Hello, I am going to be getting an 05 Prius soon from someone known in my area to be of good character. He mentioned he doesn't drive it much and so the main battery was dead. He said that he was going to charge it overnight and drive it for a few days to make sure that the main battery could perform a restart. I was just advised by him that both the main battery and hybrid battery are fine. I got the car at a good price, so I'd like to be proactive moving forward with the assumption that it will need a main battery and hybrid battery soon. Also, the car has no A/C but since we are moving into the winter months that buys me time. He said that the evaporator was asserted to be bad/leaking but I have heard that before so I was willing to take a chance and the car was priced accordingly. I have read that the evaporator job is a nightmare. Car has about 230k miles on it. Questions: 1) I am getting the car soon but won't be able to drive it due to DMV and Covid delays. What can I do to have my best shot at protecting both batteries from the time that I get the car? I can drive it 1/4 mile each way on my private road without tags. 2) What is the best 12v battery to purchase? 3) What are some common failure points within the A/C system? Thank you!
If not running a carfax, you can check for dealer maintenance and mileage history by running the VIN at : Welcome to Toyota Owners
I noticed you are in Virginia too. DMV needs an appointment which usually is available several weeks away. However, DMV accepts title and registration by mail which means you can drive in a week. https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/general/pdf/covid_title.pdf You can drive the car in your driveway or at least start it once a week to charge the hybrid battery when not in use. I have left the car for 4 weeks without issues. Best battery is the Toyota OEM that lasts 7-10 years. Optima is another brand that people like. The AC besides leaks is usually destroyed by incompatible oil contamination when ignorant people are using gauges that have been used previously in other type car ACs or when improperly overcharge or under charge the system with refrigerant.
Lol, I almost bought your car but someone else grabbed it before me. They got a nice deal. Thanks for the Virginia DMV info. How often do you suggest leaving the car on in my driveway to charge it? Really excited about this car.
Once a week until the engine warms up and stops should be fine. You could have bought mine if you came earlier but now it’s sold. I am sure you will enjoy your new Prius!
Regarding air conditioning- rock hits to the condenser can cause leaks. The compressor is cooled by having 'enough' refrigerant circulating in the loop. If there is 'not enough,' the compressor can still provide enough pressure to cool the cabin, but it will work itself to death doing so. It's a very finely balanced system; any attempt at recharging should include recovering all remaining refrigerant, pulling a hard vacuum and then refilling from a vessel on an accurate scale- get it to the gram if you can. As for the hybrid battery? I'd be very surprised if there were much life left in that after 15 years/230k miles. But hey, surprises like that are awesome.
Funny, I think of the hybrid as being the "main battery" and the 12 volt battery as being the side battery. Anyways, take a look at the "fitting mobility" thread here in Prius chat. Folks like me are putting wheelchair batteries that cost anywhere from $75 to $120 in there instead of the stock Toyota battery. The stock Toyota battery is really small and wimpy, under-engineered imho. The yellow top optimas are quite spendy and overrated imho. Right now I'm running a $75 battery and so far so good. Andit's easy to swap out once you get the hang of it. Your car will run as long as your foot presses the gas pedal. So you can sit in there and listen to your favorite song and warm up the car to operating temperature and full hybrid charge, once or twice a week till you get rolling. Obviously you never race a cold engine. Putting Dino oil into my Prius stopped the oil consumption that synthetic was causing, food for thought.
"All in one" sounds like a recipe for trouble on a Prius. The Prius has an electric AC compressor and uses special (non conductive) oil. If you add the wrong oil or anything else to the AC system you can cause an "isolation fault" in the compressor and the HV ecu will shut down the car. I have never had any luck with any type of sealer or fix-in-a-can. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
NO! What a nightmare. I had to reach out to the commissioner's office. They are just now mailing it. Had to pull the title out of a stack! I had to involve my local representative as well. Now for the registration!! Lol. 12V battery has taken a dump due to all of this waiting as well.
I have had luck with the 30 dollar stop leak in a can EVERY single time. Thanks for the info on the oil.
Thanks for the other posts everyone. Low 2k range on price. Like I said, I'd rather pay a little bit too much for fully disclosed items than from the majority who will hide the issues. Folks are not as honest down here in Fredericksburg when it comes to selling cars. I have experienced more luck in the DC inner suburbs.
Oh yes, They received it on 9/18/20 and I am in a Richmond/DC exburb so I have a quicker mailing route to the DMV mailbox. They received it in just one day with tracking. Yep. Just had it mailed today after contacting the commissioner. Had I not raised a flag, I cannot imagine how long it would be sitting there. I called DMV during the process and when I got a human they said that the process normally takes a month. It didn't say that on the website.
