Optima (8171-767) DS46B24R Yellow Top Prius Battery

I own a 2004 Prius. I bought another in 2005 for my wife. We are definitely NOT "tree huggers" but love the rock solid mileage (51-54mpg), utility and quality of the car. The only exception is the poor quality 12 volt battery and how it is engineered into the bottom rear of the vehicle. The car definitely deserved the MotorTrend 2004 Car of the Year. The 200+ volt NiMH batteries on both cars are still fine. However, I've had the dealership replace the 12 volt battery twice in my car and once in my wife's to the tune of $200 each time (that's $600 in 12V battery replacements in the past 8 years). Again, this is the small 12 Volt Battery, not the "hybrid" battery. It seems that the stock 12V batttery, which is not even used to start the engine & is really sensitive to heat and deep discharge, is the only item in the Prius that's definitely sub-par. The rest of the car if solid & a marvelous piece of technology & durability.

I finally got tired of paying the dealership around $200 each time to replace the crappy stock battery with another new crappy stock battery. I shopped in several auto parts stores and Sears (Diehard) & Walmart. The 12V battery for the Pruis is really hard to find. The only aftermarket battery that's not a stock is this Optima Yellow (deep cycle) S26b24r. It has been specifically designed with the smaller (Japanese standard) posts to fit the Pruis so there's no need for the adapter kits. If you haven't changed out a 12V battery in a Prius, you won't believe what a relative pain it is. I'm mechanically inclined and have changed out many 12V batteries in other American and Japanese cars taking about 3-5 minutes each time (I'm slow). The Prius battery change is a whole new experience! It took me around an hour to replace the battery. (I now know why the dealership charges so much for labor to replace the Prius 12v battery). This Optima Yellow fit PERFECTLY in the remarkably tight space in the bottom rear left corner of the Prius. So far, so good. The Optima has a wound AGM mat instead of the flat lead plates and is sealed & maintenance free so that it should be more durable. It also has a larger capacity than the stock battery, so it should power more of the 12V electronics longer. We'll see.

This battery at Auto Zone was for sale at $280 that's right two hundred eighty dollars + tax! I bought through Amazon at Battery Mart for around $180 with free shipping and no (8.75% California) sales tax. A comparative bargain ($124 savings). It arrived from the east coast in about 3 days. I'm really happy with Amazon and Battery Mart. In the next 4-5 years, I'll see how happy I am with the battery itself. These Optima batteries have a good reputation in the marine & RV applications where deep cycle is needed.

This is a great battery. And this fits like a glove. In my 2007 Toyota Prius. This battery is a direct shoe in for the factory battery. The only thing you really need is a 12 inch extention and 10 mm socket and your ready to go. Time to do it? 35 mins. In 30 degree weather and snow. I'm sure in nicer weather it could be done faster and easier. This is not a hard swap just takes time because you have to figure your moves out. Oh, I charged the battery before I ever swapped them, It's just making sure one less thing to worry about. And make sure you keep a live charge on the wires to the car. Jumper cables and an old battery or a small battery charger like 1 or 2 amps is all you need. So you don't have trouble with the computers. It just takes time it's not brain surgery.

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My original Prius battery (this is the accessory battery not the big rechargable) was dead too many times on my 2006 Prius with 60,000 miles. Without this battery you cannot start the car. So I searched the web and found this replacement which is better than the original one. I also found on the internet the info on how to replace this battery. The replacement requires removing a lot of stuff from the trunk. The replacement battery fit beautifully and I think I saved $100-200.

We now make it a practice to lock the car whenever we leave it which helps insure that things are turned off and doors closed, because the car will not lock unless everything is right. We hope to avoid draining this battery in the future by following this practice.

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My original battery started acting up after 6 years, which was pretty good life in a car. If I left any accessory on after stopping the car, the prius computers were likely not to boot on the next try causing me to have to jump start. It seems as the only two options for the Prius Gen II are the factory battery, or this one. I have used Optima car batteries in the past and liked them, so it wasn't a hard decision. The battery is an exact fit space wise. It is physically a bit bigger than the 24ah battery it replaced (no smart key option on my car.) That size difference doesn't affect the install as the bracket adjusts in the car. The posts line up and are the correct size, and the vent connector plugs right in, no issues. Installation was a bit more involved than on the average car, but only took me about 30 minutes, taking my time. I just removed the carry strap that the Optima has, it just slides off easily.

Performance of the battery is outstanding, this is what the Prius should be equipped with in my opinion. It is a true AGM battery, can't spill and doesn't need to be maintained in the tough location on the Prius. The car's mileage has picked up by a few MPG now as the internal resistance of this one is probably much lower and takes a charge faster and easier and the car doesn't waste energy trying to top off the original battery that would no longer take a full charge. When I power off the car now, even that water pump that kicks in to save hot water to the vacuum bottle runs faster. I highly recommend this battery as a replacement.

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This battery was sold as a "direct replacement" for the Prius. I assumed that to mean it would have the same size. After removing the old battery, I suspected the new one was a little larger. Trying to fit the new one in the car proved to be a difficult process, and confirmed my suspicions. The new battery was indeed about an inch or so bigger (both width and lengh-wise). What happened is that the front of the battery hit some excess body putty (used apparently to seal the areas from moisture) that was present in the well preventing it from sitting on the bottom of the well, whereas the old battery cleared it. I had to go into the battery well with a dremel and carefully remove off the blob of excess body putty. After removing and vacuuming out the excess putty, the battery then went in with a firm push down. Granted, another car will probably not have this excess putty and will fit fine. Also, the negative terminal is now closer to the side of the well, which made the placement of that negative terminal back on a little tight as well. After 3 hours or so of struggling, I was able to get it back together and it seems to work fine. Buyers should beware of this additional size compared to the Toyota original battery which may produce some fit problems similar to my experience.

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