Battery Condition After 4 Weeks In the Garage

January 11, 2010

agfs

Aug 17 2009, 03:20 PM

Degredation of Prius 12 volt Batteries.

According to my local Toyota Agent,

“the 12 volt Battery, unlike in other cars, will not degrade over a period of 4 weeks if the car stays in the garage for that amount of time”

Nevertheless I will drive it for at least 30 minutes prior to departure and then let you know if it starts OK when I come back in January.

Phoenix

999Aug 17 2009, 04:57 PM

QUOTE (agfs @ Aug 17 2009, 04:20 PM)

Degredation of Prius 12 volt Batteries.

According to my local Toyota Agent,

“the 12 volt Battery, unlike in other cars, will not degrade over a period of 4 weeks if the car stays in the garage for that amount of time”

Nevertheless I will drive it for at least 30 minutes prior to departure and then let you know if it starts OK when I come back in January.

I think the Toyota agent meant 4 weeks and not 4 months

agfs

Aug 17 2009, 05:48 PM

Ummm, I think I did say 4weeks rather than 4 months.

timberwolfAug 17 2009, 07:38 PM

What does your Toyota dealer thinks powers the standby current for things like the alarm and remote key wireless systems?

Just in case, I'd suggest testing that the key from the remote fob works in the drivers door lock.

don

21Aug 17 2009, 09:56 PM

Sorry if this appears pedantic but why would you want to spend so much money on a hybrid like the not inexpensive Prius when you drive so few miles.

Surely the figures would just not add up.Of course you may be retired with a huge pension and a low boredom threshold.............

Sorry,do not mean to be offensive in any way but surely unless you are doing serious miles it just does not make sense?

Regards.

Cyker

Aug 18 2009, 07:04 AM

You can also ask why people by giant 4x4's and flash sports cars when they are only going to be driving through tiny congested streets!

agfs

Aug 18 2009, 11:57 AM

Before buying my car I read the drivers handbook. I could find no reference to the necessity of driving the car on a regular basis just to keep the 12v Battery charged, but I may well have missed that item. Neither is there any reference that I could find to illustrate that keeping a car garaged continuously for 4 weeks would be a bad thing.

After all, I have done precisely that with other cars at least 16 times in the last 10 years,

So why is the Prius any different and, if it is, why are there no instructions on that subject in the drivers manual ?

My local Toyota Tecky says that leaving the car garaged for 4 weeks will not make any difference to the 12v battery. Is he wrong ?

Has anyone experience garaging their Prius for 4 weeks and could give therefore give an experienced view rather than stating perfectly understandable logical theories ?

Surely the state of the battery prior to garaging the car would have some effect on how long the battery will last ?

Has anyone experienced finding a dead 12v battery and can explain why it died ?

Ogo

Aug 19 2009, 05:04 PM

Well, Toyota assumes that most of the people buy Priuses for driving and not for keeping them parked for weeks and then driving them only for few minutes.

Otherwise you do not need to actually drive your Prius to charge up the 12 Volt battery. Enough is to put the Prius in "Ready" mode when parked. When in Ready mode, hybrid system will go online and will charge both the 12V and the big high voltage battery if needed. Internal combustion engine will be used on demand while in Ready mode, so this should be done in well ventilated area.

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agfs

Just for the record, I spent 4 weeks overseas and the car spent that tme in my garage. It started without any problems on my return.

January 12, 2010

Hi

Last summer, i went on a holiday for two months and i expected my car not to start on my return.

But there was no problem.

couple of weeks back, i left the lights on overnight and it didn't start the next day. So, i had to call RAC. I am not sure whether i left the lights on or night but that's what RAC person suggested.

My manual mentions that you should recharge the Battery atleast once in two weeks although it doesn't say that it will stop if you don't do that.

chinni

January 12, 2010

If your garage is fully secure and you leave your car for a long period of time do not lock the car. The anti theft devices use Battery power when the car is locked. Try to get a reliable person to run the car for you if you are away for a long time; obviously make sure the person is covered by insurance to drive your car.