My 12V battery is 6 years old & working fine=Should I replace it before 3000 mile trip?

6 yrs is plenty of service and the trip is a good excuse to get a new one now before trouble occurs. Replacing a battery during an emergency usually means much more money spent (and time lost) since you could be in a location without many choices; especially when the battery is specialized like the Prius has.

 

Yes. Now would be a good time.

 

I would also consider purchasing an electronic battery tester. They make so many different models at affordable prices that there's almost no excuse to not have one. I keep one in my trunk storage area and use it quite often. All vehicles in my family get checked as part of every oil change and more often, sometimes just because I feel like doing it. Makes it very easy to pick up any capacity degradation and eliminates any guess work..

 

Sure.
Why not?

Six years is pushing your luck on a car that can be tricky to boost.

I DIY batteries swpas myself, but even so I'd replace the battery and then run it at least a week or two before driving from say.....VT to FL and back. This would seem to also be important if you pay it done.

One of these might be handy too:

 

Yes - Why take a chance?

 

nah

 

With the car NOT in Ready, just on, try the power windows. Now try in Ready. if they were much slower, consider a new battery.

I am not sure buying Toyota's 84 month battery makes sense on a '08, but if the car is perfect, be optimistic!

 

Least trickle charge it and bring the charger with you.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

^ And bring a goodly extension cord.

I'd second a lot of the comments up the page:

1. Replace it, it's time.
2. Get a good smart charger, 3~4 amp range.
3. Gen an electronic load tester (Solar BA5 for one). At the least get a multimeter, lol.

 

A nay-sayer here.

If you have the skills/equipment, I might suggest taking a reading one early morning and see what you get. A long trip is not going to stress the battery -- indeed -- if anything, probably help keep it charged -- unless you plan on doing a lot of those things that do stress a battery -- such as leaving doors open and playing car stereos while sitting around picnic tables.....

You are in a cold weather state according to your profile -- odds are the battery still has a couple of good years.

 

What range would that "affordable price" be in ??
You can get a multi-meter for FREE at Harbor Freight sometimes.

 

The BA5 is popular and can be had for around $60 bucks. I purchased mine a while back and don't recall the brand/model, but it's not a BA5. I seem to remember paying around $75.

You can get a multi-meter for FREE at Harbor Freight sometimes.
But no qualified or self respecting wire-biter in the world would ever use it.

This is one of the issues I have with a certain $80 'module load test kit' sold by a well known company that makes a certain HV charger/discharger rig.

 

Quite wrong. You should try one.

It is WAY better than nothing at all.

I have several of them scattered around, in my cars, my bike and my RV.

They are more than capable of making simple go/no-go tests on almost any power supply.

The $100 DVM at home on my bench is..............USELESS when I need a meter 500 miles away.

 

I got mine for 189 dollars at the dealer. There really wasn’t much around cheaper, and I can get a new one at any Toyota dealer in the US.

 

Yes buy a new one. And get the most expensive one. They are always the best.

 

I did not mean to do it, but I haven't changed the battery for 10 years. It is still working fine.

 

no worries

 

Change it. I just had problems with my Gen 2 Prius that looked like a failed hybrid battery -- the expensive one! It appears all I needed to do was install a new 12V battery.

Priuses are really good at camoflaging a 12V battery in poor condition. I'm in Michigan and I don't expect to get more than 5 years out of a 12V. You're in Vermont. Change it.

I've been using the Optima brand, the "yellow top" battery. They're not cheap though. About $230 at my local auto parts store.

 

But your not ski-dive.