Buying advice battery query

[Armitage]

Hi all,

I have found a ct200 I'm interested in buying however I have a concern. It's a 2016 reg and has quite low milage. My concern is the last few years it has only done 1000 miles a year. Should I be concerned that this will have had a negative on the hybrid Battery?

Thanks

[Illogan]

Hi Armitage, and welcome to the forum.

There are some on this forum whom are greater Battery experts than I, but I don't think you'll experience any problems whatsoever.

Two things to check - - IF the vehicle has been serviced by a Lexus dealership, it will have received an annual hybrid Battery check by their engineers, and will have a certificate to that effect, (and is covered by the 100,000 mile 10 year guarantee

If the vehicle was serviced by a non-Lexus dealership, the owner can always have the Battery checked by Lexus for a fee (£80?)

However, it bears saying that Lexus batteries are extremely reliable.

[Armitage]

Thakyou Illogan for the welcome and advice. Most reassuring! I'll enquire re the lexus hybrid Battery check.

I asked because I read, can't recall where, that low mileage can adversely effect the Battery.

Many thanks

 

[Herbie]

49 minutes ago, Armitage said:

I asked because I read, can't recall where, that low mileage can adversely effect the battery.

That's most likely the 12V Battery that they were talking about, because that can indeed run down faster than other 12V batteries on other cars. They're only small and have a low Ah rating.

The high voltage traction Battery should have no problems whatsoever, even if left standing for months.

[Las Palmas]

Hybrid Battery has 15 years warranty as long as you keep going to Lexus / Toyota yearly either for service or hybrid Battery check.

Like Herbs said: 12V Battery is the weak point if car is not used regularly.

[Spock66]

25 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

Like Herbs said: 12V battery is the weak point if car is not used regularly.

But relatively cheap to replace so not a deal breaker I would suggest.

[LenT]

2 hours ago, Las Palmas said:

Like Herbs said: 12V battery is the weak point if car is not used regularly.

If that’s your situation, then consider investing in a trickle charger if your location makes it possible.

I’d recommend a CTEK - but other makes are available….

[diabolik]

Hi @Armitage

I'd advise you to go on the UK or US facebook group for more technical information.

The hybrid Battery is greatly affected by periods of >2 weeks of not starting up your car. One way to check the remaining Battery life of your CT is to buy a ELM327 Obd2 (Veepeak BLE+ for example) and Dr Prius app and do a life expectancy test. Your dealer will most likely won't tell you the % life left.

Recently, I have encountered two different 2014 CT and gen3 Prius. Both of them use the same Battery. The CT has been used 5k miles/year, the Prius 1y miles/year. After 8 years, the CT had 89% Battery left and the Prius 75%.

[Herbie]

11 hours ago, diabolik said:

The hybrid battery is greatly affected by periods of >2 weeks of not starting up your car.

I'm sorry Dan but that just isn't true. The high voltage traction Battery will stand for months and suffer no ill effects but, sadly, the same can't be said for the puny little 12V batteries.