New Prius will not start

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by VicVicVic, Jul 27, 2012.

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  1. VicVicVic

    VicVicVic Junior Member

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    Hello, I hope you are doing well.

    21 days ago, I purchased a brand new 2012 Prius Two from a dealership. I drove 20 miles to bring it home, and then left it completely untouched in my garage while waiting for my insurance to be processed. Today, I wanted to drive it, and nothing - including the main power and lights - will start up.

    I called the dealership and spoke with the maintenance person, who stated that I cannot let any new cars that were built in the last couple years - hybrids or otherwise - to just sit for more than four or five days due to the complexity of computer parts inside the cars.

    He said the only two things I can do at this point is open up the trunk and jump start the car, or get a trickle charger. When I asked him what I should do in the future if I plan to let the car sit for a week or so, he replied I need to plug it into the trickle charger for the duration of the time I am not using the car.

    Is the maintenance person correct? Any thoughts on what I should do?

    Thank you,
    Vic
     
    #1 VicVicVic, Jul 27, 2012
  2. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    What a bunch of bull re: 4 to 5 days. Where did buy from, BTW?

    People have left their Gen 3 Priuses for weeks and they started fine. I've personally had my 2nd gen Prius left for 3 weeks while I was away in Europe. I disabled the smart key system though (button is gone on 3rd gens though). 2010 II 12 Volt Battery Dead After 17 Days of Parking | Page 7 | PriusChat left his car for 47 days. 2010 II 12 Volt Battery Dead After 17 Days of Parking | PriusChat has an applicable TSB.

    Assuming you didn't leave interior lights on or a door ajar, three weeks can be pushing if the 12 volt wasn't fully charged.

    You might need a new 12 volt, esp. if the dealer ran it flat for you earlier.
     
    #2 cwerdna, Jul 27, 2012
  3. VicVicVic

    VicVicVic Junior Member

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    #3 VicVicVic, Jul 27, 2012
  4. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    #4 cwerdna, Jul 27, 2012
  5. Xaran

    Xaran Junior Member

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    #5 Xaran, Jul 27, 2012
  6. Xaran

    Xaran Junior Member

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    Yes it's a new car and under warranty. Call toyota and have them send out a tow truck take it in to the dealer and get it checked and repaired.

    I don't see any thing in the owners , manual that says it must be driven every 5 days
     
    #6 Xaran, Jul 27, 2012
  7. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    My car sits for weeks at a time. Still functions as it should. The 12v battery must be bad in your car. All under warranty, so let them come out and figure it out or bring it into their service department and either fix it on the spot or put you in a free loaner vehicle while they repair your car.

    Mike
     
    #7 WE0H, Jul 27, 2012
  8. VicVicVic

    VicVicVic Junior Member

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    Thank you very much, everyone. Please keep the replies coming, even if it is just a simple message to say that this is not normal (the replies make me feel a whole lot better).

    I'm planning to go Toyota tomorrow and talk to them about it. Any additional information or comments would be great!

    Thank you!
    Vic
     
    #8 VicVicVic, Jul 27, 2012
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Agree that this is BS. Every car in my household has been left undriven for weeks at a time, without electrical consequence.

    By any chance did you leave a key fob in the car, or close enough to it to keep the radio link active?
     
    #9 fuzzy1, Jul 27, 2012
  10. VicVicVic

    VicVicVic Junior Member

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    I actually do not have an answer to your second question because I have been parking the car at a relative's garage and he has been keeping it for me. If I did leave the key fob in the car or near the car, would that be a possible reason for this issue?

    Thanks,
    Vic
     
    #10 VicVicVic, Jul 28, 2012
  11. VicVicVic

    VicVicVic Junior Member

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    I called Toyota directly - not the dealership - at 800-331-4331 (got the number from Toyota Help). I told the representative the same details I posted here, and he went to do some research. When he returned, he said that the dealership is absolutely correct, that I am supposed to turn on the Prius and leave it running for about 10 minutes every four days or so.

    When I asked where he got that from because I didn't see it in the manual, he stated Toyota does not have a need to write that down because as a manufacturer, they expect customers to drive the car every day, and thus, would not need to include this information.

    He advised me to get a trickle charger - as the dealership told me to do - and let it charge for a few days. I took user Xaran's advice of telling Toyota to bring out a tow truck and bring the car to the dealership. The representative told me that I can call Toyota Care at 800-444-4195, but warned that if the battery is depleted, it isn't covered under the warranty and I would have to pay for it myself, even if it was the dealership who depleted the battery.

    I haven't called Toyota Care. Is that the next step I should take? Any other advice?

    This is the very first car my family has purchased in a decade and it's turning out to be a huge hassle.

    Please help, if you can. Thanks,
    Vic
     
    #11 VicVicVic, Jul 28, 2012
  12. VicVicVic

    VicVicVic Junior Member

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    Update: I called Toyota Care and someone will be coming in approximately 4.5 hours to jump start the car.

    Thanks,
    Vic
     
    #12 VicVicVic, Jul 28, 2012
  13. Xaran

    Xaran Junior Member

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    That's crazy, if I take a vacation and leave the car at the airport for a week or 2 the battery is going to be dead! I can't believe that is the norm. What about all of the thousands of new cars that sit on trucks,on storage lots and at the dealer waiting to be sold. The dealers don't go around and start and run all of them every 4 days
     
    #13 Xaran, Jul 29, 2012
  14. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    Hang in there, must've been the dealer ran the battery low and somehow got it started for you (jumped) and a 20 mile drive didn't charge it enough, some things you need to know about your 12v battery.
    1 It won't last 1/2 hour in acc mode
    2 It is not a deep cell battery, when it goes dead, it's dead
    3 Optima makes a deep cell battery replacement for you
    4 I'm thinking all prii ownerns have found their car dead at some point, it's really easy to make a mistake and deplete the battery, just put in an optima, and have a 2amp hour battery charger around.

    The Dealer... find a new one:)

    It's a great car, you'll get thru this, bad timing, but better then at an airport.
    Don't let the dealer talk you into the extended warrante,
     
    #14 ursle, Jul 29, 2012
  15. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    #15 cwerdna, Jul 29, 2012
  16. Erikon

    Erikon Active Member

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    I still have to believe the car was sold with a bad 12 volt, it happens, yet dealers remain clueless! Insist the battery be replaced, because the first thing they'll do is just charge it and say its fine, but it'll never hold a full charge again and you'll have constant problems!
     
    #16 Erikon, Jul 30, 2012
  17. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    unbelievable. I can understand the response from the stealership but from Toyota! The battery is likely bad but that might just be a symptom of the real problem. I would continue up the ladder till this gets resolved right. See if the stealership has a Customer Service Representative and if so explain the situation to him or her.
    I really hate to hear about these situations. Toyota really needs to get on the ball here.
     
    #17 spiderman, Jul 30, 2012
  18. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Or, the dealer killed the 12 volt (like Roseville Toyota in Closed Minds | PriusChat).

    However, the 20 mile drive and 21 days of idling didn't do it any favors, esp. if the dealer didn't take good care of the 12 volt while on the lot.

    Yeah, once it's been killed, it may never been the same again.
     
    #18 cwerdna, Jul 30, 2012
  19. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I believe it is an issue, as the car would continually interrogate the fob. But a quick check just revealed that my 2012 behaves different than did the 2010 (e.g. the old one turned on the interior lights as the fob approached, the new one does not), so I'm uncertain what really happens.

    Are you certain that the ignition and all the lights were turned off?
     
    #19 fuzzy1, Jul 30, 2012
  20. VicVicVic

    VicVicVic Junior Member

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    Update: The Auto Rescue company representative came to jump start the car, and it seems fine now. I'm going to be moving it at least once every other day so this won't happen again. I am planning to call the dealership to see if they will do anything, as perhaps they did someone kill the battery or that the battery was defective right from the beginning.

    Thanks for all the help. Continued thoughts and comments would be great.

    I am positive that all lights were turned off and everything was off.
     
    #20 VicVicVic, Jul 30, 2012
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