to 11.7 with a little load on it in the diagnostic screen. My gas mileage has taken a 10 MPG hit, wallet is next.

It did get some serious abuse this winter, I am sure we killed it.

In my other vehicles a year or so past the warranty.

 

December 2004.

 

I got 7 years out of my wife's '96 Subaru Outback OEM battery, and it was still going strong. I just got nervous about it. My 06 Prius has over 93,000 miles on the OEM so far. How does one know when its time to change it? Any obvious symptoms?

 

Weak battery on a Prius will reduce fuel economy and cause various strange error warnings. It's good practice to check the battery from time to time to assess its condition, either with a multimeter or with a Prius you can use the built in diagnostic function outlined here:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...out-switching-headlights-off.html#post1095046

 

I had my 12 V battery replaced today - it wasn't obviously bad, but with 6 years and 170,000 on the odometer, I figured I was on borrowed time. And since I plan to keep the car for another 4 or 5 years, I would have to replace it at some point and the next owner would get most of the life of the new battery instead of me. It cost me $191 including tax at Lebrun Toyota in Canadaigua, NY to have it replaced. Replacing it myself would have cost $165 plus hassle, and it was worth $26 to me to have them do it. Also had my inverter coolant pump replaced at the same time - free due to the service bulletin. No obvious problem with it, but I've heard reports....

 

The battery that came in my '91 Toyota truck lasted almost 7 years. I replaced it with one that was supposed to last 7 years, and I paid a good bit extra for it, but it only lasted 4 years. I then decided to just go the cheap way, thinking if a cheap battery will last 4 years, I could still save a little money. The funny thing is that the "cheap" battery has lasted since 2001. It is starting to get a little "iffy". I hope they still make 'em that cheap.