Battery issues, is dealer correct with advise?

[Emma133]

Hi, I’m a Toyota Yaris Hybrid novice. Bought my 2021 Excel 3 months ago, first hybrid I’ve owned.

When viewing the car the Battery was flat. After having the car 2 months & not driving it for 4 days, the Battery again was flat. Toyota got the AA out to restart it & the AA guy advised a new Battery.

Took it back to the dealership, who ran the battery down, then charged it fully, telling me it’s still in good order. Told me when I get home over next couple of days to run the car (on the driveway) for 4hrs to help the battery.

Is this correct advice, or am I being fobbed off?  Wasn’t happy with their service anyway 😔 

Thank you to anyone who can help 🙏

[fourbanks]

Sounds incorrect to me 

any Battery should be good for 3 years and if not then it's not fit for purpose. The AA guy is right, you need a new Battery as it's 3 years old. Not good, but that's how they are made these days. 

 

[MardyMarvin]

well if it was me I would just get a new Battery as the one you have is potentially 3 years old anyway. They don't last forever and if you have one of the ones that lots of the threads have mentioned it will not be that great.

[Cyker]

The early Yaris Mk4s do have a higher likelyhood of having duff batteries (We suspect due to them sitting un-maintained during Covid), but it's been a bit of a battle to get them replaced.

Some dealers just do it, but others insist they're fine even when they keep dying after 3 days.

I'd say if it keeps dying then take it back, but give it a chance first and see how you get on.

TBH, most people got fed of trying to get a replacement one from their dealer (Which would be the same model of Battery, albeit hopefully a newer non-dodgy one) and switched to the higher capacity Yuasa YBX5202 instead. So far a few people who got dealer replacement batteries had the problem reoccur, but I don't think anyone who swapped to the Yuasa has come back.

 

I should note mine is also a '21 Mk4, but I haven't had any issue with my Battery and it's the same one from factory (But I drive and spend a LOT more time in the car than most people, so the Battery never gets long to discharge!)

 

[flash22]

yes and no, a recharge is just a way to get the Battery to pass, the Battery may have degraded during covid once weakened they only go one way, the MK4 uses a standard Battery so there not too expensive around the £70-110, personally i would change it now as usually, they hike up battery prices in late September as the weather changes and batteries start to fail due to the colder weather and higher use

stick with bosch/varta or Yuasa

[jthspace]

Replace it, if it's gone flat a few times, it's probably never going to "get better".

Yuasa for approx £70 delivered and a 20 minute job to replace it

[MrAurisT]

Just 'running the engine" is not going to fully recharge it I am afraid. Only a Battery charger, trickling for a significant period (12-24 hours) will get the amps back in. Also, as has been said above, if it has discharged itself (the battery) for whatever reason, it will never fully recover. Don't waste your time, insist on a new Battery.

[Yaris_Cross]

Quote

Is this correct advice, or am I being fobbed off?  Wasn’t happy with their service anyway 

 

You are not being fobbed off.

There is a huge thread about this at the top of the forum basically if you dont drive the car often enough to keep the small 12v Battery topped up it will fail to start the car Toyota’s advice is to  start the car and leave in Ready mode for up to an hour per week to ‘maintain’ the Battery if you are going to leave the car for long periods a trickle charger or solar panel will also keep it topped up.

 

Many members carry a jump pack like the one below just in case - 

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintenance/jump-starters/noco-gb20-500a-jump-starter-721880.html

 

[TonyHSD]

Dealers should replace under consumer rights as the car been sold with dead Battery. No excuses. 
You can buy Yuassa, but now at this point they should put in a new Battery for free. 

[Yaris_Cross]

16 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Dealers should replace under consumer rights as the car been sold with dead battery. No excuses. 
You can buy Yuassa, but now at this point they should put in a new battery for free. 

 

Due to the many threads and posts about this issue members here know all about cheap original batteries and damage caused by letting them go flat unfortunately for the OP the dealer will say he bought the car 3 months ago and its only just let him down the Battery is not the fault its his lack of driving.

Can you explain what you mean by saying you bought the car three months ago but you have only had it 2 months?

 

Quote

Bought my 2021 Excel 3 months ago, first hybrid I’ve owned.

Quote

After having the car 2 months & not driving it for 4 days, the battery again was flat. 

 

[jthspace]

10 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Dealers should replace under consumer rights as the car been sold with dead battery. No excuses. 
You can buy Yuassa, but now at this point they should put in a new battery for free. 

Totally agree - but the poster wasn't happy with the service at the dealer, not exactly being "fobbed off" but close to it.  The answer should have been "its a problem, we'll solve it with a new battery" but they won't without some more arguments - so for peace of mind it may be better to bite the bullet and get a new Battery

 

[Uragan]

Hope this isn’t a daft question but why do hybrids even have 12v batteries when there is a massive Battery pack on the car ?

[Cyker]

I often wondered that too - I assumed there was some sort of safety regulation saying the HV system had to be disconnected when the car isn't in use - That would necessitate the 12v Battery being there to power the car when the big Battery isn't connected and, y'know, connect the big Battery.

However, several EVs - Particularly Teslas - seem to keep their HV battery connected all the time and they haven't been fined or anything so I'm not so sure...!

In our case this is better than the alternative though:

If the 12v battery dies it's annoying but easily solvable.  

If the HV battery dies though, you're utterly smegged  

[jthspace]

13 minutes ago, Uragan said:

Hope this isn’t a daft question but why do hybrids even have 12v batteries when there is a massive battery pack on the car ?

It's basically to boot the computer which controls the car electronics and to power 12v accessories. One the EV is booted, the engine will charge the Low Voltage 12v and Hign Voltage 200v (or whatever) main Battery. The HV Battery powers the electric motor.

[Tommy X]

14 minutes ago, Uragan said:

Hope this isn’t a daft question but why do hybrids even have 12v batteries when there is a massive battery pack on the car ?

So that people can continuously moan about them on here, wouldn't be the same without numerous 12v Battery threads😉 If it's not flat, the 12v Battery boots the electrical systems up 

[Uragan]

So why can’t the hybrid Battery boot up the car …. Or even have the 12v Battery part of the hybrid pack just partitioned off … if that makes sense 

[Emma133]

57 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

 

Due to the many threads and posts about this issue members here know all about cheap original batteries and damage caused by letting them go flat unfortunately for the OP the dealer will say he bought the car 3 months ago and its only just let him down the battery is not the fault its his lack of driving.

Can you explain what you mean by saying you bought the car three months ago but you have only had it 2 months?

 

 

Just to confirm OP is not ‘he’, I’m a ‘she’.

I bought the car mid-May & the Battery was flat mid-July when I hadn’t driven it after 4 days. We’re now nearing mid-Aug, so I’ve had the car 3mths. Hope that clears up any misunderstanding 🙂

Also dealership confirmed that it shouldn’t have happened after 4 days.

[Yaris_Cross]

6 minutes ago, Emma133 said:

I bought the car mid-May & the battery was flat mid-July when I hadn’t driven it after 4 days. We’re now nearing mid-Aug, so I’ve had the car 3mths. Hope that clears up any misunderstanding

So what did you do between mid  July when the Battery was flat after standing for 4 days  and mid august?

[Emma133]

53 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

So what did you do between mid  July and mid august?

The car was re-started by the AA (via the dealership). So I was able to drive it until I could get it booked in for them to assess the Battery, which was this week!

[Yaris_Cross]

2 hours ago, Emma133 said:

So I was able to drive it until I could get it booked in for them to assess the battery, which was this week!

How much have you driven the car since th AA got it going again?

[TonyHSD]

3 hours ago, Uragan said:

Hope this isn’t a daft question but why do hybrids even have 12v batteries when there is a massive battery pack on the car ?

Because the 12v Battery powers up over 30 systems in the car, in fact anything electrical except drive motors and the air conditioning compressor which are run from the high voltage Battery  👍

[Emma133]

28 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

How much have you driven the car since th AA got it going again?

Probably every 2 days. Have been scared to leave it longer just in case it happened again.

But now Toyota have ‘sorted’ it, there will be some point where it’s not used for the 4 days again.  Then if the Battery fails again I will take it back & push for a new Battery.

[Cyker]

20 minutes ago, Emma133 said:

Probably every 2 days. Have been scared to leave it longer just in case it happened again.

But now Toyota have ‘sorted’ it, there will be some point where it’s not used for the 4 days again.  Then if the battery fails again I will take it back & push for a new battery.

Don't worry about it, just use it as you normally would, BUT, get a cheap portable jump starter (I got a Nono GB20 from Halfords, discounted with my <shameless shilling>Toyota Owners Club Members Halfords Discount Card</>  ) and keep it handy, and also familiarize yourself with the jump starting points on the car (Hint: The [+] terminal is in the fuse box under the bonnet), so if it does happen again you can just power it up yourself then drive to the dealer to have a go at them without having to wait for the AA  

[dash]

And there’s always the option of putting the car in Ready mode once a week for 30+ minutes to charge the 12V Battery (assuming you have safe, off street parking). This raises the Battery level to 14V for the duration, after which it will drop to around 12.7V and then slowly drain over the next few days.
You’ll find the petrol engine only starts up for a couple of minutes 2 or 3 times during this period (to charge the HV battery), so petrol usage is minimal

[Yaris_Cross]

22 minutes ago, Cyker said:

keep it handy, and also familiarize yourself with the jump starting points on the car

This is a good tip as it has caught people out -