12v battery

Like any car, your car should charge it. I see you have two 2007's which are about 5 years old. If you haven't replaced the 12 v batteries, it may be about time. A lot of people like the Optima Yellow Top. If you need to charge your 12 v battery, I'd say it's time to replace it.

 

The 12 volt battery if charged by a dc to dc converter that uses power from the traction battery any time the car is running in ready. The 12 volt battery is small so it is a good idea not to sit with the car in the accessory position listening to the radio for very long at a time. Also, be careful not leave a light on overnight. Other than that, the car takes care of it's little battery just fine.

 

I had an 07 model until about a week ago when I traded it in on a new one. When the car was about 3 years old I replaced the original battery with a yellow top Optima. The original battery had not given any trouble. I did it "just because".

 

No fixed schedule, but you're probably due if you're on the original battery.

 

The original 12 volt batteries ARE pretty infamous, and as they begin to wear out present all sorts of mystifying little problems OR (if you're really unlucky) simply fail to start your car. Since a well meaning stranger with a set of jumper cables can easily do thousands of $$$$ damage to your Prius if he doesn't know what he's doing, just replace it. You'll save yourself a lot of time, aggravation,and potentially at least, money.

 

I just replaced the 12v battery on my 2006 Prius today. They detected a code which said the battery was charging a little low. Hey, it has 150,000 miles on it. That is the first time I had to replace it. Kind of expensive at the dealership. $199. Sears didn't have the replacement battery.

 

you paid $199 out the door?!?!?! with outrageous illinois sales tax and labor charges i would have thought at least $300. I can buy an oem battery for $135 at the dealership which is $143 out the door (only 6% in Mich), an extra $50 or $60 gets me an optima, there is now a new one (ds46b24r) that is a straight replacement without any modifications required, 40 minutes work your first time, 25 minutes after that.

 

Optima DS46B24R Optima battery direct fit replacement for Prius 2004 +

 

We here on PriusChat love to whine, but elearnaid has few complaints because they are really THAT good.

(I have no financial interest in elearnaid or optima)

 

Where is there a how to?

 

I just had the 12v battery replaced by Muller Toyota in NJ. The bill came to $425 including tax, in my opinion a real rip-off. They didn't even bother to maintain the radio and telephone pre-sets by applying current to the car while they were changing the battery. About the only thing I will now trust them with is an oil change. So, follow the advice of others on this forum and buy a good battery and spend the time installing it yourself if at all possible.

 

Autozone carries it for $169.99. At least in SoCal.

 

autozone will ship that one for free anywhere in the U.S., they'll charge you sales tax, but you also get a $15 gift card since you spent over $100, they'll actually double that gift card to $30 if you spend another $30.01, so does anyone know if autozone carries ATF fluid that is good for our transaxle? such as Mobil 1 ATF synthetic (the red kind)

 

Right on. I was responding to the gentleman who linked to a $200 Optima.

 

yeah 8.75% sucks, with mich sales tax its under $180, and with the gift card it makes more sense to buy from autozone, and if a warranty issue arises I could just take my battery & receipt to one of the 4 local autozones in my town.

that being said I'm sure elearaid does a better job of keeping their batteries topped off than autozone, but I have a charger so it makes no difference to me.