Prius Gen 3 Not Starting - any suggestions?

Hi all,

I’m hoping that one of you knowledgeable people will be able to help with an issue we’ve been facing.

We have a 2009 Toyota Prius Gen 3, which we have had for about 6 years.

On the weekend, it just wouldn’t start, which has never happened before since we’ve owned it.

Even with the key in the car, and pressed up against the power button, the light wouldn’t turn orange, and it wouldn’t turn green when the brake pedal was pressed, as it usually would.

Pressing the power button didn’t do anything at all either, although the lights and central locking still worked.

Having tried a few different things, I called our breakdown cover, and they came out and tried:

- Replacing the battery in the key
- Using the spare key
- Charging the 12V battery
- Checking all fuses

None of these worked, so I had to be towed to a Toyota garage.

The Toyota mechanics had a look and they said that there was an error code showing (I don’t know which code but I can ask if needed), but they were unable to replicate the fault so they couldn’t repair it.

They jump started the car, charged me £81 for the pleasure and said that we would just have to drive the car as normal and see if it happened again.

The next day….. it happened again, so the car is currently sat on the side of the road. I’m going to jump start it again to drive it home, but I wondered if anyone here has experienced anything similar and if anyone has any suggestions on a longer-term solution?

Apologies for the rambling message, and thanks in advance.