We will be gone for about 10 days at Christmas and it seems to me that somewhere I read (but now cannot find) some information about how to deal with the car when it isn't going to be driven for a while. I wouldn't worry about it except we have very cold weather here (hasn't been above freezing since the day after TG) and I know that the cold will not make it any easier to start when we return.

So, what do we do? We don't have a garage, unfortunately, either. Should I have my critter sitter start the car and let it run for a little bit every few days?

Thanks!

Barb

 

Barb, don't worry for just 10 days, make sure the indicator shows near full on the traction battery. I travel a lot and have let mine sit for 5 weeks and everything was fine. I saw somewhere Toyota says 2 months. SK

 

We left our TCH for two weeks over the summer without any problem. The ICE seemed to run a bit more initially, but that makes sense since the battery loses a bit of charge every day. I don't think you'll have any problem with 10 days.

 

I was on vacation for 25 days, the TCH started just fine, and surprisingly the SOC was at 80% after sitting over 3 weeks.

According to TSB PD020-06 the TCH needs nothing special done to be stored up to 30 days. Only if you store it 30 days or more, does Toyota recommend disconnecting the 12V battery.

 

Sounds like I should be fine, then. I was just concerned about the cold weather. Thanks all!

 

Prius's Smart Entry has (had) and issue with battery depletion after weeks of non-useage. There is a button on the Prius to disable Smart Entry just for that reason. The TCH puts the Smart Entry system to sleep after a week so that problem does not exist.
Just make sure your reading/map lights are off and any other lights you can manually turn on (if any).
You'll be just fine.

 

Exactly! See Page 1 of the attachment below. ... Also, should anyone still feel the urge to make *absolutely* sure the smart key system is turned off while they're gone, follow the steps on page 2.

 

I got dizzy just reading the procedure. Couldn't tell if I was suppose to be opening and closing the physical door or just pushing a button on the FOB.
Confusing to the n'th degree.

 

Yup, dizzying indeed (and probably on purpose, so it'll never happen accidentally). However, I did try it a month or two back (based on a different thread at that time) and it DID work as indicated.

 

I re-wrote the dealers's sheet on how to disable the Smart Key system. Here is the link to: Can I temporarily disable the TCH's Smart Entry?