Oil change from HELL !

Sounds like your 12v 'interior' battery is a little long in the tooth.

Try testing it, or if its old then just replace it.

How often do you drive it, miles/hours per week?

 

The Prius is an "odd duck", in a lot of ways: the start button, the shifter, the parking brake. It doesn't take long to catch on, but definitely a lot of reports like this. Count your blessing, that didn't they didn't reverse the jumpstart leads, that could lead to damage that'd pretty much total the car.

 

funny story, for me.

 

How much are you saving vs Toyota dealership anyway? I wouldn't have any faith in those quicky places. The dealerships at least are more knowledgable.

Full disclosure: our oil changes have always been DIY, but I appreciate that doesn't work for everyone.

 

I used to take my Prius to the dealer but it got too expensive. Now I save a little by taking it to an independent shop instead. I did, however, pick a hybrid specialist who personally owns a 2nd gen Prius himself to service it.

 

Glad you got it running. Now you need to get that auxiliary battery, as it's actually called, replaced asap so you or he don't get stranded again.

The guy in the shop was right, though about jumping it in the front. It's a lot easier to use the jump terminals up there. And as @Mendel Leisk said, you dodged a bullet that they didn't accidentally reverse the jumper leads. That's usually catastrophically expensive. WHEW!!

 

Only thing: an uninitiated Walmart jump starter, when they pop the hood theyll still be scratching their head.

 

So the moral of the store is don't take your car to Walmart service center.

I don't want to be a debbie downer, but I have to be objective here. Do you think this other sentance could be the true root cause of your horrible visit?

Yes the battery is on it's last leg. If we let the car sit more than 4 days it has to be jumped off .

It's easy to blame Wally World, but you (and hubby) have apparently been setting yourselves up for failure for a while. Maybe they had to keep hitting the button because the battery was on it's last leg. If it wasn't the Wally World oil change, it would have been a $200 tow job at some point. Maybe you need to look at it as if Wally did you a favor and your car crapped out somewhere that help was actually available?

How long do you plan to wait before you get the new 12v? Before or after investing in a tow? Maybe the next "jump" gets done backwards and smokes your electronics?? A new battery is looking more affordable every minute.

And also, it should be jumped from the front of the car, not the back. As explained in the owners manual....

 

Hence why I do my oil changes. 10k intervals, and fomuto drain valve makes all the difference. I've just had to one to many negative experiences letting these jiffylube monkeys do work on my car.

 

The above two statements are mutually exclusive. Having to jump a car is a problem especially if you have to do it more than once.

But, now you know to not take a Prius to Walmart or any of those other low end places. It's like that old AAMCO commercial where there's a guy scrubbing the floor when a customer comes in and he says, "Hey boss. Can I do this one? I never worked on a automatic transmission before."

 

What shit show of a dealer or independent shop is this. Please name names. They shouldnt be working on anything with a push button start or newer than 1990. Jeez. As soon as you saw they couldnt start it you should have taken the key and told them you would park it yourself,...at home,...as far away from that jerk off centers delight. Sorry if it was a dealership. Most get a bad wrap but **** me if that is what you guys deal with wherever you are located.

 

Your getting your oil changed at Walmart.


That's all I have to say.

 

Unfortunate for the OP...
But a good cautionary tale.

This is why I usually recommend Hybrid Owners, establish a relationship with a Hybrid Specialized repair shop, or a dealership they can trust, even if they are having "routine" internal combustion engine maintenance done.

You may never know what actually happened- but it's clear the technicians had no clue as how to handle a Prius. Getting out of there with a running vehicle and a low battery might of actually been lucky.

Glad you made it home with a running Prius.

Plus I agree with post #11.
The technicians at Wal-Mart may of had unfamiliarity with how a Prius operates. But you gave it to them with a 12 volt battery you knew was dying.

The real root of the problem here, is driving around with a 12 volt battery that needs to be jumped started, if the vehicle sits for 4 days.
The Prius has been warning you of an approaching problem for a while.
The technicians as Wal-Mart had no warning that the battery was low, or on it's last legs.

Get the battery replaced.

 

There's been similar cases here, just for valet parking of a Prius.

I guess tricky push-button start is catching on, and it (hopefully) will become more commonplace, understood. I wonder sometimes though: just because you can do something, and there's marginal benefit, do you have to go there.

And when you're driving a variety of vehicles: I'm for example forever dropping into our kids' Honda's, and then having to do contortions, to fish a key out of a pocket.

The one thing they do have in common: the #*@!*& "smart" keys cost a small fortune. Our daughter in particular is losing and replacing keys on a notoriously regular basis, for around $160~170 a pop.

I miss the old days, when a duplicate (dumb) key could be had from any key cutter, for around $5. Oh: and sealed beam headlights were $20. But we progress.

 

You can jump from hood. If you pop hood and look into engine bay you'll look for a little black box on the right next to inverter....You undo the box and you'll see a red/positive piece of metal and that is where you hook up red....You can connect black anywhere that is metal on the car.