Hello all, My wife and I are looking to purchase a new Prius v. We're open to 2012's, 2013's and maybe waiting for the 2014 to arrive at the dealership. At one of the dealerships, they showed us a 2013 that had been sitting on the floor room with an apparently dead battery. The trunk would not open because of this (we were trying to look at the cargo space and the salesman could not open it). He said this often happens because the car isn't running regularly. Question: If we purchase a 2013 or worse, a 2012, is there any chance we're buying a Prius whose battery's been drained and sitting dead for a while? Does this impact the Ni-Cad battery life? Thanks.
Firstly the battery that died is the 12 v externally vented AGM that runs the accessories. Your dealership's salesforce would seem to be ignorant of how modern cars work. The High Voltage battery (which is NiMH not NiCad) has a warranty that is 8 years/100,000 miles in much of the solar system (you give no hint as to your location) but is 10 years/150,000 miles in certain CARB states. Should you decide to do business with this dealership, insist on a new 12 v externally vented AGM battery as a condition of sale. Make sure your warranty starts the day YOU take delivery. Unrelated to this, look at the customizations you want and get them done as a condition of sale. http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM47674U/pdf/sec_06-02.pdf (One beep on Reverse, how long your headlights stay on after you turn off the car, how the door locks and the Fob work, etc) While I have you here, here is my post on who should NOT have a Prius, it is mostly about the Gen 2, but many of the issues apply to all Prius. considering a Prius | PriusChat
Dealers routinely disconnect the 12v batt in the showroom. Perhaps this particular sales person was unaware of that, that's about par for dealers. I've never seen a Prius on my local showroom floor that had the 12v batt connected.
Thanks for this information. I do recall the salesman was new to the dealership and came from a different brand so who knows how much he knew. Yes, I like the new 12 v battery idea prior to sale. Cheers!
