12V battery replacement

It does sound low, but don't trust that display: it's measuring the battery voltage while using it, which kinda defeats the purpose.

A check of the voltage with the car off, with a multimeter hooked up at the under-hood jump point, ideally first thing in the morning, after the car's sat overnight, will give a fair impression, of just the voltage. If your parking situation is secure enough that you can pop the hood the night before, it will be more accurate, since just opening a door to pop the hood will drop the voltage slightly. An adequate multimeter can be picked up at any hardware or automotive store for around $20.

If the above paragraph is not happening: take it to a dealership or (and preferably) an automotive retailer that sells batteries. Either will more than likely have a pro-level electronic load tester, that can read the voltage and the battery's health, basically how it's Cold Cranking Amperage compares to spec's. The automotive retailer will do it for free though. And if a new battery is needed hopefully they have some non-Yuasa (the OEM) options available. Phone ahead, see what they offer.

Pep Boys used to have a good Prius battery, a Bosch brand, but I'm not quite sure what's going on now. Check their website and/or phone them. The Bosch battery was around $150, and they installed for that price.

Again, I'm not sure what's currently going on in the States. Up here right now Canadian Tire has a house brand battery that's a lot cheaper than dealership, and looks more-or-less identical.

 

There are two (2) different OEM sized batteries, SKS vs non-SKS. Best to know which size battery is required for the application.

Some have used flooded lawnmower batteries ($40), and others have used sealed wheel chair/mobility batteries ($100).

Neither is a direct fit though. Try searching with the priuschat advanced search feature above.

Example thread : Fitting mobility 12volt AGM battery. | PriusChat

 

The TrueStart 325 CCA battery is the larger of the two sizes and is used for models with the SKS system. S46B24R model.

The smaller battery is around 272 CCA, and starts with S34 if I remember correctly

 

Not to rain on your parade but how was the 200V Hybrid battery checked out?

Many times a used Prius is sold because the hybrid battery is dying its throws the RTOD (red triangle of death)and the dealer condemned it on the spot and then the dealer hits the owner with a $5000 price to replace it and then its traded in on the spot. Dealer sends it to auction and next stop its sitting on a used car lot looking for its next victim. One of the ways the hybrid battery fails is from a high voltage ground fault caused by very old leaking battery modules in the hybrid case. That RTOD can be removed temporarily by unplugging the 12 volt battery thereby clearing the code. It may run a day or a week or a month before it sets that code again. Eventually the battery completely fails and leaves you on the side of the road. That's how a bad hybrid battery Prius can be sold. Its in the RTOD reset limbo time.
We see many used Prius buyers get screwed by this.

The other way a used Prius may fail is with a Craigs List rebuild of the battery where they just replace the worst of the battery modules to get it to work ok. Doesn't last long at all because there are no new modules available to re builders. Best they can do is use another old module that just has not failed yet. Lots of those jack asses on CL.

Very common post on this G2 forum is bad hybrid battery so keep that in mind as you go forward putting money into this old car. To see what I mean use the SEARCH FORUMS blue tab up top and search HYBRID BATTERY.

You may want to check out the car's history. Go to toyota.com/owners forum and join. This will require listing the cars vin so have your insurance card handy. Once joined you will be able to see the service records for every event the car has seen an authorized toyota dealership repair dept.

You may see why the car was sold.

Good Luck.

 

I have been using a 12V 35AH AGM (absorptive glass mat) wheel chair battery for 5 years now. After a little over 5 years it failed, but since I had taken the battery out of a wheel chair that required 2 batteries I was able to replace the failed battery with the second wheel chair battery which had been kept in cold storage. I am hoping for another 5 years. The original battery lasted about 5.5 years before failing.

I am curious about other report of using these batteries - any problems with them. The 35AH wheel chair battery is much less expensive that the recommended batteries. Cost about $65 on ebay (including shipping).

 

In my opinion, 35 Ah is a little on the low side even for the model without SKS. I went for a 55 Ah battery.

As regards to your second battery, unless that was stored for the last 5 years in a completely charged state, don't expect that to last as long as the first one. I hope you fully charged it before putting it into service.

 

Yes, was fully charged, will see how long it lasts. . 55 AH sounds high - probably better but I think the stock battery for a prius with SKS is 45 AH and without about 35 AH? I have SKS, but will turn it off if I go on a trip and did not have a problem with the 35 AH one with SKS on.

 

The wheelchair batteries will deep cycle better, so there is that. I wouldn't change anything if you've already had good success with the 35 aH battery.