How long has your original 12v battery lasted?

2012 with 150k just changed 12v that was manufactured in 2011, and only because daughter was going to use car on long commutes for 2 months!!! Battery still was at 12v when sitting overnight!
Plus I may get shot for this!! Hahah but Battery systems carries the exact same size battery (51) as we have with tradition terminals with 75 month warranty for $89. Plus I used online coupon Just changed terminals for $4.99 Amazon price.

 

We have the original battery in our 2010 with 135,000 miles on it.
I checked with my dealership today on several things and was shocked at the prices. For a new battery they want $284.33 plus s/c and tax. For front and rear break pads and machine drums $400.00 plus s/c and tax. They are also original to the car. For changing transmission fluid they want $169. 96 plus s/c and tax.

 

2010 has disc brakes front and rear....
Unless they are pulsing when you apply the brakes, you only need pads.
What is "s/c"? sur charge??

 

The brakes are not pulsing. The price surprised me so I did not ask what a S/C is. They do not have an explanation of listed on the sheet they gave me.

We are between two dealerships so I want to check the other dealership. We also have to figure taxes into the cost as we live near a state line. One state is 10 percent tax and the other 7.25.

 

7.25 is better than 10! But factor in the cost of pads, plus labor, plus tax.... Which ever is less.
But, more important, who does the better job. Which one does what they say they will do?

 

Actually I don't trust either of them.
The dealership with 10% tax rotated my tires. By the time we got home a wheel cover was missing. Called them and was told that a manager would call us back. That did not happen but after awhile I did get a new wheel cover. Also tried to buy a new car from them. We agreed on a price had it written down by the salesman on a piece of paper with their logo on it with the total price out the door. When they brought the official contract they increased the price and did not tell us. We caught it. When we mentioned it to them the sales person said he misunderstood his sales manager and that the official contract was the final price. We left the dealership. We got a call from them when we were a couple of blocks away. The sales person said he went to his manager who called the owner who authorized the original price. That's a lot of calls for two blocks. They lost a sale over $200.00.
The one with 7.25% was servicing the car last year. They told me the engine had a major leak and needed a repair. When I asked to see the leak they said they would have it brought out from the garage. Service tech came back out and said we made a mistake. They had another white Prius same year (2010) with the leak not mine. Gave them the benefit of the doubt. Went back for an oil change and was told I needed a new cabin filter and wipers. I install my own filters but I mark them with the date and my initials. I did not see that on the filter they showed me. Also told I needed three new wipers. The wipers on the car were brand new and only three months old.
We moved to this area several years ago and I really miss my old Toyota dealer and my local mechanic. We are taking a road trip near my old dealership in a few months and I am actually thinking about grabbing a hotel room near them and then having them do the work. Maybe that would be a record. Drive over 900 miles for car maintenance.

 

And that is why I do my own work! I only trust ME!
Changing the brakes is fairly easy. Time to learn to do it yourself.

 

My 2010 was purchased in Nov of 2009. The "auxiliary" battery was changed at 113226 miles in Oct of 2018. So Cal.

 

Their margins have to be pretty thin on a $200.00 car.

 

Good. I have peace of mind now. 2015 ct200h 53k miles. was starting to get paranoid about being stranded. seems many can get 9-10 years. helps our batteries are away from hot engine heat..

 

I let mine go until it had to be changed (there's an easy answer to the "when should I change it?" question!) ... but I have a little Li-ion booster pack no bigger than my hand, that lives in my glove box.

So when I had to use it a few times in one week, I said "yep, time for a battery" and picked one up at the dealer, But then I waited another week for nicer weather to change it, so I got to use the jump pack a few more times.

So, having the little pack in the glove box can change what could be a major annoyance into more of a take-it-in-stride minor nuisance.

 

Pretty ballsy, charging you for an obscure acronym. Maybe "Shop Charge"? Up here a lot of dealerships add a "Shop Supply" charge, $10~15. It's absurd, on part with airport "fuel surcharge".

That's way too much, anything over $100 is robbery.

The complexity is about on par with an oil change. Up here liters of Toyota ATF WS through my dealership parts department are $9.14 CDN per (4 required), and the fill/drain bolt washers about $3 apiece.



(Sorry for the topic drift.)

 

I even had a goofy idea to take one of these little jump packs and its charger, and wire them in permanently next to the battery in back with a relay, and get a custom engraved

JUST
START
ANYWAY

button for the dash to control the relay.

But honestly, I've used the pack as often to start other people's stuff as my own, so having it permanently wired would just make it less convenient.

 

I've though similar with a charger. Similar reservations too.

 

Other people's stuff is the main reason I acquired such a pack, to protect my Prius from the known expen$ive jump$tart cata$trophe$. Right after I had to decline to give a jump to a fellow event support driver with a dead van.

Another support driver can be counted on to have that and almost all tools and replacement parts and spare supplies we and the bicycle riders could possibly need, but she was out on another case at that moment. So it took us a bit to round up a volunteer non-hybrid to supply a jump.

 

Gen 3 2014year , 400.000miles (about 500.000 km) and 12v dead..

 

That's incredible miles!

 

Isn't the miles to km conversion off?

 

Yeah, should be 8/5 or 5/8, not 5/4 or 4/5. One or both are off, but still that's a lot of... well somethings.

 

2,485,000 furlongs.