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Something odd started on my 2013 Prius last week and I would like to hear from anyone who has dealt with it. The car has about 165,000 kilometers, and one morning the dashboard showed a red triangle and a battery symbol, then the engine kept running at the signal instead of going quiet like it normally does. The fuel use also feels worse, maybe one extra fill every month. My brother says the big hybrid battery is finished and that the repair costs more than the car is worth, so I should sell it. My neighbor says it is only the small 12V battery, because on these cars a weak one can throw many strange warnings even when the big one is fine. I did not know there were two batteries until this week, honestly. I tried reading about it and the most useful thing I found was when I decided to visit this website for battery help, since it explained in simple words how heat, short trips and age wear a battery down, and why a proper test looks at more than voltage. It did not answer everything about hybrids, but it made me understand that guessing is a bad idea. So here is what I want to ask. Is there a simple way to find out which battery is the problem before paying for anything big? Do workshops test the hybrid pack with a scanner and show you the cell readings? Also, if the small battery is the cause, can I replace it myself, or is the location tricky on a Prius? One more thing, does the car need to be left off for some time before changing it, so the system does not complain? If you had a hybrid warning like this, please tell me what the cause was and what you paid. Thanks everyone.
