Can an owner replace the 12v battery on a 2016 Prius? Mine is no longer holding a charge. I took a close look at mine; there are some odd brackets holding the pos and neg cables with little fuses imbedded in them. Hmm. The closest dealer is 1.5hr drive and batteries are back ordered. I can pick one up at a local Napa auto parts but not sure if it’s a DIY. edit: I watched a couple of YouTube videos. It doesn’t look difficult.
It can't be that hard. Do make sure the replacement battery has the same configuration/dimensions. Do you care about preserving presets (not sure which would get lost with 4th gen)? If not, just jump in: Remove hold-down bracket, disconnect neg cable, then positive cable, and install new battery in reverse order. If the hold-down bracket is Toyota's "special" design, sim to gen 3, you may need to do some shimming, either washers under the hold down bracket (if battery is slightly taller), or shims under the battery (if battery is slightly shorter).
I just replaced mine with the EverStart MAXX H4 (also 140R) from Walmart for $160. It's an exact fit. Although the connections look intimidating, there's only one nut that has to be loosened and then they twist off. You'll need a Metric Socket Set with a long extension to reach the bolt holding the bracket at the bottom of the battery. Take off the Negative first and wrap it in a rag to prevent arcing. Then replace in the opposite order, Negative last. An extra set of hands will be useful to hold the cables out of the way with lifting the old one out and dropping the new one in.
Also clean the terminals and connectors with the wire brush terminal cleaning tool. I would also get that corrosion/terminal sealer kit - only a couple of bucks. It's two chemical terminal washers and a spray. Well worth it, keeps a good moisture free connection for the life of that new battery. Good Luck.....
You can definitely replace it yourself. If you are planning on keeping the car for awhile, and you can swing it, you may want to entertain the idea of getting one from the Toyota dealership and having them install it. The warranty on them includes 2 years of free replacement.
easy to do it or any autoparts store you buy from will do it for you. AAA member? it's the easy and lazy
