This morning when trying to leave for work, my prius refused to turn on. When you press the brake so you can press the start button, the brake feels extremely hard, almost like it doesn't want you to press it. The light on the start button becomes orange after a pressing the button once. And on the dashboard screen (I don't know what call it on a Prius) in the very bottom right corner, a red notifications light flashes very quickly, so quickly that is hard to tell what it is, but by staring at it for like 30 seconds it looks like the symbol of a car with a lock attached to it. I may be wrong though. My Prius v is a 2012 model, trim three, and it has a little over 60,000 miles on it. I also have a prepaid maintenance through the dealership. Advice, please? I don't even know where to start. Thank you very much for your time.
Also its been a while since I posted here, and I'm noticing there seems to be a difference between lower case v and upper case V Prius. Mine is the "wagon style" Prius, trim "three", first of its kind in 2012
I tried two different key fobs. However, they were both obtained at the same time. I guess it could make sense for the battery to go out at the same time on both? I did place the key fob right next to the power button and it didn't work though.
So I ended buying the Optima auto battery 46b24r, for 219 at autozone. Yes I know it's cheaper online but I need my car functioning by tomorrow morning and all local shops had the same price... Sigh.
And ... ? By the way, the OEM 12v at the dealership is ~ $190 and now carries a 7 year warranty. This might be the only instance where a trip to the dealership will save some money and get you a superior part.
Hint for alarms that blink too fast to read: Shoot a short video with your smartphone, then look frame by frame until the item is seen.
... And it worked. It was totally the battery. Since its labor day, dealership service center was closed... As much as I would have wanted to shop around for a battery, my car is a lifeline and waiting was not an option
Even better, this battery has a four(4) year, non-prorated, full replacement warranty. SLI51PAGM Duracell Ultra Platinum AGM Battery - 2010 to 2014 L4 1.8L 325CCA Hybrid - Prius - Toyota - Car and Truck - Batteries Plus
Its all relative. Variables (in order of importance) are: use/abuse of the battery, temperature of the battery, quality of the battery and any defects. OEM batteries are the cheapest of the cheap.
True enough, but I have had OEM batteries last 8 years plus in a vehicle. 2 years is far shorter than the norm.
