Proactively Replace 13 Year Old 12v Battery

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by MsPickles, Feb 1, 2024.

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  1. MsPickles

    MsPickles New Member

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    I have a 2011 Prius that has the original 12 V battery. Last night it appears an interior light was accidentally left on and drained the battery. This morning I had to jumpstart the car. I’ve been thinking about proactively replacing the 12 V battery due to its age. It hasn’t given me any problems yet and I believe I had to jumpstart the car due to the interior light being left on not necessarily due to a failure of the battery.

    Does anyone else proactively replace batteries based on age?
     
    #1 MsPickles, Feb 1, 2024
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I proactively changed mine at 7 years old because I was about to embark on a 6,000km road trip. Guess I didn't have to given yours lasted much longer than I anticipated (mine was a 2010 bought in Aug 2009)
     
    #2 Tideland Prius, Feb 2, 2024
  3. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    13 years? Change it. Once you drain a battery, it's life gets very short.
    It will usually fail and the worst possible time.
    Just don't forget to put a full charge on the "new" battery before you install it.
    4 amps or less for 8 hours or so should work.

     
    #3 ASRDogman, Feb 2, 2024
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    If your car lives indoors and all of that kind of thing it is remotely possible a 12 volt can go this long I don't generally replace them until they fail personally and when they do fail you know it you go out to the car and nothing's happening etc etc then you get out your charger you do all that stuff and then you realize looking down at the battery Jesus Christ this thing is 8 years old You charge it up it might even zero the charger and work again but how much time do you want to spend doing this Do you want to buy $170 nocogenius to carry in your car just in case that's the price of a new battery basically so there's always that.
     
    #4 Tombukt2, Feb 2, 2024
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Or carry a jump pack
     
    #5 bisco, Feb 2, 2024
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