My daughter drove her 07 Prius today and when she returned she parked in the driveway as normal. 6 hours later she tried to start it and nothing happened. She got in, hit the On button and the display flashed repeatedly then stopped and the car did not start. We've tried many times and yes we had our foot firmly on the brake... The car is unlocked and won't lock using either key fob. The only lights that work on the dash are the red door open icon and the amber engine light. Another issue, perhaps related.... Temps are above 100 (AGAIN) and she has been having issues lately when after having driven the car, she places the shift lever into Drive or Reverse and the transmission slips back into Neutral. This happens repeatedly until she lets the car sit for a few minutes. It seems this has started since our summer heat wave kicked in. We took it to a Toyota dealer and they could not find any problem. (I suspect they jumped in, shifted out of park, had no issues and gave up.)
If that car has the original battery, replace it, preferably with a Optime D51 with the adapter kit from eleairnaid.com. When the car wont start and acts wonky, it's usually a safe bet the 12 volt battery has died!
Hmmm, ....battery expense. Bad timing. Not one hour before trying to start the vehicle our insurance adjuster notified me the car is a total loss from a recent hail storm. I do not like the idea of buying a battery just to drive the car for a week until I get the settlement. The insurance adjuster did use a key to turn the car on to check mileage about 30 minutes before my daughter tried to start it. Is there some issue with turning the car on repeatedly with out starting it that might cause it to lock up like this?
http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/73400-weird-stuff-happening-mpgs-dropping-test-battery.html Normally, I'd suggest waiting to check after the car's been parked overnight but since you have the problem now, may as well check now.
Okay, the insurance adjuster left it in IG-ON, which drained the 12V battery, and it shutdown. This usually happens in the span of minutes, especially on an older car. Put it on a charger, overnight, 4 amps or less.
Put a volt meter on the battery and found it at 4 volts. Trickle charging now and will cross fingers that in the morning it works! All I need is about a week out of this battery. Now to find another Prius! Have you seen what has happened to prices? Paid $17,999 for this loaded, Certified 07 a year ago. Now has 42K on it. Did a check with Auto Trader for an 07 at $18K and not one Certified car within 50 miles of me. Similar mileage car now going for $2K more than I paid. Hope the insurance adjuster is kind to me!
Make sure you have comparable advertisements e.g. Toyota Certified Pre-Owned, handy for when the adjuster calls, so that you don't get low-balled.
Maybe you should purchase it from the insurance people if it is normally a good running car! They dimple golf balls for more distance so maybe the Prius will now be more fuel efficient?<grin> Be nice to get paid out and purchase it for next to nothing if it is in great running order other than the 12V. So what if it has little dents! Hal
I might be inclined to drive something that looks like a golf ball, in fact our GMC Envoy is just as bad. But the Prius is my 16 year old daughters car. I guess I'm too much of a softy to let my little girl suffer the ridicule of driving her dimpled to school every day and then college next year!
Yes, you are too soft. When I was that age, I had to drive a car with no A/C, scrape the sludge off the spark plugs once a month, it was rear wheel drive, getting to school was uphill in the snow, both ways, and I was sent to college without it because it wouldn't pass smog anymore.
my mom took shop class and car mechanics when she was in highschool.. there were no froo froo cars then. my first car only lasted 3 months... the transmission blew on the highway.. i towed it home and put in a manual.. that always had problems but lasted till i had my 2nd car.. an 87 lincoln mark VII... nice yet dangerous car... especially in rain... failing shocks, air bladders were ok.. bushings weren't. my front wheel fell off in my driveway (was expecting it.. had the new bushing on hand) seems like the 12v was your problem (should relate to op in some sort of way)
Ridicule? She's got a 07 Prius. wouldn't it be better for her to have it slightly dented already because it's going to get banged up in the parking lots both at high school and at college. If the car is good it'd be smarter to buy it back and have her drive it, then you don't have to freak out over every parking lot door ding. and on Insurance- Prices were on the move upward in Feb when my 8week old 09 was totaled. I got the value, not what i paid. Then i got my 08. Today Similar 08's (with the mileage i currently have or more) are selling for about $5,000 more than i paid.
I thought once the insurance paid for the car, the insurance company takes the car. Also, you can jump start a Prius with a power tool battery. A DeWalt 12V battery works great.
