Do I need a new battery?

Hello everyone,

I am the proud owner of a 2007 base model prius. The car has been terrific thus far, but recently I have been noticing a slight drop in performance as well as some other bizarre issues I cannot figure out on my own. I thought I would post on these forums in an attempt to figure out if anyone was experiencing similar symptoms in their Prius.

My Prius has approximately 24,000 miles on the odometer. I drive on the highway to get to work which is a 30 mile roundtrip from where I live. About three months ago I began to notice that my battery was behaving irregularly. When I get to work, I will park the car and the battery display will show that the charge is in the green. I'll leave the car parked for 7 to 8 hours while I am at work and when I come back outside and start the car, the battery shows a low charge (purple). I double checked to see if maybe I was leaving lights on or anything else that would drain the battery, but at this point I am 100% certain this is not the case.

When I get back on the freeway to go home, I will sometimes run into bumper-bumper traffic. Because the battery is low, my car will start the engine in an attempt to charge the battery, but when I tap the brakes, the engine will seize. This doesn't seem to be good for the engine. The engine is basically seizing 10 times a minute.

Is it normal for the battery to drain if left idle for 7 hours? Could there be something else that I am missing which is causing the battery to drain? Should I take the car into the dealership? I'm guessing the battery is still covered by some sort of warranty.

For reference, I used to average about 47.5 mpg. I'm not having difficultly maintaining 44 mpg.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I'd appreciate any feedback.

 

Hey John,

Thanks for replying to my post. I actually used a PDF tutorial from your web site to change my cabin air filter a few weeks back. There's a lot of really useful information on there.

I think the thing that is most alarming for me is that it's not irregular drainage but everyday I pull into work with a full charge and like clockwork the battery will be in the purple when I get in the car after 5:00. Is the best course of action to go to the dealer and see if I'm eligible for a new battery under warranty?