This post changed my procedure when sitting in my yaris excel waiting for a patient to return from an appointment. I used to switch to accessory mode to listen to the radio whilst waiting in the car. I did not realise this was draining my 12 volt battery and reset it when it switched off after a number of minutes. I now sit in the car in the ready mode now I know this charges the battery or at least depleats it less if I also leave the heating on😊
The accessory mode in a hybrid is "dangerous" because of the small 12V battery. I think it would be better if they only had OFF or ON [READY mode]. You have the ideal opportunity to charge your 12V battery while you are sat in the car waiting for a patient :) In the middle of winter I would definitely use the heating .. the petrol engine will come on a more frequently but there is no point getting frost bite 🥶 !!!
Thank you for the fantastic information. I’ll definitely be sharing this with my wife as after purchasing the GX 2021 Yaris. Transitioning to a hybrid vehicle has been a new experience for both of us, and your video has provided us with essential details on how to care for and ensure the reliability of our Yaris GX. We truly appreciate it-many thanks!
I really like my Yaris. I am older so these days I prefer mpg to mph and I like my car gadgets - the Yaris has got unbelievably good mpg and my Excel with the Tech pack has loads of gadgets. So I do really like my Yaris ... but I have had to learn how to look after the 12V battery. I hope my videos raise awareness of the 12V battery issue with the Yaris Mark 4 but also inform people how to manage the battery. I hope you are enjoying your GX Yaris and have a LOT of fun with it 😀👍🏎️
A great video about a very much discussed Yaris "issue". Toyota seem to have dug their heels in on this and I've read of many dealers telling owners that they "just need to drive it more". I'm on my second Mk4 Yaris, having moved after a year of owning a Dynamic trim version, to the GR Sport that replaced it. I don't drive long distances often or regularly and have had the '12v battery fail' problem a number of times on both cars, though my NOCO GB40 takes 'most' of the anxiety out of owning such a vehicle. It is a ridiculous state of affairs to have on a modern car, though and of course, although the power pack is a simple fix, not everyone would be happy using one. A far better set up would be if they supplied a sort of cut-down version of a boost pack built into the car, with an 'emergency start' button in the car and that charged up from the main motor battery. I suggested this to an AA chap who said that some car makes are indeed implementing such a thing. I think he mentioned Kia. The Yaris still puts a smile on my face when I drive it, so I persevere!
Thanks for the comment. I am glad you enjoyed the video. Like you I still really enjoy driving my Yaris and I am not thinking of selling it but and its a big but .. I still get nervous about whether or not it will start. I know I have got the NOCO GB20 behind the passenger seat if I need it but I should not need to get out of the car, lift the bonnet and jump start a modern car. I have been impressed by the support from my dealer but incredibly disappointed by Toyota GB's attitude to their customers. Telling customers to "drive the car more" makes the incredible petrol consumption pointless ... or telling customers to use a solar charger ... or sit in the car for an hour in READY mode ... or jump start it ... all assume that all of their customers will be willing or able to do one or more of these things. Hybrids are different because of the small 12V battery and I accept & understand that I cannot leave it for a week in an airport car park and expect the 12V battery to start the car. What I find hard to accept is that my car failed to start after a single day without use when it was 10 months old. My previous Yaris Hybrid Mark3 always started even during lockdown. In my view Toyota GB have made an enormous mistake with something in the design of the 12V system in the Mark 4 that means the 12V battery runs out of power too quickly. But ... the cost to Toyota of fixing the problem is too high. If it was a safety related issue then Toyota would be forced to do a recall and fix it but it isn't so Toyota will not fix the problem. Toyota HAD a reputation for building reliable cars. I have owned and driven Toyotas since 2005 and I am not thinking of selling my Yaris ... but when I want to change it I think the chances of me buying another Toyota are slim. I think that Toyota may look back on this situation in a few years time and realise that they made an enormous mistake in the way they handled this problem. I made this video about the Kia and Hyundai 12V reset button which is a much more customer friendly way of solving the small 12V battery problem. ruclips.net/video/3k7SSJecDUg/видео.htmlsi=V7DmA0lKTNaOgLnq
@@Helpful-Stuff Ah, I'm sorry, although I am subscribed to your channel, I missed your piece on the battery reset buttons on Kia and Hyundai cars. I first found out about it when my GR Sport resolutely refused to start even with a fully charged NOCO before Christmas and I had to call the AA (I have Toyota Roadside Assistance). As a retired Physics teacher, I mentioned "my" idea of a built-in power reservoir, like a NOCO, or a bypass to use the fraction needed of the motor battery, via a reset button. "Oh they already have them on some cars", he replied and mentioned Kia. I was pleased to discover it wasn't me just having a fanciful idea! Incidentally, I think my NOCO failed to make a good contact. I've since tried earthing it to another bit of metal and it was fine. Maybe dirt, maybe a seal under the bolt I'd chosen. To close, I can leave my car unlocked and in Ready mode, at my caravan in North Wales, quite safely and have done so a number of times when staying there. Can't really do that parked on the road at home, though!. I've brought the keys into the caravan with me, left the car over an hour and it seems to continue, the petrol engine kicking in just once or twice. I should really have tried driving it without keys to see what happens. My next little purchase is going to be one of those combined voltmeters and multiple USB charger sockets that plugs into the 12v accessory socket. It won't solve any problems but it will (should?) show me how much time it really takes to get the battery up to a satisfactory voltage.
Sorry you had a problem with your NOCO but thanks for the tip about making sure there is a good earth contact. If my car fails to start again I will make a video - "How to jump start with the NOCO" and I will make sure I mention that if it does not work try another bolt for the earth connection. The NOCO has such short leads that you are very limited with places to connect it ... and the lead is certainly not long enough to reach Toyota's recommended earth connection. My dealer said it is possible to take the emergency key out of the fob ... leave the fob in the car ... lock the door with the emergency key and leave the car running. While that might allow you to leave the car in READY mode for an hour when it is parked on the street ... it is illegal to leave an unattended car running on public roads! ... but if you can find somewhere off road to park it this might be a solution for you. I also got a voltmeter for the accessory socket in the hope that it may give me some advance warning of a problem. I am going to make a video showing the sort of voltages I am seeing on it. I have only had one jump start so I think (hope!) my 12V battery is still healthy. The interesting thing is that when the car is fully on it reads over 14V which is the voltage of the DC-DC converter voltage recharging the 12V battery. If I turn the car on to the accessory setting (foot not on brake) then you see the 12V battery voltage. Unfortunately the 12V battery has got some load on it because the car has turned some systems on so its not the 12V battery with no load - I am seeing voltages ranging from 11.6V up to 12.1V. I am not a battery expert but that seems reasonable to me for a 12V battery with a light load. When you get your voltmeter I would be very interested if you are seeing similar voltages. In the last couple of days I have discovered that when I turn the car fully on ... for just a few seconds the voltmeter displays the Accessory position voltage. This saves me having to do a 2 stage turn on ... Accessory position first then fully on with a second START button press. But it is only a few seconds so I have to be looking at the voltmeter when I press the START button with my foot on the brake. I will put all this in a video ... but I am a bit busy with other stuff at the moment.
@@Helpful-Stuff Some interesting tips there, thanks!. Yes, it's important that the NOCO is cycling through its lights. If not, the battery voltage is too low for it to detect a battery is there! That 'may' have been the case. Of course, provided you're happy everything is connected up correctly, then the override mode can be used. I wasn't confident enough beforehand but now know what to look for.
maybe it was the clamp "inverted". what i mean is that only one side of the clamp is connected to the wire. this happens mostly with the positive in the fuse box since you clamp one side with the metal plate and the other clamp goes on the plastic. @@AlanJones1
I have a 2023 Toyota Yaris Hybrid it uses the key to start, not contact less push button. Will this work the same as your car. Obviously if light levels are low the lights will automatically come on which would drain the battery. So do you think this will work with my key staring version. The dealership service department didn't advise me about this when I aired my concerns about the 12v battery, they have informed me though that my version may well not be so affected as the push button versions. Also told me today Toyota UK are sourcing a different battery which should hopefully sort the problem. The sales people don't appear to be telling anyone they need to be doing more miles, regular longer journeys to charge the battery. Would have been nice to tell people the hybrid isn't really very suitable for people who mostly do shorter journeys
Thanks for the comment. Very interested to read that Toyota GB are sourcing a different battery to fix the problem. Toyota GB agreed to change my 12V battery under warranty but they changed it for a new Mutlu battery ... the same battery that was factory fitted when my car was built. So I have zero confidence that this battery will last much longer than the factory fitted 12V battery. I have read a lot of comments from people who have gone to Halfords or another non-Toyota garage and asked for a Yuasa battery to be fitted to their Yaris. All but one of these comments have said that this has resolved the problem. So if my car fails to start again I am going to get a Yuasa battery. If you have an ignition key then I recommend that you NEVER use accessory (ACC) position. In this position the 12V battery is powering systems like the media system but the 12V battery is NOT being recharged which means that there is a chance that the poor quality Multlu 12V battery may run out of charge and you may not be able to start your car. The key will work exactly the same as push "start" button. Start your car as normal. I have never had a key in a Hybrid car but I assume that you twist the key to the START position and then release it so that the key is in the ON position while you are driving. The important thing is that the READY light must be displayed on the dashboard ... this confirms that the Hybrid system is "ready" but it also shows that the 12V battery is being rechanged from the big traction battery. I sometimes wash my car at dusk and the car automatically turns the lights on. Personally I don't worry about this: - I trust that Toyota's engineering teams will have designed the DC-DC converter so that it can supply enough current to charge the 12V battery and run the other electrical systems (lights, wipers etc at the same time) - on many Yaris models the lights are all LED which use about 90% less electricity than old halogen bulbs so when the lights come on it isn't a massive load on the DC-DC converter. The Yaris "fail to start" problem is caused by the poor quality Mutlu battery used by Toyota. It's nothing to do with the push button or key starting. So I think that your dealer is wrong ... I think your car is as likely to fail to start as a push button start Yaris. I have had comments under my videos from high mileage owners as well as low mileage owners. I classify myself as "average" mileage and it happened to my car at 10months old with 6,000miles on the clock after just ONE day parked and not used. So a failure to start can happen to anybody but I believe it is more likely to happen to low mileage owners. I suspect that this is not because of the low mileage but more to do with the fact that low mileage owners may not use their cars very often and they are left parked and not started for many days. Many Yaris owners use a solar trickle charger to avoid the problem. My dealer recommended this so I have bought one and made this video ruclips.net/video/cSfik4yyXfo/видео.html This video shows the free cable fitting that my dealer did which makes it a lot easier to plug the solar charge in... ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html I agree that sales people should warn low mileage customers ... but they don't because the only thing that they are interested in is their commission ... sorry I am old and cynical!!!
@@Helpful-Stuff Agree about the sales people, they lied to me about the one previous owner. I caught them out as the new sales boy left the log book unattended and I saw the previous owner was Hertz. Unfortunately I'd already payed for it and sorted out the insurance. I told them to their face they'd been lying to me when the other senior salesman had told me it had one previous private owner an older lady. And according to DVLA it hadn't been taxed for a year. How can you trust these people when they lie blatantly. Just hope the car will be OK. The service person I talked to said they could fit me a cable just like in your video for free if I need it to use a solar charger. He said the problem seems to be with the push button models, not sure if mine has a different battery. And Toyota are fitting a different battery which should sort the problem, fingers crossed. Your video showing the cable and using the solar charger was very useful. I was thinking how is that going to work, would need the bonnet open maybe, which wouldn't be very practical. I'm using my car mostly everyday just quite a lot of short journeys since covid. This wasn't a problem with my old 11 Year old Yaris petrol only engine, still on original battery. Just worried my new hybrid car may die when i leave at the airport for 2 wks next year
Thank you! Have you done any videos on using a trickle charge battery charger for Toyota Yaris? I don't use mine often, but have been doing the weekly 1 hour started engine, and have now needed a jump start twice in a few months, so looking into getting a trickle charger - any advice much appreciated 🙏
I have an allocated space in a car park but unfortunately there is no 240V mains socket near my car parking space so I don't have the option to use a mains powered trickle charger but I have read the following which may be a few useful tips: - do NOT connect the mains charger to the 12V battery contact in the fusebox under the bonnet ... this is for jump starting only. - connect the charger directly to the 12V battery which is under the rear seat - the battery is difficult to get at ... I have read that people who regularly connect a mains charger to their Yaris' 12V battery connect cables to the battery that are left in place permanently and the other end is easy to get at and connect to the charger. If you are not able to do this then I guess a local garage would do this for you at (hopefully) a reasonable cost I think that the easier option for you may actually be my dealer's recommended solution which is a solar trickle charger. I have made a couple of videos about this: ruclips.net/video/cSfik4yyXfo/видео.html AA Solar Trickle Charger ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html Cable fitted by dealer I use my solar trickle charger if I am not going to use my car for 24 hours or more. The cause of the problem is the Mutlu battery that Toyota use. I have read that people have successfully fixed the problem by going to Halfords or other non-Toyota garage and asking for a Yuasa battery to be fitted. Toyota GB after 5 months of email discussion changed my 12V battery under warranty but because my local Toyota dealer changed the battery it was changed for another Mutlu battery. My last Mutlu battery only lasted 10 months from new ... so I am only expecting the replacement battery to last 10 months. When this battery fails to start my car I will immediately get a Yuasa battery fitted. I have only had one failure to start but I compared the voltage from my first Mutlu battery with my new Mutlu battery ... the new battery was 0.5V higher than my old battery. This means that my old battery was degraded after a single failure to start!!! If you have had a couple of failures to start I think you need a new 12V battery ... and if you are getting a new battery I would get a Yuasa battery from a non-Toyota dealer. I have no personal experience with this battery but I have read that people have resolved the problem with the Yuasa battery. It sounds like you are low mileage owner and your car may be parked and not used for several days ... so I think the best solution is ... buy a Yuasa battery and a solar trickle charger. If you are not going to use the car for 24 hours or more then fit the solar trickle charger to keep the Yuasa battery topped up. The bizarre thing is ... I really like my Yaris and I often say it is the best car I have ever bought but unfortunately at the same time it is also the worst car I have ever bought because at only 10 months old it failed to start.
Thanks for your tips, have given our car a good run this morning over 60 mins and also just finished a good wash of the vehicle again over an hour with car in ready mode and keys inside, will be monitoring the results but think i will have to invest in a jump start booster as a back up , is there one you would recommend ? The really strange thing is this is our third Yaris over the last 6/7 years had no issues with the battery before....
I think a jump starter is a good investment. I have bought a NOCO GB20 Jump starter. Its the lowest power jump starter in NOCO's range because it only has to provide enough current to allow the computers to start. (There is no starter motor in a hybrid.) I bought my NOCO last October shortly after my car failed to start. At the time the cheapest place I could find to buy it was tayna.co.uk £86.32... things may have changed so its worth Googling to check prices. I have owned Toyota's since 2005 when I bought a 1 year old ex-demo LandCruiser which I kept until 2018 when it had almost done 200K miles. I must admit I did have to call the AA one morning when my LandCruiser failed to start ... but the 12V batteries (yep 2 !!!) were the original factory fitted batteries and the car was 12 years old!!! The AA man was amazed that the 12V batteries had lasted that long!!! So, a totally understandable failure to start. In 2018 I got a new Yaris Mark 3 which started reliably for 5 years ... even during lockdown when it was only used once per week. Right at the end of December 2022 I got a Yaris Mark 4. And in October 2023 it failed to start when it was 10 months old. So I have owned a Toyota since 2005 and I feel very disappointed and let down by my Yaris. In a lot of ways it is the BEST car I have ever owned ... but unfortunately at the same time it is the WORST car I have ever owned.
Don't need to leave the keys in the car. It won't turn off. In fact leaving the keys in the car with the doors closed and then connecting a jump pack will automatically lock the doors. Strange I know.
Thanks for the information that the car will not turn off if the keys are outside the car. I think I will continue to leave the keys inside the car because if the keys are outside the car then when I wash the car door handle the car will lock and unlock when the lock / unlock detectors are washed with a sponge. This is the quirky behaviour that I mention in this video and you can watch in this short (49seconds) video... ruclips.net/video/8MHQAR622ls/видео.html That is very strange behaviour when you connect a jump pack!!! If I have understood correctly that means that you could lock your keys inside the car when jump starting ... which is a bit of a concern!!!
@@Helpful-Stuff Yep, very strange! I used to do work for a company that leases out cars to cab drivers / uber Etc. We had 100's of cars in the yards. We all did it at least once. We had to buy kits to force the door open and use a long rod to press the open door button, while someone else frantically tries to open the door before the car locks it again. Toyota only provided one key for these cars too.
Sounds like a "fun" game trying to get back in the cars when the keys were locked in. I hope it never happens to me ... it would be much easier for me though because I can go back in my house and get the spare key. Unless I have locked the house and my only key is with the key fob locked inside my car. Nightmare 😱
Toyota should be ashamed of this issue. Its affecting so many customers and their advice is to buy a battery charger. They should be swapping out the cheap factory battery for a better one and fixing the drain issue. So much for their legendary reliability. They could have even offered a non-hybrid version with an actual proper battery which I believe is available in other parts of the world, just not the UK, unless you buy the GR.
I agree with everything you have said especially the bit about Toyota's legendary reliability ... Toyota's way of dealing with THEIR design problem with the 12V system by blaming customers is disgraceful and means that as far as I am concerned Toyotas can no longer be considered as reliable cars. I have owned a LandCruiser, a Yaris Mark 3 and now this Yaris Mark 4 so I WAS a Toyota fan. The Yaris Mark 4 is a great car except for the 12V system ... but starting reliably is a basic requirement of any car in the 21st century.
I have the same issue. Today I took my Yaris Excel to the Toyota Leicester for battery checking, Sales informed if I need to pay £144 charges if the battery works normally! Of course, I rejected They recommended I go to Halfords to buy an 8W solar set but Halfords staff told me that it was not enough power for a 12V battery. Waste my half-day time.
That is absolutely disgraceful profiteering from Toyota Leicester for a known problem with the Yaris Mark 4. My car was only 10 months old when the battery failed to start the car after only a single day without use. The AA measured the battery at only 9.45V so they jump started my car and accompanied me to the dealer. The dealer tested the battery immediately and found it was OK but it needed to be recharged. They recharged it overnight then left the car for several hours to check if the battery lost charge. They then did another test which showed the battery was healthy and fully charged. So they handed the car back to me saying the 12V battery was healthy and Toyota GB would not replace it under warranty. So if I had bought my car from Toyota Leicester I would have been charged £144. To say I would have been angry is an understatement. Toyota dealers are handling this problem with the Mark 4 12V batteries very differently. I am extremely lucky to have bought my car from a dealer who is being very supportive and helpful about this design fault with the Yaris Mark 4. The only thing I can suggest is do not use Toyota Leicester. If you have another Toyota dealership nearby then try another dealer. My dealer recommended that I buy an AA Solar trickle charger as shown in this video: ruclips.net/video/cSfik4yyXfo/видео.html My dealer installed the OBD cable free of charge as shown in this video ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html The AA or Halfords solar chargers are NOT designed to recharge your 12V battery when it goes flat ... the aim of a solar charger is to MAINTAIN the 12V battery charge to AVOID the 12V battery going flat. Modern cars use electricity from the 12V battery when parked and switched off which can drain the 12V battery over several days. The aim of a solar charger is to keep the 12V battery fully charged by using the solar panel to generate enough electricity to replace the electricity that the car uses when it is parked. A solar panel does not generate enough electricity to recharge your 12V battery. When your 12V battery goes flat then you will need to recharge the 12V battery by either (a) putting your Yaris into READY mode and letting the car recharge the 12V battery from the traction battery over an hour or more depending on how flat your battery is (b) connecting a 12V battery recharger directly to the 12V battery under the rear seat. I have never done this but I believe that there is not much space and it is quite difficult. Toyota recommend putting your car in READY mode for 60 minutes once per week to keep the 12V battery fully charged. mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/ I combine this with a weekly car wash and I have figured out how to reduce the amount of time the petrol engine comes on to a minimum: ruclips.net/video/Ch-L0JbbQUg/видео.html I have also bought a NOCO GB20 Jump Starter just in case my battery fails again. A Jump Starter is a battery pack that connects to the 12V jump start terminal under the bonnet. A jump starter will get you going immediately ... but they do not recharge the battery. A final link that may be interesting is this 97 (!!!) page discussion on the Toyota Owners Club forum which will make you realise that you and me are not the only people who are experiencing this problem ... www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/217673-12v-battery-maintenance-issues-etc/
@@Helpful-Stuff thank you reply and I saw all yours RUclips almost. I have some queries, if just turn on the car to READY mode but not drive it will be recharge the 12v battery then why drive with slowly on the country cannot be recharge ! Toyota said I must use my 2019 Yaris Excel on motorway at least 20mins per day. Sorry for my home town language not in English, maybe I made you miss understanding. If just on the READY mode can fix the battery problem then I willing to try.
When I first went to my dealer with this problem I was told some things that I now know were wrong. I now only talk to the Manager of the Service Department about the 12V battery problem. So I am not surprised that you are being told some things that are wrong or confusing. The first thing I would say is that your car and the 12V battery are now 5 years old. I would strongly recommend that you get a new battery 12V battery installed - 12V batteries do not last forever and 5 years is about right to get it changed. You could obviously ask a Toyota dealer to do this but you may also want to investigate somewhere like Halfords because they will be cheaper. The 12V battery IS being recharged when the car is stationary and the car is in READY mode. There is no need for the car to be driven. Hybrids charge the 12V battery from the traction battery and this happens without needing to drive the car. (Petrol & diesel cars have an alternator which charges the 12V battery and alternators charge the battery when the car is moving.) If my Yaris' 12V battery lost so much charge it was not able to start the car ... I would jump start it with my NOCO GB20 jump starter and then I would go for a bit of a longer drive on the motorway because I need to put a LOT of charge into the 12V battery to fully recharge it. However, there is no need to drive your Yaris on the motorway for 20mins per day ... or even 20mins per week. You have got a Yaris Mark 3. I owned a Yaris Mark 3 from 2018 to 2022 and it started reliably - no problems even during COVID lockdown when I only used it once per week. I did not drive my Yaris Mark 3 on the motorway for 20mins per day!!! ... or per week!!! My problem was with a Yaris Mark 4 that I bought in 2022 when it was only 10 months old!!! Lots of people are having 12V battery problems with the Yaris Mark 4. The more I think about it ... the more I think that your problems will be solved by buying a new 12V battery because your 12V battery is now 5 years old and past its best.
I have just purchased a used 2021 Yaris for the wife. Appox 24k miles. Unfortunately, the car failed to start the day after purchase. The dahsboard stated: Hybrid system stopped shift into P position. I belive this happened because I had been listening to the radio for 10 minutes in accessory mode therefore depleting the 12V battery. I have emailed toyota dealer and will update here what they advise. I am very disappointed that such an excellent company could produce a vehicle with such a basic error. I am very much hoping that the dealer will replace the 12V battery with the new manufacturer under warranty.
Unfortunately with a used Yaris you have absolutely no idea how many times the car has failed to start with the previous owner. Each time it happens the 12V battery is degraded a bit which means that it is more likely that the car will fail to start. You also do not know how many days the car has been sat on the dealers forecourt unused. My car would not start after just one day without use. So a Yaris sat on the dealers forecourt for a few weeks will result in the battery going flat. A few relatively short test drives will not charge the 12v battery up sufficiently. I did this video on buying a used Yaris. ruclips.net/video/RY5VZRhhwto/видео.html From comments left on my videos I know that Toyota Poland have worked with Toyota HQ to define new 12V test procedures with new test equipment and any car that fails the new tests will get a new 12V battery fitted under warranty. There are more details in this video with a link to the Polish news article in the video description: ruclips.net/video/EHtg81kM-FU/видео.html I do not know if UK dealers have got the new test equipment or procedures. The problem is the Mutlu battery that is factory fitted to the Yaris. If you get a replacement battery try and get a Yuasa battery - from what I have read they are a lot better. I think the challenge will be that a Toyota dealer will only fit Toyota recommended parts ... so you may get another Mutlu. My brand new car failed to start when only 10 months old with about 6,000 miles on the clock. So if you do get another Mutlu battery I am afraid that my experience shows that within a year you may get another failure to start. I have only had one failure to start. My battery was replaced and I know from voltage readings that even that one failure to start degraded the battery. My Mutlu battery was replaced under warranty with an identical battery. Obviously I am concerned that the first Mutlu battery failed to start after 10 months so the same may happen with the new battery so in order to try and avoid another failure to start I wash & recharge my car weekly as shown in this video and keep an eye on the voltage with a voltmeter plugged into the accessory socket. ruclips.net/video/0nYdnNVgvJI/видео.html This video was made with my old battery ... my new battery has voltages that are about 0.5V higher than shown in this video. I have decided that if the voltages start to drop I am going to go to a local garage and get them to fit a Yuasa battery because I believe this will solve the problem. I have obviously been a bit negative about the Yaris in this message ... but it is actually the best car I have ever owned!!! I have got the Excel with the optional Tech pack so I have got loads of gadgets. The fuel consumption is unbelievably low - on a 10 mile drive a few days ago I got 100.5mpg !!! I can't achieve this on every drive but it shows that the car uses very little petrol. (Although when it doesn't start its also the worst car I have ever bought.) ruclips.net/video/Tvy1g-GbLCw/видео.html I think your used Yaris has failed to start multiple times with the previous owner and the time sat on the forecourt at the dealer waiting to be sold has damaged the battery beyond repair ... the 12V battery needs to be replaced. Do not let the dealer fob you off with an overnight recharge. Under the used car warranty you should be able to get a new battery and then you will have a very good car. Good luck ... and please keep us updated especially if your dealer shares any information with you about the 12V battery tests and procedures.
Sorry to ask about your 12v battery experience again. As I have previously mentioned I am in the process of waiting for delivery of my new Yaris Design. Are you now free of starting problems since you have your solar charger? Do you plug it in every day? I have to admit that the 12v problem does worry me and yet I still very much like the car. I am told by the Toyota dealer that I can if I wish cancel my order - what would you do now if you were in my position. Incidentally my dealer has refused to unscrew the OBD support bracket as they say it could cancel warranty issues. Many thanks. David.
The good news is that I have not had any further problems starting my car :) I do not plug the solar charger in every day. At this time of year with short days and very overcast dark days with little sunlight I only plug the solar charger in if there is a chance of a bit of sunlight through the clouds. I do not plug the solar charger in if I have just done a motorway drive because I figure that this will charge the 12V battery. If I know that I will not be using the car the next day then I will make sure that the solar charger is plugged in. As you have seen in this video I now turn the car on when I wash my car so that the 12V battery is being charged from the traction battery. I have bought a voltmeter that plugs into the accessory socket. I don't leave it plugged in all the time because when the car is on it just shows about 14.5V which is the traction battery charging the 12V battery. However, if I turn the car on to accessory mode (no brake pedal) then I see the actual 12V battery voltage - and I have seen 12.5V down to 11.9V - a healthy 12V battery :) If you do this do not leave accessory mode on for more than a few seconds because the 12V battery is not being charged but it is powering lots of accessories so it will be discharging the 12V battery!!! I think I am managing the 12V problem pragmatically ... when I can I use the solar charge but I don't worry if I don't plug it in every single time ... and I now wash and charge which is effectively a 12V battery charge for "free" as it does not take any extra time on top of the car wash I would do anyway. I keep an eye on the 12V battery voltage as well. So I am feeling comfortable that I am doing everything needed to avoid another failure to start. Just to let you know ... I had another OTA update a few days ago and one of the changes listed was: "Update of the connectivity module (DCM) to fix connection issues" The DCM module was also mentioned in the letter about the e-Call OTA update that I mentioned in a previous comment to you. So it looks like the DCM module in my car had "connection issues" that had not been fixed when Toyota tried to do the OTA update to fix the e-Call system several weeks ago. I am becoming more and more certain that my 12V battery went flat because an OTA update to fix the e-Call issue went wrong because of "connection issues" with the DCM module. I think that this is my specific reason for the 12V battery going flat. However, there is also an issue with 12V batteries going flat if the car is not driven regularly or left in a car park while on holiday for a couple of weeks. I am not going to advise whether or not you should cancel you order - I think it is too dependant on your own mileage and how often your car will not be used and how happy you are to manage the 12V battery. What I will do is give you links to other sources of information that I have found: (1) Toyota Owners Club - 71 pages discussion of this issue www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/217673-12v-battery-maintenance-issues-etc/ (2) toyota.co.uk - Toyota's advice & at the bottom of the page - 24 pages of comments from customers mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/comment-page-1/ I think it is also worth mentioning that this 12V battery exists with other hybrids ... so if you cancel your Toyota order and buy another manufacturer's hybrid than the 12V battery problem still exists. However, Kia and Hyundai have got the 12V reset button which is a much more customer friendly method of handling the situation. It annoys me that Toyota do not take the same approach as Kia and Hyundai. My view is that your dealer does not want to unscrew the ODB socket and the warranty is just an excuse to not do it. The problem for your dealer is that if they do this for you then they will have to do it for more of their customers. My dealer has obviously taken a decision that the very small amount of time it takes to do it is worth it to keep customers happy. This has worked because I am very happy with my dealer but very disappointed by Toyota GB's response to my specific issue and the wider 12V battery issue. Another thought ... there is a new Yaris coming out in 2024. I have asked if this has a better way of managing the 12V battery ... maybe a 12V Reset button or something similar ... but nobody I have contacted knows. mag.toyota.co.uk/2024-toyota-yaris/
I am extremely grateful for the help and guidance you have given to me. I with you a very happy Christmas and all the best for the new year.@@Helpful-Stuff
Yes 👍 Hybrids do not have an alternator (that charges the 12V battery in a petrol/diesel car). Hybrids have a DC-DC converter which reduces the high voltage from the traction battery down to a lower voltage that can be used to recharge the 12V battery and power lights, media system, wipers etc. In a petrol/diesel car an alternator can charge the 12V battery faster when the petrol/diesel engine is above idling speed. This is why if you get a flat battery in a petrol/diesel car it is a good idea to take the car for a drive to let the alternator give the 12V battery a good charge. In a hybrid the DC -DC converter charges the 12V battery at the same speed whether or not the petrol engine is on or off and if the petrol engine is on the petrol engine can be idling. So my Yaris can be stationary in READY mode and I can wash it for 1 hour and the 12V battery will be charged exactly the same as if I drove the car for 1 hour. This means I am not putting any miles on the car and I have a nice clean car 👍😃
The location where I washed my car in the video is my allocated parking space and unfortunately there is no electricity supply to plug a battery charger in. My flat is on the 2nd floor so even a long extension cable is not possible! When my car would not start I bought a NOCO GB20 jump starter. After buying the GB20 I discovered the CTEK CS FREE which works without a mains connection and can jump start, charge and maintain a 12V battery. If I bought a CS FREE as well as the GB20 the CS FREE would only be needed to maintain the 12V battery and its quite expensive! My car can maintain the 12V battery using the DC-DC converter. The problem was that I didn't want to waste an hour per week sat in the car doing nothing while the car ensures that the 12V battery is fully charged. Since I wash the car every week to 10 days anyway I realised that I could simply leave the car switched on while I wash it and this would maintain the 12V battery. In hindsight I should have bought a CS FREE rather than the GB20 but since I have got a GB20 the wash and charge is a good solution.
@@Helpful-Stuff I just wanted to confirm that charging using a regular charger is still possible. Easier for me to put the car in the garage and use the charger overnight. Yesterday I wanted to test a Yaris Cross and it had zero battery, the dealership had to charge it (I found it odd) and we had to use a different car for test.
Yep ... charging using a regular charger is possible. I have never done it but from what I have read then yes it is possible. I agree in your situation with a garage charging overnight is much more convenient. This discussion on the Toyota Owners Club forum may be of interest ... scroll about half way down page 1 and it discusses where to connect a charger. www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/217673-12v-battery-maintenance-issues-etc/ Its a 71 page discussion about Toyota Hybrid's 12V batteries ... which you may find interesting. I have to be honest it is so long that I have not read it all!!! It was interesting reading about your test drive ... it made me laugh that even a dealer gets caught out by the 12V battery issue !!!
@@seaman651hi, just wanted to ask, have you tried charging your 12V battery already, using a regular car battery charger? I'm also using a Yaris Cross hybrid and I'm really curious if it's possible. Thank 2:14 s
Hi, I am completely ignorant when it comes to cars. I got the Yaris 2023 because of I didn't want to face reliability issues, but since I am still afraid of driving on highways, here I am with a flat battery. I saw your video about charging with the solar panel and now this one. If I understand this video well, then it is enough to have the car on and sit in it for an hour every week, no driving and no charger. Can you please confirm? Thank for your reply.
Yes sitting in your car for 1 hour once per week and not driving anywhere will maintain your 12V battery charge and should avoid the flat 12V battery. You need to switch the car on with your foot on the brake so that the car's dashboard shows that the car is in READY mode. ("READY" is displayed in the left hand circular dashboard display.) The petrol engine will come on from time to time. You can reduce the amount of time that the petrol engine is on by turning the car's heating off as shown in the video. This is OK for me because I am washing the car ... if you are sat in the car then you may prefer to have the heating on. This will use a bit of petrol but not a lot because the petrol engine is only ticking over. I am basing this advice on page on the Toyota website mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/ and also discussions with the service manager at my local dealer. Doing this for one hour per week will "maintain" the charge of your 12V battery. However, if you battery goes flat and your car will not start then you really need a charger to get your 12V battery fully charged again. If you don't have a charger then you could recharge your battery by sitting in your car for longer than an hour to allow the car to fully recharge the battery. I have no idea how long you will need to sit in the car ... it depends on how flat the battery is ... but it will be much longer than an hour. If my car fails to start again I have decided that I am going to go to a local garage and ask them to fit a Yuasa 12V battery. I think that the problem is caused by the Mutlu 12V battery that Toyota factory fit and will be fitted by a Toyota dealer if you ask them to replace the 12V battery. I don't have any personal experience with the Yuasa 12V battery but from what I have read online other people have solved the problem by fitting a Yuasa 12V battery. It may be worth trying ....
@@Helpful-Stuff Dear sir, I am very grateful for your kind reply. I have ordered the solar charger which is something I wouldn’t dare to do if it were not for your detailed video. Thank you! I will certainly keep the Yuasa battery in mind should problems arise again. It’s my first car, a Toyata approved Yaris 2023, about 17k km, one previous owner. Is it normal to get a flat battery after parking the car for 10 days? I’ve been traveling very short distances and the speed limit is 30, or do you think the battery has deteriorated after having the car sit at the dealership for months? Any advice regarding the driving mode I should be using? Any sources of information you could recommend to know the car better? The lady at the dealership, gave me the keys and said “it’s a previously owned car so no explanation for you”! Said a few things and sent me off! Whether you get the time to reply or not, please accept my sincere gratitude.
Hybrid and EV cars both use a much smaller 12V battery than is fitted to a petrol or diesel powered car. In a petrol or diesel car the 12V battery has to provide a lot of power to the starter motor to start the engine and they therefore need a big battery. Hybrid's and EVs only need the 12V battery to switch the computers on which requires a less powerful battery which can therefore be smaller. (In Hybrid's the 12V battery is not used to start the petrol engine.) All modern cars have a lot more electronic systems than older cars and some of them need to work even when the car is parked and the car is switched off. This means that when a modern car is parked it is still using power from the 12V battery. Petrol and diesel engined cars have big 12V batteries so this is not a problem. However, the small 12V batteries in Hybrids and EVs can run out of charge if they are parked for many days and not used. If you Google you will find that most EVs and Hybrids from all manufacturers will have some complaints about the 12V battery being unable to start the car. Some manufacturers like Kia and Hyundai have a system which monitors the 12V battery and when the charge drops dangerously low it will switch the 12V system off. This ensures that the 12V battery will be able to start the car but it does mean that you have to unlock the car with the mechanical key because central locking has been switched off to save the 12V battery. ruclips.net/video/3k7SSJecDUg/видео.html The problem with the Toyota Yaris Mark 4 is that the 12V battery fitted by Toyota, a Mutlu battery, is not a very good battery. This means that it is not able to hold the electric charge very well and is unfortunately very likely to not have the enough charge to switch the car on if it not used for several days. There are therefore a LOT of people complaining that their Yaris Mark 4 will not start. My own car failed to start when it was only 10 months old and had done about 12,000km ... it had only been parked for ONE day!!! So I am not at all surprised that your car failed to start after 10 days parked. If a car has a healthy battery then after 10 days parked I would expect... - petrol or diesel car would start - Many Hybrids and EVs would start but a few might not start - My old Yaris Mark 3 would probably start - Unfortunately I would absolutely NOT expect a Yaris Mark 4 with the original factory fitted battery to start ... unless it had a solar charger fitted!!! I have made a video about buying a used Yaris ruclips.net/video/RY5VZRhhwto/видео.html The key message of this video is that you do not know the history of the 12V battery so I strongly recommend that you change your 12V battery. I think that there is a good chance that your 12V battery is very severely degraded and you will get numerous failures to start. You could try and ask the dealer who sold you the car to replace the 12V battery. They may or may not agree and if they do they will give you another Mutlu battery. Or you could take it to a local garage and get a Yuasa battery. This will cost you but from what I read there is a good chance that this will solve the problem. However, I would also say that if you regularly leave a Hybrid (even with a Yuasa battery) parked for 10 days then you are asking a lot of the small 12V battery. If you are parking the car for a day or more then put the solar charger on to keep the 12V battery topped up. Despite the 12V battery problem I actually really like my Yaris Mark 4. I have got the Excel with the optional Tech pack so I have got loads of gadgets! I have made a load of videos that you may find interesting ... your car may not have all the features in the videos but many of the features are fitted to all models. Electronic parking brake ruclips.net/video/lmIg0QJwqNQ/видео.html Remote Start ruclips.net/video/TDemHoBTfgs/видео.html Remote unlocking ruclips.net/video/Xqz3gdISbLo/видео.html Fuel consumption ruclips.net/video/Tvy1g-GbLCw/видео.html Sounds ruclips.net/video/yAbu3Jfu7x8/видео.html Smart Entry quirky ruclips.net/video/8MHQAR622ls/видео.html Blind spot monitor ruclips.net/video/nDQDI8BBt8o/видео.html Lights ruclips.net/video/px_OWoTK6JY/видео.html Follow home lights ruclips.net/video/gRMcj8VC5LI/видео.html Auto braking ruclips.net/video/1QJozpNF264/видео.html Heating controls ruclips.net/video/tlaoadIVILk/видео.html Key fob switch off ruclips.net/video/X4G4efdHtqc/видео.html Windows ruclips.net/video/hanCDVx3vNk/видео.html Under the bonnet ruclips.net/video/YO0AnAMjB2s/видео.html There are also a load of videos about the Smart Connect multimedia system. This playlist includes all the videos I have made about my Toyota ruclips.net/p/PLmbzH12hWCbFNn9eNILQTdbWotbhU9eIO I hope you find some of these videos helpful. If you can manage the 12V battery ... the Yaris Mark 4 is a very good car. I often say my Yaris Mark 4 is the best car I have ever bought but unfortunately at the same time it is also the worst!!!
Hi, I tried to turn on my 2019 Yaris Excel this afternoon while I was gardening. I have had off air conditioning, dash cam, radio & and Bluetooth. After half hour I checked the screen for the battery charger, and it's from 80% decreased to 20% 😮 I try to switch on my car its no problem at that moment. I ready want to share the pic of my car's monitor shows no charged battery while I on READY mode. Isn't I done with the wrong procedure or battery charger cannot be seen on the monitor?
I think you are correctly putting your car in READY mode but I just want to make sure ... foot on the brake and then press the START button & somewhere on the dashboard it will light up the READY light. I owned a Mark 3 Yaris (like your 2019 Yaris) and from memory I do not believe that there is a charge indicator for the 12V battery. I think you may be looking at the charge indicator for the high voltage traction battery which drives the wheels ... not the small 12V battery. When the high voltage traction battery needs to be charged the car will turn the petrol engine on and charge the traction battery from the petrol engine. The high voltage traction battery charges the small 12V battery. From the comments you have left on other videos I believe that your 12V battery is 5 years old and your problems will be solved by buying a new 12V battery either from a Toyota dealer or from somewhere like Halfords. My Mark 3 Yaris started reliably for 5 years even during COVID lockdown when it was only used once per week. I think your 12V battery is just old and needs replacing.
Hi, does this mean that I wouldn't need to buy the AA Solar charger? I mainly do small journeys along country roads about 4-5 times a week and only a round trip of about 14 miles a time. So it worries me quite a lot that I will be bound to get problems. Thanks, Teresa
I really do not want the inconvenience of my car failing to start again so I have taken a "belt and braces" approach. This is how I ensure that my car will never fail to start again... (1) Every 7 to 10 days I wash & recharge my car as shown in the video (2) I have got a solar trickle charge which I plug in if my car is parked for a day or more. Typically this only happens one day per month. (3) I have got a NOCO GB20 starter so if my Yaris does fail to start I can start it myself without needing the AA (4) I have bought a voltmeter for the accessory socket so I can keep an eye on the voltage of the 12V battery Its summer and washing my car is pleasant. It is not so pleasant in the winter when it is cold and wet. However, because of the cold winter weather it is very important to keep the 12V battery fully charged so even though its cold and not pleasant I MUST wash my car in the winter. If you are confident that you really will wash your car every 7 to 10 days even during the cold and wet of a winter's day then you probably do not need a solar trickle charger. My thoughts are that the "AA Solar trickle charger" (recommended by my Toyota dealer) is around £30 so its not a lot of money and I think it is probably worth buying one. This video shows how my dealer fitted the cable - free of charge. I am not sure of other dealers will do the same install free of charge. ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html I also think that given your usage profile ... 2 or 3 days per week your car will be parked and not used. I think with this usage profile the solar trickle charge is the best solution for you. On these "parked" days you must remember to use the solar trickle charger and then your 12V battery should always be well charged and your car will (hopefully) never fail to start. If I was you I would probably also wash the car periodically (but not necessarily every 7 to 10 days) with the car in READY mode to give the 12V battery a good charge. Doing (1) and (2) I have not had another failure to start so I have never had to use my NOCO GB20 starter. Hopefully if you have invested in a solar trickle charger then you will not need to buy a NOCO GB20 as well. I have got an engineering background so I like having a voltmeter in my car to keep an eye on my 12V battery voltage. If you want to buy one this video may be useful... ruclips.net/video/0nYdnNVgvJI/видео.html As one final thought ... Polish viewers of my videos left comments that Toyota Poland agree that there is a problem and they have worked with Toyota HQ to define new 12V battery equipment and procedures which have been rolled out to all Polish Toyota dealers. If a 12V battery fails the new tests then the 12V battery will be replaced under warranty. ruclips.net/video/EHtg81kM-FU/видео.html If Toyota HQ have agreed that there is a 12V battery problem then it is possible that they have also changed things at the factory so that new cars in 2024 no longer have the 12V battery problem. From what I have discovered the problem is a poor quality factory fit Mutlu 12V battery. If Toyota now fit a better quality battery at the battery from somebody like Yuasa then the problem may be resolved. I was chatting to the salesman at my local dealer a few days ago and unfortunately he did not know who makes the 12V battery in a new (2024) Yaris.
@@Helpful-Stuff thank you very much. So helpful. I contacted the dealer and told them that they should have told me about the problem with the battery before I bought it, they knew that I only travel less than 100 miles a week. My car is on the way to me, so too late to change my mind. And anyway, I really want this car. I took a few months to decide which car was right for me. The Dealership have said that they would provide a Ring RsP2000 20W Solar Power Battery Maintainer that I just have to plug into the cigarette lighter socket. The Service Manager apparently said that it will charge even though the car isn't switched on. I'm not sure I believe that. What are your thoughts on that please? Many thanks.
The first thing I will say is despite the 12V battery problems I think my Yaris is the best car I have ever owned. It is extremely economical and has loads of gadgets - driver aids, safety aids and other "fun" stuff. I think you are correct the Ring Battery maintainer will not work plugged into the cigarette lighter socket. When the car is OFF the cigarette lighter is disconnected from the 12V battery. This is the same as most cars - this is so that you do not accidentally leave something plugged in when the car is parked and then when you return to the car the 12V battery is flat. Because the cigarette socket is disconnected from the 12V battery current cannot flow from the battery to the cigarette lighter and it cannot flow the other way from the cigarette lighter to the battery ... so the Battery Maintainer will not work plugged into the cigarette lighter. This is why my dealer fitted a cable from the ODB socket to above the dashboard so that I can plug the AA solar trickle charger in. The ODB socket does have an "always on" connection to the 12V battery so current can flow to the 12V battery even when the car is switched off and parked. ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html Tell them that you want the "AA Solar Trickle Charger". Its not expensive - around £30. It is supplied with the ODB cable as shown in this video. (In this video I incorrectly said that my dealer would use the cable to connect directly to the battery ... they actually fitted the ODB cable as shown in the above video.) ruclips.net/video/cSfik4yyXfo/видео.html If they can fit the cable like my dealer did then this makes it really easy to plug in and unplug. My dealer fitted this cable for free in less than 10 minutes while I waited. I hope you have a successful discussion with your dealer. Can you leave a comment to let us know how you get on because this will be useful information for me and other people who are buying a Yaris.
This was what my dealer recommended so yes I believe you can lock the fob inside the car with the mechanical key. That is another solution to avoiding just sitting in my car for an hour.
It would be interesting to see how long it stays in ready mode if don’t leave fob inside. And if it makes any difference if you lock the doors with mechanical key or with a fob.
You have given me an idea for a future video on the key fob. It would be interesting to see what happens if I start the car with the key fob in my pocket ... then take the key out of my pocket and leave it in my house so that my car can no longer detect the key inside the car ... and then try and drive my car off. I wonder if the car would just refuse to move without the key fob in the car or if I would drive a short distance and then the power would be cut???? I will include how to use the mechanical key in the same vid - because it is part of the fob.
So is i possible to leave the car in Ready mode and lock and carry out the procedure without washing ? I do park in a private carpark but we are not allowed to wash the car and I would prefer just to leave it for one hour.
Quick answer is - Yes! A bit more info ... The service manager at my local dealer actually recommended this solution to me ... he said I should (a) start the car (READY mode) (b) take the metal key out of the fob (c) leave the fob inside the car (d) then get out of the car and lock the car with the metal key. I have never tried this method but it should work. If the car is parked in a private car park you can then leave the car in READY mode for an hour to charge the battery. The petrol engine will come on from time to time as shown in this video ... the petrol engine will come on less if you turn the heating off as shown in this video. If you are using this method, for safety reasons ensure that the car is in PARK. I have seen some incorrect comments in other forums that the 12V battery is only charged when the car is in DRIVE. This is totally wrong - the 12V battery is definitely charged from the main traction battery in PARK. You should NEVER leave a Yaris or any other automatic car unattended with the gear shift in DRIVE. For information: I believe that the 12V battery is not charged if the gear shift is in NEUTRAL. There are a couple of functions I will NEVER USE with my Yaris because the 12V battery is NOT being recharged ... (1) Accessory mode - I always put the car in READY mode even if I only want to listen to the multimedia system while I am sat waiting in the car (2) Neutral - never put the car in neutral even if you are stationary for a long time in a traffic jam. In stop start traffic I use either the Cruise Control (DRCC) which is fantastic in stop start traffic or if I am stationary for a long time I use the "Hold" button and leave the car in DRIVE. Video explaining the electronic parking brake and the Hold button... ruclips.net/video/lmIg0QJwqNQ/видео.html
@@Helpful-StuffThanks a lot. Really appreciate your answering in such detail. Good to hear that I can lock the car while it is in Ready mode. I think that I will eventually also get hold of a better quality 12 volt battery. Just placed an order for a Noco power pack as well.
I have read the Yuasa battery is a much better quality battery. If the voltage from my battery starts to drop significantly or if my Yaris fails to start again I plan to go to a local garage and ask them to fit a Yuasa battery. I will not use my Toyota dealer because I am pretty sure they will only fit Toyota recommended parts ... another Mutlu. This video shows how I use a cheap voltmeter plugged into the accessory socket to monitor my Yaris' 12V battery. This allows me to monitor my 12V battery without having to do anything complicated like get under the rear seat and somehow fix leads to the 12V battery and then check the voltage with a multi-meter ruclips.net/video/0nYdnNVgvJI/видео.html This video was made with my original factory fitted battery which had failed to start my car once. Five months later Toyota agreed to change my 12V battery. My new battery readings are about 0.5V higher than all the readings in this video. I think this is interesting because it shows that even though my car had only failed to start once & it was only 10 months old the 12V battery was degraded - it still started the car ... but the battery is not 100% healthy. When people tell me that their car has failed to start 5 or 6 or sometimes more times then I think the battery must be so badly degraded that it will regularly fail to start the car. If a Yaris has failed to start 5 or 6 times then you really need to buy a new battery!
I think that the hybrid system in your car is similar to the hybrid system in my 2022 Yaris so my best guess is that washing your Auris in READY mode with the heating off will charge your cars 12V battery and hopefully avoid any problems with your car not starting.
very nice! just one more. Answer if you know, does this charging from hybrid battery bring troubles for the hybrid battery unit for using it like that? plus it leads also to the exessive fuel consuption at least a little bit. Thanks @@Helpful-Stuff
Charging the 12V battery by turning the car on and leaving it in READY mode for an hour was Toyota's official advice during the COVID lockdowns ... so I don't believe that doing a charge + wash for an hour will cause any damage to either the 12V battery or the main traction battery. In fact I think the opposite ... it is actually beneficial particularly for the 12V battery 😀 You can read Toyota's advice: mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/ You may also find it interesting to read the 25 page page discussion at the bottom of the page ... lots of people leaving comments on their own experience of the 12V battery issue and Toyota's response. One of the things I wanted to do with this video was to show that leaving the car in READY mode with the heating switched off does NOT causes excessive fuel consumption. The petrol engine was only on for 158 seconds during a 1 hour car wash. I have just Googled and a typical petrol engine running at tickover uses around 0.01litres per minute so 0.026litres in 158 seconds which I think is less than 4p at current prices ... definitely not excessive 😀 Now I have calculated this I wish I had included this in the video!
A few days ago I noticed that my Yariss hybrid does not turn off the engine as often as before and does not drive in EV mode. Could this be a symptom that my 12 V battery is half empty?
Somebody else left a comment on another video saying that he had changed his 12V battery and with the new 12V battery he felt that the car was in EV mode more frequently. Which backs up your view that you think your car is in EV less frequently with a poor battery. However, Toyota replaced my own 12V battery under warranty about a month ago and I have to be totally honest and say that I have not noticed a difference in the amount of time that my car is in EV mode. The caveat to this is that although I do believe my 12V battery had degraded slightly I do not believe it was badly degraded because I had only suffered one failure to start. A tentative conclusion from the above is that if you think that your car is not going into EV mode as often as normal and you have had several failures to start then I think that it is possible that your 12V battery is degraded. I think what I would do next is check your 12V battery voltage. If, like me, you do not want to dismantle the rear seat to get access to the battery then you could buy a voltmeter that plugs into the accessory socket - they are cheap mine cost just under £6 from eBay. I have made a video which shows how to use one of these voltmeters to measure the voltage in accessory mode. The video explains why it is very important that you check the voltage in accessory mode and not when the car is fully on. ruclips.net/video/0nYdnNVgvJI/видео.html However, you need to be aware that this video was made with my old 12V battery that had been degraded by one failure to start. In the video I show that I was typically seeing voltages of 11.8V to 12.2V in accessory mode. Since making the video I have got a new 12V battery and I am now seeing 12.3V almost always and sometimes higher .... very occasionally I am seeing 12.1V ... but I am NEVER seeing less than 12.1V. So I now think that if an accessory socket voltmeters shows voltages below 12V at any time then your 12V battery is degraded and I think it is worth changing the 12V battery before you reach the stage where the 12V battery is unable to start the car. Toyota have replaced my 12V battery under warranty but they have unfortunately fitted exactly the same battery from Mutlu that failed when my car was only 10 months old with about 6,000miles on the clock and after one day without use. Since it is the same battery I think it will fail again in 10 months. I have decided that when this happens I will get the battery replaced at my local garage (not a Toyota dealer) with a Yuasa 12V battery which from everything I have read is a good battery. I will have to pay ... but at least I will have a car that will start reliably.
If 12.2V is measured with a voltmeter plugged into the accessory socket then yes I think your 12V battery is healthy. I think your battery is healthy because 12.2V is very close to the 12.3V that I am seeing from a new 12V battery that was fitted to my Yaris about 2 months ago. For information ... my old battery that was replaced was typically reading about 11.8V. My old battery had failed to start my car on one occasion after one day without use. I have come to the conclusion that if a voltmeter plugged into the accessory socket is reading 12V or higher then the 12V battery is healthy .... but if it is reading 11.9V or lower then the battery has been degraded. This does not mean the battery will fail to start the car tomorrow morning ... but I think once the battery has started to degrade and I think it will eventually fail to start the car. I don't want my car to fail to start again so if I ever see a voltage below 12V I am going to my local car mechanic (not a Toyota dealer) and get the battery replaced with a Yuasa 12V battery which gets good reviews ... and not the Mutlu battery used by Toyota dealers. == Just a final thought ... If you have connected a voltmeter directly to the 12V battery under the rear seat then 12.2V is a bit low ... I would expect a voltage around 12.6V. If this is the case then it may be worth changing the 12V battery before it fails to start your car.
In the video you can see that my daytime running lights were off while I was washing the car. However, last week I noticed that the running lights were on while I was washing the car!!! I did not do anything to turn the running lights off in the video. I have not tested this but I think the difference is that in the video I started the car and then washed it. The car stayed in PARK with the parking brake on - it never moved so the running lights never turned on. Last week I think I started the car and then moved it before I washed it ... so the running lights came on when I moved the car and then stayed on. I will test this over the weekend ... but I think it is worth trying turning the car on and not moving it & leave it in PARK ... I think the daytime running lights will remain off.
I am 99% certain the running lights are off. I think they would be a lot brighter if they were on. I will double check my theory that the running lights do not come on until the car is moved or taken out of PARK some time over the weekend. Another thought is that the running lights are LEDs so they draw very little current and if they are on this will not make any difference to charging the 12V battery. When in READY mode the main traction battery charges the 12V battery through a DC-DC converter. I agree its unnecessary to have the running lights on but it will not have any impact on charging the 12V battery.
I have checked this morning .... the running lights do not turn on until you take the car out of PARK. So if you switch your car on and leave it in PARK while you wash/charge your car the running lights will not come on.
Can you give me a bit more information about how you got a new battery under warranty? - Did you complain to your Toyota dealer or to Toyota GB? If you went through your dealer do you know if they raised a formal complaint with Toyota GB? - Was your battery replaced by the same factory fit 35Ah battery or by a battery with a bigger capacity? I believe that Toyota dealers will only replace the 12V battery with the same spec 35Ah battery but Halfords will fit a 45Ah battery ... but you obviously need to pay for this! - Is the battery being replaced under new car warranty or used car warranty? I believe new car warranty claims have to be approved by Toyota GB whereas used car warranty claims are approved by whichever company provides the used car warranty (which may not be Toyota GB) - When was your 12V battery changed? Have you been trying to get a replacement 12V battery for several months and your dealer agreed in the last week or two? If it has happened recently has your dealer indicated why they have changed their mind and agreed to replace your 12V battery? - Roughly how many miles per year does your car do? If your car does more than a few thousand miles per year then you are probably doing enough mileage to keep the 12V battery charged and your 12V battery may be faulty and therefore being replaced. If you only do a few thousand miles per year then Toyota GB seem to just take the approach ... "12V battery is OK - drive the car more to keep the 12V battery charged" !!!????!! Sorry there are a lot of questions but it would be really useful if you could provide more information for a future video that I am working that would help other Yaris owners to get their 12V battery changed.
Car was 2 years old when I got it. . Aygo before totally reliable. Car let me down with flat battery twice.. Once they insisted on an overnight bench charge after the hybrid damper was changed... a week later I took it to an airport and left it there for a week... flat as a fart when I returned at after midnight from my flight. Called for breakdown assistance.. guy from breakdown said the battery wasn't holding anywhere near enough charge and was a well documented issue with 2020 hybrid yaris. Went into toyota dealer and kicked off big style. Was changed same day.
The AA man is correct there is an issue with the Yaris Mark 4. There is a 97 page discussion on the Toyota Owners Club ... its way too long to read it all but the length of this discussion gives you some idea that you and me are not the only people to experience this problem.... www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/217673-12v-battery-maintenance-issues-etc/ Toyota recommend that Hybrids that are not being used are turned on into READY mode for 60 minutes once a week to keep the 12V battery recharged. mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/ If the previous owner was a low mileage driver and didn't follow this advice then it is possible that your car had been jump started multiple times and that this had degraded the 12V battery. It's possible that the dealer may have had to jump start the car while it was sat on the forecourt just doing an occasional test drive. I think the dealer probably realised that the 12V battery was damaged before you bought the car and decided to replace it for a new battery of the same spec.
This post changed my procedure when sitting in my yaris excel waiting for a patient to return from an appointment.
I used to switch to accessory mode to listen to the radio whilst waiting in the car.
I did not realise this was draining my 12 volt battery and reset it when it switched off after a number of minutes.
I now sit in the car in the ready mode now I know this charges the battery or at least depleats it less if I also leave the heating on😊
The accessory mode in a hybrid is "dangerous" because of the small 12V battery. I think it would be better if they only had OFF or ON [READY mode].
You have the ideal opportunity to charge your 12V battery while you are sat in the car waiting for a patient :)
In the middle of winter I would definitely use the heating .. the petrol engine will come on a more frequently but there is no point getting frost bite 🥶 !!!
😂
Thank you for the fantastic information. I’ll definitely be sharing this with my wife as after purchasing the GX 2021 Yaris. Transitioning to a hybrid vehicle has been a new experience for both of us, and your video has provided us with essential details on how to care for and ensure the reliability of our Yaris GX. We truly appreciate it-many thanks!
I really like my Yaris. I am older so these days I prefer mpg to mph and I like my car gadgets - the Yaris has got unbelievably good mpg and my Excel with the Tech pack has loads of gadgets. So I do really like my Yaris ... but I have had to learn how to look after the 12V battery. I hope my videos raise awareness of the 12V battery issue with the Yaris Mark 4 but also inform people how to manage the battery.
I hope you are enjoying your GX Yaris and have a LOT of fun with it 😀👍🏎️
A great video about a very much discussed Yaris "issue". Toyota seem to have dug their heels in on this and I've read of many dealers telling owners that they "just need to drive it more". I'm on my second Mk4 Yaris, having moved after a year of owning a Dynamic trim version, to the GR Sport that replaced it. I don't drive long distances often or regularly and have had the '12v battery fail' problem a number of times on both cars, though my NOCO GB40 takes 'most' of the anxiety out of owning such a vehicle. It is a ridiculous state of affairs to have on a modern car, though and of course, although the power pack is a simple fix, not everyone would be happy using one.
A far better set up would be if they supplied a sort of cut-down version of a boost pack built into the car, with an 'emergency start' button in the car and that charged up from the main motor battery. I suggested this to an AA chap who said that some car makes are indeed implementing such a thing. I think he mentioned Kia.
The Yaris still puts a smile on my face when I drive it, so I persevere!
Thanks for the comment. I am glad you enjoyed the video.
Like you I still really enjoy driving my Yaris and I am not thinking of selling it but and its a big but .. I still get nervous about whether or not it will start. I know I have got the NOCO GB20 behind the passenger seat if I need it but I should not need to get out of the car, lift the bonnet and jump start a modern car.
I have been impressed by the support from my dealer but incredibly disappointed by Toyota GB's attitude to their customers. Telling customers to "drive the car more" makes the incredible petrol consumption pointless ... or telling customers to use a solar charger ... or sit in the car for an hour in READY mode ... or jump start it ... all assume that all of their customers will be willing or able to do one or more of these things.
Hybrids are different because of the small 12V battery and I accept & understand that I cannot leave it for a week in an airport car park and expect the 12V battery to start the car. What I find hard to accept is that my car failed to start after a single day without use when it was 10 months old. My previous Yaris Hybrid Mark3 always started even during lockdown.
In my view Toyota GB have made an enormous mistake with something in the design of the 12V system in the Mark 4 that means the 12V battery runs out of power too quickly. But ... the cost to Toyota of fixing the problem is too high. If it was a safety related issue then Toyota would be forced to do a recall and fix it but it isn't so Toyota will not fix the problem.
Toyota HAD a reputation for building reliable cars. I have owned and driven Toyotas since 2005 and I am not thinking of selling my Yaris ... but when I want to change it I think the chances of me buying another Toyota are slim. I think that Toyota may look back on this situation in a few years time and realise that they made an enormous mistake in the way they handled this problem.
I made this video about the Kia and Hyundai 12V reset button which is a much more customer friendly way of solving the small 12V battery problem.
ruclips.net/video/3k7SSJecDUg/видео.htmlsi=V7DmA0lKTNaOgLnq
@@Helpful-Stuff Ah, I'm sorry, although I am subscribed to your channel, I missed your piece on the battery reset buttons on Kia and Hyundai cars. I first found out about it when my GR Sport resolutely refused to start even with a fully charged NOCO before Christmas and I had to call the AA (I have Toyota Roadside Assistance). As a retired Physics teacher, I mentioned "my" idea of a built-in power reservoir, like a NOCO, or a bypass to use the fraction needed of the motor battery, via a reset button. "Oh they already have them on some cars", he replied and mentioned Kia. I was pleased to discover it wasn't me just having a fanciful idea! Incidentally, I think my NOCO failed to make a good contact. I've since tried earthing it to another bit of metal and it was fine. Maybe dirt, maybe a seal under the bolt I'd chosen.
To close, I can leave my car unlocked and in Ready mode, at my caravan in North Wales, quite safely and have done so a number of times when staying there. Can't really do that parked on the road at home, though!. I've brought the keys into the caravan with me, left the car over an hour and it seems to continue, the petrol engine kicking in just once or twice. I should really have tried driving it without keys to see what happens. My next little purchase is going to be one of those combined voltmeters and multiple USB charger sockets that plugs into the 12v accessory socket. It won't solve any problems but it will (should?) show me how much time it really takes to get the battery up to a satisfactory voltage.
Sorry you had a problem with your NOCO but thanks for the tip about making sure there is a good earth contact. If my car fails to start again I will make a video - "How to jump start with the NOCO" and I will make sure I mention that if it does not work try another bolt for the earth connection. The NOCO has such short leads that you are very limited with places to connect it ... and the lead is certainly not long enough to reach Toyota's recommended earth connection.
My dealer said it is possible to take the emergency key out of the fob ... leave the fob in the car ... lock the door with the emergency key and leave the car running. While that might allow you to leave the car in READY mode for an hour when it is parked on the street ... it is illegal to leave an unattended car running on public roads! ... but if you can find somewhere off road to park it this might be a solution for you.
I also got a voltmeter for the accessory socket in the hope that it may give me some advance warning of a problem. I am going to make a video showing the sort of voltages I am seeing on it. I have only had one jump start so I think (hope!) my 12V battery is still healthy.
The interesting thing is that when the car is fully on it reads over 14V which is the voltage of the DC-DC converter voltage recharging the 12V battery.
If I turn the car on to the accessory setting (foot not on brake) then you see the 12V battery voltage. Unfortunately the 12V battery has got some load on it because the car has turned some systems on so its not the 12V battery with no load - I am seeing voltages ranging from 11.6V up to 12.1V. I am not a battery expert but that seems reasonable to me for a 12V battery with a light load. When you get your voltmeter I would be very interested if you are seeing similar voltages.
In the last couple of days I have discovered that when I turn the car fully on ... for just a few seconds the voltmeter displays the Accessory position voltage. This saves me having to do a 2 stage turn on ... Accessory position first then fully on with a second START button press. But it is only a few seconds so I have to be looking at the voltmeter when I press the START button with my foot on the brake.
I will put all this in a video ... but I am a bit busy with other stuff at the moment.
@@Helpful-Stuff Some interesting tips there, thanks!. Yes, it's important that the NOCO is cycling through its lights. If not, the battery voltage is too low for it to detect a battery is there! That 'may' have been the case. Of course, provided you're happy everything is connected up correctly, then the override mode can be used. I wasn't confident enough beforehand but now know what to look for.
maybe it was the clamp "inverted". what i mean is that only one side of the clamp is connected to the wire. this happens mostly with the positive in the fuse box since you clamp one side with the metal plate and the other clamp goes on the plastic. @@AlanJones1
I have a 2023 Toyota Yaris Hybrid it uses the key to start, not contact less push button. Will this work the same as your car. Obviously if light levels are low the lights will automatically come on which would drain the battery. So do you think this will work with my key staring version. The dealership service department didn't advise me about this when I aired my concerns about the 12v battery, they have informed me though that my version may well not be so affected as the push button versions. Also told me today Toyota UK are sourcing a different battery which should hopefully sort the problem. The sales people don't appear to be telling anyone they need to be doing more miles, regular longer journeys to charge the battery. Would have been nice to tell people the hybrid isn't really very suitable for people who mostly do shorter journeys
Thanks for the comment. Very interested to read that Toyota GB are sourcing a different battery to fix the problem. Toyota GB agreed to change my 12V battery under warranty but they changed it for a new Mutlu battery ... the same battery that was factory fitted when my car was built. So I have zero confidence that this battery will last much longer than the factory fitted 12V battery.
I have read a lot of comments from people who have gone to Halfords or another non-Toyota garage and asked for a Yuasa battery to be fitted to their Yaris. All but one of these comments have said that this has resolved the problem. So if my car fails to start again I am going to get a Yuasa battery.
If you have an ignition key then I recommend that you NEVER use accessory (ACC) position. In this position the 12V battery is powering systems like the media system but the 12V battery is NOT being recharged which means that there is a chance that the poor quality Multlu 12V battery may run out of charge and you may not be able to start your car.
The key will work exactly the same as push "start" button. Start your car as normal. I have never had a key in a Hybrid car but I assume that you twist the key to the START position and then release it so that the key is in the ON position while you are driving. The important thing is that the READY light must be displayed on the dashboard ... this confirms that the Hybrid system is "ready" but it also shows that the 12V battery is being rechanged from the big traction battery.
I sometimes wash my car at dusk and the car automatically turns the lights on. Personally I don't worry about this:
- I trust that Toyota's engineering teams will have designed the DC-DC converter so that it can supply enough current to charge the 12V battery and run the other electrical systems (lights, wipers etc at the same time)
- on many Yaris models the lights are all LED which use about 90% less electricity than old halogen bulbs so when the lights come on it isn't a massive load on the DC-DC converter.
The Yaris "fail to start" problem is caused by the poor quality Mutlu battery used by Toyota. It's nothing to do with the push button or key starting. So I think that your dealer is wrong ... I think your car is as likely to fail to start as a push button start Yaris.
I have had comments under my videos from high mileage owners as well as low mileage owners. I classify myself as "average" mileage and it happened to my car at 10months old with 6,000miles on the clock after just ONE day parked and not used. So a failure to start can happen to anybody but I believe it is more likely to happen to low mileage owners. I suspect that this is not because of the low mileage but more to do with the fact that low mileage owners may not use their cars very often and they are left parked and not started for many days.
Many Yaris owners use a solar trickle charger to avoid the problem. My dealer recommended this so I have bought one and made this video
ruclips.net/video/cSfik4yyXfo/видео.html
This video shows the free cable fitting that my dealer did which makes it a lot easier to plug the solar charge in...
ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html
I agree that sales people should warn low mileage customers ... but they don't because the only thing that they are interested in is their commission ... sorry I am old and cynical!!!
@@Helpful-Stuff Agree about the sales people, they lied to me about the one previous owner. I caught them out as the new sales boy left the log book unattended and I saw the previous owner was Hertz. Unfortunately I'd already payed for it and sorted out the insurance. I told them to their face they'd been lying to me when the other senior salesman had told me it had one previous private owner an older lady. And according to DVLA it hadn't been taxed for a year. How can you trust these people when they lie blatantly. Just hope the car will be OK. The service person I talked to said they could fit me a cable just like in your video for free if I need it to use a solar charger. He said the problem seems to be with the push button models, not sure if mine has a different battery. And Toyota are fitting a different battery which should sort the problem, fingers crossed. Your video showing the cable and using the solar charger was very useful. I was thinking how is that going to work, would need the bonnet open maybe, which wouldn't be very practical. I'm using my car mostly everyday just quite a lot of short journeys since covid. This wasn't a problem with my old 11 Year old Yaris petrol only engine, still on original battery. Just worried my new hybrid car may die when i leave at the airport for 2 wks next year
Thank you! Have you done any videos on using a trickle charge battery charger for Toyota Yaris? I don't use mine often, but have been doing the weekly 1 hour started engine, and have now needed a jump start twice in a few months, so looking into getting a trickle charger - any advice much appreciated 🙏
I have an allocated space in a car park but unfortunately there is no 240V mains socket near my car parking space so I don't have the option to use a mains powered trickle charger but I have read the following which may be a few useful tips:
- do NOT connect the mains charger to the 12V battery contact in the fusebox under the bonnet ... this is for jump starting only.
- connect the charger directly to the 12V battery which is under the rear seat
- the battery is difficult to get at ... I have read that people who regularly connect a mains charger to their Yaris' 12V battery connect cables to the battery that are left in place permanently and the other end is easy to get at and connect to the charger. If you are not able to do this then I guess a local garage would do this for you at (hopefully) a reasonable cost
I think that the easier option for you may actually be my dealer's recommended solution which is a solar trickle charger. I have made a couple of videos about this:
ruclips.net/video/cSfik4yyXfo/видео.html AA Solar Trickle Charger
ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html Cable fitted by dealer
I use my solar trickle charger if I am not going to use my car for 24 hours or more.
The cause of the problem is the Mutlu battery that Toyota use. I have read that people have successfully fixed the problem by going to Halfords or other non-Toyota garage and asking for a Yuasa battery to be fitted.
Toyota GB after 5 months of email discussion changed my 12V battery under warranty but because my local Toyota dealer changed the battery it was changed for another Mutlu battery. My last Mutlu battery only lasted 10 months from new ... so I am only expecting the replacement battery to last 10 months. When this battery fails to start my car I will immediately get a Yuasa battery fitted.
I have only had one failure to start but I compared the voltage from my first Mutlu battery with my new Mutlu battery ... the new battery was 0.5V higher than my old battery. This means that my old battery was degraded after a single failure to start!!!
If you have had a couple of failures to start I think you need a new 12V battery ... and if you are getting a new battery I would get a Yuasa battery from a non-Toyota dealer. I have no personal experience with this battery but I have read that people have resolved the problem with the Yuasa battery.
It sounds like you are low mileage owner and your car may be parked and not used for several days ... so I think the best solution is ... buy a Yuasa battery and a solar trickle charger. If you are not going to use the car for 24 hours or more then fit the solar trickle charger to keep the Yuasa battery topped up.
The bizarre thing is ... I really like my Yaris and I often say it is the best car I have ever bought but unfortunately at the same time it is also the worst car I have ever bought because at only 10 months old it failed to start.
What's your car washing method?
Thanks for your tips, have given our car a good run this morning over 60 mins and also just finished a good wash of the vehicle again over an hour with car in ready mode and keys inside, will be monitoring the results but think i will have to invest in a jump start booster as a back up , is there one you would recommend ? The really strange thing is this is our third Yaris over the last 6/7 years had no issues with the battery before....
I think a jump starter is a good investment. I have bought a NOCO GB20 Jump starter. Its the lowest power jump starter in NOCO's range because it only has to provide enough current to allow the computers to start. (There is no starter motor in a hybrid.)
I bought my NOCO last October shortly after my car failed to start. At the time the cheapest place I could find to buy it was tayna.co.uk £86.32... things may have changed so its worth Googling to check prices.
I have owned Toyota's since 2005 when I bought a 1 year old ex-demo LandCruiser which I kept until 2018 when it had almost done 200K miles. I must admit I did have to call the AA one morning when my LandCruiser failed to start ... but the 12V batteries (yep 2 !!!) were the original factory fitted batteries and the car was 12 years old!!! The AA man was amazed that the 12V batteries had lasted that long!!! So, a totally understandable failure to start.
In 2018 I got a new Yaris Mark 3 which started reliably for 5 years ... even during lockdown when it was only used once per week.
Right at the end of December 2022 I got a Yaris Mark 4. And in October 2023 it failed to start when it was 10 months old.
So I have owned a Toyota since 2005 and I feel very disappointed and let down by my Yaris. In a lot of ways it is the BEST car I have ever owned ... but unfortunately at the same time it is the WORST car I have ever owned.
Don't need to leave the keys in the car. It won't turn off. In fact leaving the keys in the car with the doors closed and then connecting a jump pack will automatically lock the doors. Strange I know.
Thanks for the information that the car will not turn off if the keys are outside the car.
I think I will continue to leave the keys inside the car because if the keys are outside the car then when I wash the car door handle the car will lock and unlock when the lock / unlock detectors are washed with a sponge. This is the quirky behaviour that I mention in this video and you can watch in this short (49seconds) video...
ruclips.net/video/8MHQAR622ls/видео.html
That is very strange behaviour when you connect a jump pack!!! If I have understood correctly that means that you could lock your keys inside the car when jump starting ... which is a bit of a concern!!!
@@Helpful-Stuff Yep, very strange! I used to do work for a company that leases out cars to cab drivers / uber Etc. We had 100's of cars in the yards. We all did it at least once. We had to buy kits to force the door open and use a long rod to press the open door button, while someone else frantically tries to open the door before the car locks it again. Toyota only provided one key for these cars too.
Sounds like a "fun" game trying to get back in the cars when the keys were locked in. I hope it never happens to me ... it would be much easier for me though because I can go back in my house and get the spare key. Unless I have locked the house and my only key is with the key fob locked inside my car. Nightmare 😱
Toyota should be ashamed of this issue. Its affecting so many customers and their advice is to buy a battery charger. They should be swapping out the cheap factory battery for a better one and fixing the drain issue. So much for their legendary reliability. They could have even offered a non-hybrid version with an actual proper battery which I believe is available in other parts of the world, just not the UK, unless you buy the GR.
I agree with everything you have said especially the bit about Toyota's legendary reliability ... Toyota's way of dealing with THEIR design problem with the 12V system by blaming customers is disgraceful and means that as far as I am concerned Toyotas can no longer be considered as reliable cars.
I have owned a LandCruiser, a Yaris Mark 3 and now this Yaris Mark 4 so I WAS a Toyota fan. The Yaris Mark 4 is a great car except for the 12V system ... but starting reliably is a basic requirement of any car in the 21st century.
I have the same issue. Today I took my Yaris Excel to the Toyota Leicester for battery checking, Sales informed if I need to pay £144 charges if the battery works normally! Of course, I rejected
They recommended I go to Halfords to buy an 8W solar set but Halfords staff told me that it was not enough power for a 12V battery. Waste my half-day time.
That is absolutely disgraceful profiteering from Toyota Leicester for a known problem with the Yaris Mark 4.
My car was only 10 months old when the battery failed to start the car after only a single day without use. The AA measured the battery at only 9.45V so they jump started my car and accompanied me to the dealer. The dealer tested the battery immediately and found it was OK but it needed to be recharged. They recharged it overnight then left the car for several hours to check if the battery lost charge. They then did another test which showed the battery was healthy and fully charged. So they handed the car back to me saying the 12V battery was healthy and Toyota GB would not replace it under warranty.
So if I had bought my car from Toyota Leicester I would have been charged £144. To say I would have been angry is an understatement.
Toyota dealers are handling this problem with the Mark 4 12V batteries very differently. I am extremely lucky to have bought my car from a dealer who is being very supportive and helpful about this design fault with the Yaris Mark 4.
The only thing I can suggest is do not use Toyota Leicester. If you have another Toyota dealership nearby then try another dealer.
My dealer recommended that I buy an AA Solar trickle charger as shown in this video:
ruclips.net/video/cSfik4yyXfo/видео.html
My dealer installed the OBD cable free of charge as shown in this video
ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html
The AA or Halfords solar chargers are NOT designed to recharge your 12V battery when it goes flat ... the aim of a solar charger is to MAINTAIN the 12V battery charge to AVOID the 12V battery going flat.
Modern cars use electricity from the 12V battery when parked and switched off which can drain the 12V battery over several days. The aim of a solar charger is to keep the 12V battery fully charged by using the solar panel to generate enough electricity to replace the electricity that the car uses when it is parked. A solar panel does not generate enough electricity to recharge your 12V battery.
When your 12V battery goes flat then you will need to recharge the 12V battery by either
(a) putting your Yaris into READY mode and letting the car recharge the 12V battery from the traction battery over an hour or more depending on how flat your battery is
(b) connecting a 12V battery recharger directly to the 12V battery under the rear seat. I have never done this but I believe that there is not much space and it is quite difficult.
Toyota recommend putting your car in READY mode for 60 minutes once per week to keep the 12V battery fully charged.
mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/
I combine this with a weekly car wash and I have figured out how to reduce the amount of time the petrol engine comes on to a minimum:
ruclips.net/video/Ch-L0JbbQUg/видео.html
I have also bought a NOCO GB20 Jump Starter just in case my battery fails again. A Jump Starter is a battery pack that connects to the 12V jump start terminal under the bonnet. A jump starter will get you going immediately ... but they do not recharge the battery.
A final link that may be interesting is this 97 (!!!) page discussion on the Toyota Owners Club forum which will make you realise that you and me are not the only people who are experiencing this problem ...
www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/217673-12v-battery-maintenance-issues-etc/
@@Helpful-Stuff thank you reply and I saw all yours RUclips almost.
I have some queries, if just turn on the car to READY mode but not drive it will be recharge the 12v battery then why drive with slowly on the country cannot be recharge ! Toyota said I must use my 2019 Yaris Excel on motorway at least 20mins per day.
Sorry for my home town language not in English, maybe I made you miss understanding.
If just on the READY mode can fix the battery problem then I willing to try.
When I first went to my dealer with this problem I was told some things that I now know were wrong. I now only talk to the Manager of the Service Department about the 12V battery problem. So I am not surprised that you are being told some things that are wrong or confusing.
The first thing I would say is that your car and the 12V battery are now 5 years old. I would strongly recommend that you get a new battery 12V battery installed - 12V batteries do not last forever and 5 years is about right to get it changed. You could obviously ask a Toyota dealer to do this but you may also want to investigate somewhere like Halfords because they will be cheaper.
The 12V battery IS being recharged when the car is stationary and the car is in READY mode. There is no need for the car to be driven. Hybrids charge the 12V battery from the traction battery and this happens without needing to drive the car. (Petrol & diesel cars have an alternator which charges the 12V battery and alternators charge the battery when the car is moving.)
If my Yaris' 12V battery lost so much charge it was not able to start the car ... I would jump start it with my NOCO GB20 jump starter and then I would go for a bit of a longer drive on the motorway because I need to put a LOT of charge into the 12V battery to fully recharge it.
However, there is no need to drive your Yaris on the motorway for 20mins per day ... or even 20mins per week.
You have got a Yaris Mark 3. I owned a Yaris Mark 3 from 2018 to 2022 and it started reliably - no problems even during COVID lockdown when I only used it once per week. I did not drive my Yaris Mark 3 on the motorway for 20mins per day!!! ... or per week!!!
My problem was with a Yaris Mark 4 that I bought in 2022 when it was only 10 months old!!! Lots of people are having 12V battery problems with the Yaris Mark 4.
The more I think about it ... the more I think that your problems will be solved by buying a new 12V battery because your 12V battery is now 5 years old and past its best.
I have just purchased a used 2021 Yaris for the wife. Appox 24k miles.
Unfortunately, the car failed to start the day after purchase.
The dahsboard stated:
Hybrid system stopped shift into P position.
I belive this happened because I had been listening to the radio for 10 minutes in accessory mode therefore depleting the 12V battery.
I have emailed toyota dealer and will update here what they advise.
I am very disappointed that such an excellent company could produce a vehicle with such a basic error.
I am very much hoping that the dealer will replace the 12V battery with the new manufacturer under warranty.
Unfortunately with a used Yaris you have absolutely no idea how many times the car has failed to start with the previous owner. Each time it happens the 12V battery is degraded a bit which means that it is more likely that the car will fail to start.
You also do not know how many days the car has been sat on the dealers forecourt unused. My car would not start after just one day without use. So a Yaris sat on the dealers forecourt for a few weeks will result in the battery going flat. A few relatively short test drives will not charge the 12v battery up sufficiently. I did this video on buying a used Yaris.
ruclips.net/video/RY5VZRhhwto/видео.html
From comments left on my videos I know that Toyota Poland have worked with Toyota HQ to define new 12V test procedures with new test equipment and any car that fails the new tests will get a new 12V battery fitted under warranty. There are more details in this video with a link to the Polish news article in the video description:
ruclips.net/video/EHtg81kM-FU/видео.html
I do not know if UK dealers have got the new test equipment or procedures.
The problem is the Mutlu battery that is factory fitted to the Yaris. If you get a replacement battery try and get a Yuasa battery - from what I have read they are a lot better. I think the challenge will be that a Toyota dealer will only fit Toyota recommended parts ... so you may get another Mutlu.
My brand new car failed to start when only 10 months old with about 6,000 miles on the clock. So if you do get another Mutlu battery I am afraid that my experience shows that within a year you may get another failure to start.
I have only had one failure to start. My battery was replaced and I know from voltage readings that even that one failure to start degraded the battery. My Mutlu battery was replaced under warranty with an identical battery. Obviously I am concerned that the first Mutlu battery failed to start after 10 months so the same may happen with the new battery so in order to try and avoid another failure to start I wash & recharge my car weekly as shown in this video and keep an eye on the voltage with a voltmeter plugged into the accessory socket.
ruclips.net/video/0nYdnNVgvJI/видео.html
This video was made with my old battery ... my new battery has voltages that are about 0.5V higher than shown in this video.
I have decided that if the voltages start to drop I am going to go to a local garage and get them to fit a Yuasa battery because I believe this will solve the problem.
I have obviously been a bit negative about the Yaris in this message ... but it is actually the best car I have ever owned!!! I have got the Excel with the optional Tech pack so I have got loads of gadgets. The fuel consumption is unbelievably low - on a 10 mile drive a few days ago I got 100.5mpg !!! I can't achieve this on every drive but it shows that the car uses very little petrol. (Although when it doesn't start its also the worst car I have ever bought.)
ruclips.net/video/Tvy1g-GbLCw/видео.html
I think your used Yaris has failed to start multiple times with the previous owner and the time sat on the forecourt at the dealer waiting to be sold has damaged the battery beyond repair ... the 12V battery needs to be replaced. Do not let the dealer fob you off with an overnight recharge. Under the used car warranty you should be able to get a new battery and then you will have a very good car.
Good luck ... and please keep us updated especially if your dealer shares any information with you about the 12V battery tests and procedures.
Sorry to ask about your 12v battery experience again. As I have previously mentioned I am in the process of waiting for delivery of my new Yaris Design. Are you now free of starting problems since you have your solar charger? Do you plug it in every day?
I have to admit that the 12v problem does worry me and yet I still very much like the car. I am told by the Toyota dealer that I can if I wish cancel my order - what would you do now if you were in my position. Incidentally my dealer has refused to unscrew the OBD support bracket as they say it could cancel warranty issues.
Many thanks.
David.
The good news is that I have not had any further problems starting my car :)
I do not plug the solar charger in every day. At this time of year with short days and very overcast dark days with little sunlight I only plug the solar charger in if there is a chance of a bit of sunlight through the clouds.
I do not plug the solar charger in if I have just done a motorway drive because I figure that this will charge the 12V battery.
If I know that I will not be using the car the next day then I will make sure that the solar charger is plugged in.
As you have seen in this video I now turn the car on when I wash my car so that the 12V battery is being charged from the traction battery.
I have bought a voltmeter that plugs into the accessory socket. I don't leave it plugged in all the time because when the car is on it just shows about 14.5V which is the traction battery charging the 12V battery. However, if I turn the car on to accessory mode (no brake pedal) then I see the actual 12V battery voltage - and I have seen 12.5V down to 11.9V - a healthy 12V battery :) If you do this do not leave accessory mode on for more than a few seconds because the 12V battery is not being charged but it is powering lots of accessories so it will be discharging the 12V battery!!!
I think I am managing the 12V problem pragmatically ... when I can I use the solar charge but I don't worry if I don't plug it in every single time ... and I now wash and charge which is effectively a 12V battery charge for "free" as it does not take any extra time on top of the car wash I would do anyway. I keep an eye on the 12V battery voltage as well. So I am feeling comfortable that I am doing everything needed to avoid another failure to start.
Just to let you know ...
I had another OTA update a few days ago and one of the changes listed was:
"Update of the connectivity module (DCM) to fix connection issues"
The DCM module was also mentioned in the letter about the e-Call OTA update that I mentioned in a previous comment to you. So it looks like the DCM module in my car had "connection issues" that had not been fixed when Toyota tried to do the OTA update to fix the e-Call system several weeks ago.
I am becoming more and more certain that my 12V battery went flat because an OTA update to fix the e-Call issue went wrong because of "connection issues" with the DCM module.
I think that this is my specific reason for the 12V battery going flat. However, there is also an issue with 12V batteries going flat if the car is not driven regularly or left in a car park while on holiday for a couple of weeks.
I am not going to advise whether or not you should cancel you order - I think it is too dependant on your own mileage and how often your car will not be used and how happy you are to manage the 12V battery. What I will do is give you links to other sources of information that I have found:
(1) Toyota Owners Club - 71 pages discussion of this issue
www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/217673-12v-battery-maintenance-issues-etc/
(2) toyota.co.uk - Toyota's advice & at the bottom of the page - 24 pages of comments from customers
mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/comment-page-1/
I think it is also worth mentioning that this 12V battery exists with other hybrids ... so if you cancel your Toyota order and buy another manufacturer's hybrid than the 12V battery problem still exists. However, Kia and Hyundai have got the 12V reset button which is a much more customer friendly method of handling the situation. It annoys me that Toyota do not take the same approach as Kia and Hyundai.
My view is that your dealer does not want to unscrew the ODB socket and the warranty is just an excuse to not do it. The problem for your dealer is that if they do this for you then they will have to do it for more of their customers. My dealer has obviously taken a decision that the very small amount of time it takes to do it is worth it to keep customers happy. This has worked because I am very happy with my dealer but very disappointed by Toyota GB's response to my specific issue and the wider 12V battery issue.
Another thought ... there is a new Yaris coming out in 2024. I have asked if this has a better way of managing the 12V battery ... maybe a 12V Reset button or something similar ... but nobody I have contacted knows.
mag.toyota.co.uk/2024-toyota-yaris/
I am extremely grateful for the help and guidance you have given to me. I with you a very happy Christmas and all the best for the new year.@@Helpful-Stuff
How does that work, does the traction battery charge the 12V battery
Yes 👍
Hybrids do not have an alternator (that charges the 12V battery in a petrol/diesel car). Hybrids have a DC-DC converter which reduces the high voltage from the traction battery down to a lower voltage that can be used to recharge the 12V battery and power lights, media system, wipers etc.
In a petrol/diesel car an alternator can charge the 12V battery faster when the petrol/diesel engine is above idling speed. This is why if you get a flat battery in a petrol/diesel car it is a good idea to take the car for a drive to let the alternator give the 12V battery a good charge.
In a hybrid the DC -DC converter charges the 12V battery at the same speed whether or not the petrol engine is on or off and if the petrol engine is on the petrol engine can be idling.
So my Yaris can be stationary in READY mode and I can wash it for 1 hour and the 12V battery will be charged exactly the same as if I drove the car for 1 hour. This means I am not putting any miles on the car and I have a nice clean car 👍😃
How about charging the battery using a car battery charger?
The location where I washed my car in the video is my allocated parking space and unfortunately there is no electricity supply to plug a battery charger in. My flat is on the 2nd floor so even a long extension cable is not possible!
When my car would not start I bought a NOCO GB20 jump starter. After buying the GB20 I discovered the CTEK CS FREE which works without a mains connection and can jump start, charge and maintain a 12V battery.
If I bought a CS FREE as well as the GB20 the CS FREE would only be needed to maintain the 12V battery and its quite expensive! My car can maintain the 12V battery using the DC-DC converter. The problem was that I didn't want to waste an hour per week sat in the car doing nothing while the car ensures that the 12V battery is fully charged.
Since I wash the car every week to 10 days anyway I realised that I could simply leave the car switched on while I wash it and this would maintain the 12V battery.
In hindsight I should have bought a CS FREE rather than the GB20 but since I have got a GB20 the wash and charge is a good solution.
@@Helpful-Stuff I just wanted to confirm that charging using a regular charger is still possible. Easier for me to put the car in the garage and use the charger overnight. Yesterday I wanted to test a Yaris Cross and it had zero battery, the dealership had to charge it (I found it odd) and we had to use a different car for test.
Yep ... charging using a regular charger is possible. I have never done it but from what I have read then yes it is possible. I agree in your situation with a garage charging overnight is much more convenient.
This discussion on the Toyota Owners Club forum may be of interest ... scroll about half way down page 1 and it discusses where to connect a charger.
www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/217673-12v-battery-maintenance-issues-etc/
Its a 71 page discussion about Toyota Hybrid's 12V batteries ... which you may find interesting. I have to be honest it is so long that I have not read it all!!!
It was interesting reading about your test drive ... it made me laugh that even a dealer gets caught out by the 12V battery issue !!!
@@seaman651hi, just wanted to ask, have you tried charging your 12V battery already, using a regular car battery charger? I'm also using a Yaris Cross hybrid and I'm really curious if it's possible. Thank 2:14 s
Hi, I am completely ignorant when it comes to cars. I got the Yaris 2023 because of I didn't want to face reliability issues, but since I am still afraid of driving on highways, here I am with a flat battery. I saw your video about charging with the solar panel and now this one. If I understand this video well, then it is enough to have the car on and sit in it for an hour every week, no driving and no charger. Can you please confirm? Thank for your reply.
Yes sitting in your car for 1 hour once per week and not driving anywhere will maintain your 12V battery charge and should avoid the flat 12V battery. You need to switch the car on with your foot on the brake so that the car's dashboard shows that the car is in READY mode. ("READY" is displayed in the left hand circular dashboard display.)
The petrol engine will come on from time to time. You can reduce the amount of time that the petrol engine is on by turning the car's heating off as shown in the video. This is OK for me because I am washing the car ... if you are sat in the car then you may prefer to have the heating on. This will use a bit of petrol but not a lot because the petrol engine is only ticking over.
I am basing this advice on page on the Toyota website
mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/
and also discussions with the service manager at my local dealer.
Doing this for one hour per week will "maintain" the charge of your 12V battery. However, if you battery goes flat and your car will not start then you really need a charger to get your 12V battery fully charged again. If you don't have a charger then you could recharge your battery by sitting in your car for longer than an hour to allow the car to fully recharge the battery. I have no idea how long you will need to sit in the car ... it depends on how flat the battery is ... but it will be much longer than an hour.
If my car fails to start again I have decided that I am going to go to a local garage and ask them to fit a Yuasa 12V battery. I think that the problem is caused by the Mutlu 12V battery that Toyota factory fit and will be fitted by a Toyota dealer if you ask them to replace the 12V battery.
I don't have any personal experience with the Yuasa 12V battery but from what I have read online other people have solved the problem by fitting a Yuasa 12V battery. It may be worth trying ....
@@Helpful-Stuff Dear sir, I am very grateful for your kind reply. I have ordered the solar charger which is something I wouldn’t dare to do if it were not for your detailed video. Thank you! I will certainly keep the Yuasa battery in mind should problems arise again. It’s my first car, a Toyata approved Yaris 2023, about 17k km, one previous owner. Is it normal to get a flat battery after parking the car for 10 days? I’ve been traveling very short distances and the speed limit is 30, or do you think the battery has deteriorated after having the car sit at the dealership for months? Any advice regarding the driving mode I should be using? Any sources of information you could recommend to know the car better? The lady at the dealership, gave me the keys and said “it’s a previously owned car so no explanation for you”! Said a few things and sent me off!
Whether you get the time to reply or not, please accept my sincere gratitude.
Hybrid and EV cars both use a much smaller 12V battery than is fitted to a petrol or diesel powered car. In a petrol or diesel car the 12V battery has to provide a lot of power to the starter motor to start the engine and they therefore need a big battery.
Hybrid's and EVs only need the 12V battery to switch the computers on which requires a less powerful battery which can therefore be smaller. (In Hybrid's the 12V battery is not used to start the petrol engine.)
All modern cars have a lot more electronic systems than older cars and some of them need to work even when the car is parked and the car is switched off. This means that when a modern car is parked it is still using power from the 12V battery.
Petrol and diesel engined cars have big 12V batteries so this is not a problem. However, the small 12V batteries in Hybrids and EVs can run out of charge if they are parked for many days and not used.
If you Google you will find that most EVs and Hybrids from all manufacturers will have some complaints about the 12V battery being unable to start the car. Some manufacturers like Kia and Hyundai have a system which monitors the 12V battery and when the charge drops dangerously low it will switch the 12V system off. This ensures that the 12V battery will be able to start the car but it does mean that you have to unlock the car with the mechanical key because central locking has been switched off to save the 12V battery.
ruclips.net/video/3k7SSJecDUg/видео.html
The problem with the Toyota Yaris Mark 4 is that the 12V battery fitted by Toyota, a Mutlu battery, is not a very good battery. This means that it is not able to hold the electric charge very well and is unfortunately very likely to not have the enough charge to switch the car on if it not used for several days. There are therefore a LOT of people complaining that their Yaris Mark 4 will not start.
My own car failed to start when it was only 10 months old and had done about 12,000km ... it had only been parked for ONE day!!!
So I am not at all surprised that your car failed to start after 10 days parked.
If a car has a healthy battery then after 10 days parked I would expect...
- petrol or diesel car would start
- Many Hybrids and EVs would start but a few might not start
- My old Yaris Mark 3 would probably start
- Unfortunately I would absolutely NOT expect a Yaris Mark 4 with the original factory fitted battery to start ... unless it had a solar charger fitted!!!
I have made a video about buying a used Yaris
ruclips.net/video/RY5VZRhhwto/видео.html
The key message of this video is that you do not know the history of the 12V battery so I strongly recommend that you change your 12V battery. I think that there is a good chance that your 12V battery is very severely degraded and you will get numerous failures to start.
You could try and ask the dealer who sold you the car to replace the 12V battery. They may or may not agree and if they do they will give you another Mutlu battery. Or you could take it to a local garage and get a Yuasa battery. This will cost you but from what I read there is a good chance that this will solve the problem.
However, I would also say that if you regularly leave a Hybrid (even with a Yuasa battery) parked for 10 days then you are asking a lot of the small 12V battery. If you are parking the car for a day or more then put the solar charger on to keep the 12V battery topped up.
Despite the 12V battery problem I actually really like my Yaris Mark 4. I have got the Excel with the optional Tech pack so I have got loads of gadgets! I have made a load of videos that you may find interesting ... your car may not have all the features in the videos but many of the features are fitted to all models.
Electronic parking brake ruclips.net/video/lmIg0QJwqNQ/видео.html
Remote Start ruclips.net/video/TDemHoBTfgs/видео.html
Remote unlocking ruclips.net/video/Xqz3gdISbLo/видео.html
Fuel consumption ruclips.net/video/Tvy1g-GbLCw/видео.html
Sounds ruclips.net/video/yAbu3Jfu7x8/видео.html
Smart Entry quirky ruclips.net/video/8MHQAR622ls/видео.html
Blind spot monitor ruclips.net/video/nDQDI8BBt8o/видео.html
Lights ruclips.net/video/px_OWoTK6JY/видео.html
Follow home lights ruclips.net/video/gRMcj8VC5LI/видео.html
Auto braking ruclips.net/video/1QJozpNF264/видео.html
Heating controls ruclips.net/video/tlaoadIVILk/видео.html
Key fob switch off ruclips.net/video/X4G4efdHtqc/видео.html
Windows ruclips.net/video/hanCDVx3vNk/видео.html
Under the bonnet ruclips.net/video/YO0AnAMjB2s/видео.html
There are also a load of videos about the Smart Connect multimedia system. This playlist includes all the videos I have made about my Toyota
ruclips.net/p/PLmbzH12hWCbFNn9eNILQTdbWotbhU9eIO
I hope you find some of these videos helpful.
If you can manage the 12V battery ... the Yaris Mark 4 is a very good car. I often say my Yaris Mark 4 is the best car I have ever bought but unfortunately at the same time it is also the worst!!!
Hi, I tried to turn on my 2019 Yaris Excel this afternoon while I was gardening. I have had off air conditioning, dash cam, radio & and Bluetooth. After half hour I checked the screen for the battery charger, and it's from 80% decreased to 20% 😮
I try to switch on my car its no problem at that moment. I ready want to share the pic of my car's monitor shows no charged battery while I on READY mode.
Isn't I done with the wrong procedure or battery charger cannot be seen on the monitor?
I think you are correctly putting your car in READY mode but I just want to make sure ... foot on the brake and then press the START button & somewhere on the dashboard it will light up the READY light.
I owned a Mark 3 Yaris (like your 2019 Yaris) and from memory I do not believe that there is a charge indicator for the 12V battery.
I think you may be looking at the charge indicator for the high voltage traction battery which drives the wheels ... not the small 12V battery. When the high voltage traction battery needs to be charged the car will turn the petrol engine on and charge the traction battery from the petrol engine.
The high voltage traction battery charges the small 12V battery.
From the comments you have left on other videos I believe that your 12V battery is 5 years old and your problems will be solved by buying a new 12V battery either from a Toyota dealer or from somewhere like Halfords.
My Mark 3 Yaris started reliably for 5 years even during COVID lockdown when it was only used once per week. I think your 12V battery is just old and needs replacing.
Hi, does this mean that I wouldn't need to buy the AA Solar charger? I mainly do small journeys along country roads about 4-5 times a week and only a round trip of about 14 miles a time. So it worries me quite a lot that I will be bound to get problems. Thanks, Teresa
I really do not want the inconvenience of my car failing to start again so I have taken a "belt and braces" approach. This is how I ensure that my car will never fail to start again...
(1) Every 7 to 10 days I wash & recharge my car as shown in the video
(2) I have got a solar trickle charge which I plug in if my car is parked for a day or more. Typically this only happens one day per month.
(3) I have got a NOCO GB20 starter so if my Yaris does fail to start I can start it myself without needing the AA
(4) I have bought a voltmeter for the accessory socket so I can keep an eye on the voltage of the 12V battery
Its summer and washing my car is pleasant. It is not so pleasant in the winter when it is cold and wet. However, because of the cold winter weather it is very important to keep the 12V battery fully charged so even though its cold and not pleasant I MUST wash my car in the winter.
If you are confident that you really will wash your car every 7 to 10 days even during the cold and wet of a winter's day then you probably do not need a solar trickle charger.
My thoughts are that the "AA Solar trickle charger" (recommended by my Toyota dealer) is around £30 so its not a lot of money and I think it is probably worth buying one. This video shows how my dealer fitted the cable - free of charge. I am not sure of other dealers will do the same install free of charge.
ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html
I also think that given your usage profile ... 2 or 3 days per week your car will be parked and not used. I think with this usage profile the solar trickle charge is the best solution for you. On these "parked" days you must remember to use the solar trickle charger and then your 12V battery should always be well charged and your car will (hopefully) never fail to start.
If I was you I would probably also wash the car periodically (but not necessarily every 7 to 10 days) with the car in READY mode to give the 12V battery a good charge.
Doing (1) and (2) I have not had another failure to start so I have never had to use my NOCO GB20 starter. Hopefully if you have invested in a solar trickle charger then you will not need to buy a NOCO GB20 as well.
I have got an engineering background so I like having a voltmeter in my car to keep an eye on my 12V battery voltage. If you want to buy one this video may be useful...
ruclips.net/video/0nYdnNVgvJI/видео.html
As one final thought ... Polish viewers of my videos left comments that Toyota Poland agree that there is a problem and they have worked with Toyota HQ to define new 12V battery equipment and procedures which have been rolled out to all Polish Toyota dealers. If a 12V battery fails the new tests then the 12V battery will be replaced under warranty.
ruclips.net/video/EHtg81kM-FU/видео.html
If Toyota HQ have agreed that there is a 12V battery problem then it is possible that they have also changed things at the factory so that new cars in 2024 no longer have the 12V battery problem. From what I have discovered the problem is a poor quality factory fit Mutlu 12V battery. If Toyota now fit a better quality battery at the battery from somebody like Yuasa then the problem may be resolved.
I was chatting to the salesman at my local dealer a few days ago and unfortunately he did not know who makes the 12V battery in a new (2024) Yaris.
@@Helpful-Stuff thank you very much. So helpful. I contacted the dealer and told them that they should have told me about the problem with the battery before I bought it, they knew that I only travel less than 100 miles a week. My car is on the way to me, so too late to change my mind. And anyway, I really want this car. I took a few months to decide which car was right for me. The Dealership have said that they would provide a Ring RsP2000 20W Solar Power Battery Maintainer that I just have to plug into the cigarette lighter socket. The Service Manager apparently said that it will charge even though the car isn't switched on. I'm not sure I believe that. What are your thoughts on that please? Many thanks.
The first thing I will say is despite the 12V battery problems I think my Yaris is the best car I have ever owned. It is extremely economical and has loads of gadgets - driver aids, safety aids and other "fun" stuff.
I think you are correct the Ring Battery maintainer will not work plugged into the cigarette lighter socket. When the car is OFF the cigarette lighter is disconnected from the 12V battery. This is the same as most cars - this is so that you do not accidentally leave something plugged in when the car is parked and then when you return to the car the 12V battery is flat. Because the cigarette socket is disconnected from the 12V battery current cannot flow from the battery to the cigarette lighter and it cannot flow the other way from the cigarette lighter to the battery ... so the Battery Maintainer will not work plugged into the cigarette lighter.
This is why my dealer fitted a cable from the ODB socket to above the dashboard so that I can plug the AA solar trickle charger in. The ODB socket does have an "always on" connection to the 12V battery so current can flow to the 12V battery even when the car is switched off and parked.
ruclips.net/video/o8MkFUPfdvQ/видео.html
Tell them that you want the "AA Solar Trickle Charger". Its not expensive - around £30. It is supplied with the ODB cable as shown in this video. (In this video I incorrectly said that my dealer would use the cable to connect directly to the battery ... they actually fitted the ODB cable as shown in the above video.)
ruclips.net/video/cSfik4yyXfo/видео.html
If they can fit the cable like my dealer did then this makes it really easy to plug in and unplug. My dealer fitted this cable for free in less than 10 minutes while I waited.
I hope you have a successful discussion with your dealer. Can you leave a comment to let us know how you get on because this will be useful information for me and other people who are buying a Yaris.
@@Helpful-Stuff I will do. Thanks.
Could you lock the doors with mechanical key so the car stays in Ready mode even if you leave the car, no need to leave keys inside?
This was what my dealer recommended so yes I believe you can lock the fob inside the car with the mechanical key. That is another solution to avoiding just sitting in my car for an hour.
It would be interesting to see how long it stays in ready mode if don’t leave fob inside. And if it makes any difference if you lock the doors with mechanical key or with a fob.
You have given me an idea for a future video on the key fob. It would be interesting to see what happens if I start the car with the key fob in my pocket ... then take the key out of my pocket and leave it in my house so that my car can no longer detect the key inside the car ... and then try and drive my car off. I wonder if the car would just refuse to move without the key fob in the car or if I would drive a short distance and then the power would be cut????
I will include how to use the mechanical key in the same vid - because it is part of the fob.
So is i possible to leave the car in Ready mode and lock and carry out the procedure without washing ? I do park in a private carpark but we are not allowed to wash the car and I would prefer just to leave it for one hour.
Quick answer is - Yes!
A bit more info ... The service manager at my local dealer actually recommended this solution to me ... he said I should (a) start the car (READY mode) (b) take the metal key out of the fob (c) leave the fob inside the car (d) then get out of the car and lock the car with the metal key.
I have never tried this method but it should work. If the car is parked in a private car park you can then leave the car in READY mode for an hour to charge the battery. The petrol engine will come on from time to time as shown in this video ... the petrol engine will come on less if you turn the heating off as shown in this video.
If you are using this method, for safety reasons ensure that the car is in PARK.
I have seen some incorrect comments in other forums that the 12V battery is only charged when the car is in DRIVE. This is totally wrong - the 12V battery is definitely charged from the main traction battery in PARK. You should NEVER leave a Yaris or any other automatic car unattended with the gear shift in DRIVE.
For information: I believe that the 12V battery is not charged if the gear shift is in NEUTRAL.
There are a couple of functions I will NEVER USE with my Yaris because the 12V battery is NOT being recharged ...
(1) Accessory mode - I always put the car in READY mode even if I only want to listen to the multimedia system while I am sat waiting in the car
(2) Neutral - never put the car in neutral even if you are stationary for a long time in a traffic jam. In stop start traffic I use either the Cruise Control (DRCC) which is fantastic in stop start traffic or if I am stationary for a long time I use the "Hold" button and leave the car in DRIVE.
Video explaining the electronic parking brake and the Hold button...
ruclips.net/video/lmIg0QJwqNQ/видео.html
@@Helpful-StuffThanks a lot. Really appreciate your answering in such detail. Good to hear that I can lock the car while it is in Ready mode. I think that I will eventually also get hold of a better quality 12 volt battery. Just placed an order for a Noco power pack as well.
I have read the Yuasa battery is a much better quality battery. If the voltage from my battery starts to drop significantly or if my Yaris fails to start again I plan to go to a local garage and ask them to fit a Yuasa battery.
I will not use my Toyota dealer because I am pretty sure they will only fit Toyota recommended parts ... another Mutlu.
This video shows how I use a cheap voltmeter plugged into the accessory socket to monitor my Yaris' 12V battery. This allows me to monitor my 12V battery without having to do anything complicated like get under the rear seat and somehow fix leads to the 12V battery and then check the voltage with a multi-meter
ruclips.net/video/0nYdnNVgvJI/видео.html
This video was made with my original factory fitted battery which had failed to start my car once. Five months later Toyota agreed to change my 12V battery. My new battery readings are about 0.5V higher than all the readings in this video.
I think this is interesting because it shows that even though my car had only failed to start once & it was only 10 months old the 12V battery was degraded - it still started the car ... but the battery is not 100% healthy.
When people tell me that their car has failed to start 5 or 6 or sometimes more times then I think the battery must be so badly degraded that it will regularly fail to start the car. If a Yaris has failed to start 5 or 6 times then you really need to buy a new battery!
Wondering if this works with older 2018 Toyota Auris hybrid Touring Sports wagon ? We have that below 0 celsius so much in Finland.
I think that the hybrid system in your car is similar to the hybrid system in my 2022 Yaris so my best guess is that washing your Auris in READY mode with the heating off will charge your cars 12V battery and hopefully avoid any problems with your car not starting.
very nice! just one more. Answer if you know, does this charging from hybrid battery bring troubles for the hybrid battery unit for using it like that? plus it leads also to the exessive fuel consuption at least a little bit. Thanks @@Helpful-Stuff
Charging the 12V battery by turning the car on and leaving it in READY mode for an hour was Toyota's official advice during the COVID lockdowns ... so I don't believe that doing a charge + wash for an hour will cause any damage to either the 12V battery or the main traction battery. In fact I think the opposite ... it is actually beneficial particularly for the 12V battery 😀
You can read Toyota's advice:
mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/
You may also find it interesting to read the 25 page page discussion at the bottom of the page ... lots of people leaving comments on their own experience of the 12V battery issue and Toyota's response.
One of the things I wanted to do with this video was to show that leaving the car in READY mode with the heating switched off does NOT causes excessive fuel consumption. The petrol engine was only on for 158 seconds during a 1 hour car wash. I have just Googled and a typical petrol engine running at tickover uses around 0.01litres per minute so 0.026litres in 158 seconds which I think is less than 4p at current prices ... definitely not excessive 😀
Now I have calculated this I wish I had included this in the video!
A few days ago I noticed that my Yariss hybrid does not turn off the engine as often as before and does not drive in EV mode. Could this be a symptom that my 12 V battery is half empty?
Somebody else left a comment on another video saying that he had changed his 12V battery and with the new 12V battery he felt that the car was in EV mode more frequently. Which backs up your view that you think your car is in EV less frequently with a poor battery.
However, Toyota replaced my own 12V battery under warranty about a month ago and I have to be totally honest and say that I have not noticed a difference in the amount of time that my car is in EV mode. The caveat to this is that although I do believe my 12V battery had degraded slightly I do not believe it was badly degraded because I had only suffered one failure to start.
A tentative conclusion from the above is that if you think that your car is not going into EV mode as often as normal and you have had several failures to start then I think that it is possible that your 12V battery is degraded.
I think what I would do next is check your 12V battery voltage.
If, like me, you do not want to dismantle the rear seat to get access to the battery then you could buy a voltmeter that plugs into the accessory socket - they are cheap mine cost just under £6 from eBay. I have made a video which shows how to use one of these voltmeters to measure the voltage in accessory mode. The video explains why it is very important that you check the voltage in accessory mode and not when the car is fully on.
ruclips.net/video/0nYdnNVgvJI/видео.html
However, you need to be aware that this video was made with my old 12V battery that had been degraded by one failure to start. In the video I show that I was typically seeing voltages of 11.8V to 12.2V in accessory mode.
Since making the video I have got a new 12V battery and I am now seeing 12.3V almost always and sometimes higher .... very occasionally I am seeing 12.1V ... but I am NEVER seeing less than 12.1V.
So I now think that if an accessory socket voltmeters shows voltages below 12V at any time then your 12V battery is degraded and I think it is worth changing the 12V battery before you reach the stage where the 12V battery is unable to start the car.
Toyota have replaced my 12V battery under warranty but they have unfortunately fitted exactly the same battery from Mutlu that failed when my car was only 10 months old with about 6,000miles on the clock and after one day without use. Since it is the same battery I think it will fail again in 10 months. I have decided that when this happens I will get the battery replaced at my local garage (not a Toyota dealer) with a Yuasa 12V battery which from everything I have read is a good battery. I will have to pay ... but at least I will have a car that will start reliably.
@@Helpful-Stuff Thank you for answering
Today I measured the voltage in the 12 V battery. The voltage is 12.2. Is it normal?
If 12.2V is measured with a voltmeter plugged into the accessory socket then yes I think your 12V battery is healthy.
I think your battery is healthy because 12.2V is very close to the 12.3V that I am seeing from a new 12V battery that was fitted to my Yaris about 2 months ago.
For information ... my old battery that was replaced was typically reading about 11.8V. My old battery had failed to start my car on one occasion after one day without use.
I have come to the conclusion that if a voltmeter plugged into the accessory socket is reading 12V or higher then the 12V battery is healthy .... but if it is reading 11.9V or lower then the battery has been degraded. This does not mean the battery will fail to start the car tomorrow morning ... but I think once the battery has started to degrade and I think it will eventually fail to start the car.
I don't want my car to fail to start again so if I ever see a voltage below 12V I am going to my local car mechanic (not a Toyota dealer) and get the battery replaced with a Yuasa 12V battery which gets good reviews ... and not the Mutlu battery used by Toyota dealers.
==
Just a final thought ... If you have connected a voltmeter directly to the 12V battery under the rear seat then 12.2V is a bit low ... I would expect a voltage around 12.6V. If this is the case then it may be worth changing the 12V battery before it fails to start your car.
Good video
Thanks 😀👍
Does anyone know how to turn the daytime running lights off ? Seems unnecessary to have them on when you are charging 12 volt battery.
In the video you can see that my daytime running lights were off while I was washing the car.
However, last week I noticed that the running lights were on while I was washing the car!!!
I did not do anything to turn the running lights off in the video. I have not tested this but I think the difference is that in the video I started the car and then washed it. The car stayed in PARK with the parking brake on - it never moved so the running lights never turned on.
Last week I think I started the car and then moved it before I washed it ... so the running lights came on when I moved the car and then stayed on.
I will test this over the weekend ... but I think it is worth trying turning the car on and not moving it & leave it in PARK ... I think the daytime running lights will remain off.
@@Helpful-StuffAre you sure they are off in the video ? To me they look like they could be on.
I am 99% certain the running lights are off. I think they would be a lot brighter if they were on.
I will double check my theory that the running lights do not come on until the car is moved or taken out of PARK some time over the weekend.
Another thought is that the running lights are LEDs so they draw very little current and if they are on this will not make any difference to charging the 12V battery. When in READY mode the main traction battery charges the 12V battery through a DC-DC converter. I agree its unnecessary to have the running lights on but it will not have any impact on charging the 12V battery.
I have checked this morning .... the running lights do not turn on until you take the car out of PARK. So if you switch your car on and leave it in PARK while you wash/charge your car the running lights will not come on.
@@Helpful-Stuff Okay. Thanks for taking the trouble to check.
Just get toyota to change the battery to one that is fit for purpose under warranty... if you complain enough they will do... I did..
Can you give me a bit more information about how you got a new battery under warranty?
- Did you complain to your Toyota dealer or to Toyota GB?
If you went through your dealer do you know if they raised a formal complaint with Toyota GB?
- Was your battery replaced by the same factory fit 35Ah battery or by a battery with a bigger capacity?
I believe that Toyota dealers will only replace the 12V battery with the same spec 35Ah battery but Halfords will fit a 45Ah battery ... but you obviously need to pay for this!
- Is the battery being replaced under new car warranty or used car warranty?
I believe new car warranty claims have to be approved by Toyota GB whereas used car warranty claims are approved by whichever company provides the used car warranty (which may not be Toyota GB)
- When was your 12V battery changed?
Have you been trying to get a replacement 12V battery for several months and your dealer agreed in the last week or two?
If it has happened recently has your dealer indicated why they have changed their mind and agreed to replace your 12V battery?
- Roughly how many miles per year does your car do?
If your car does more than a few thousand miles per year then you are probably doing enough mileage to keep the 12V battery charged and your 12V battery may be faulty and therefore being replaced. If you only do a few thousand miles per year then Toyota GB seem to just take the approach ... "12V battery is OK - drive the car more to keep the 12V battery charged" !!!????!!
Sorry there are a lot of questions but it would be really useful if you could provide more information for a future video that I am working that would help other Yaris owners to get their 12V battery changed.
Car was 2 years old when I got it. . Aygo before totally reliable. Car let me down with flat battery twice.. Once they insisted on an overnight bench charge after the hybrid damper was changed... a week later I took it to an airport and left it there for a week... flat as a fart when I returned at after midnight from my flight. Called for breakdown assistance.. guy from breakdown said the battery wasn't holding anywhere near enough charge and was a well documented issue with 2020 hybrid yaris. Went into toyota dealer and kicked off big style. Was changed same day.
The AA man is correct there is an issue with the Yaris Mark 4. There is a 97 page discussion on the Toyota Owners Club ... its way too long to read it all but the length of this discussion gives you some idea that you and me are not the only people to experience this problem....
www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/217673-12v-battery-maintenance-issues-etc/
Toyota recommend that Hybrids that are not being used are turned on into READY mode for 60 minutes once a week to keep the 12V battery recharged.
mag.toyota.co.uk/coronavirus-toyota-hybrid-car-maintenance/
If the previous owner was a low mileage driver and didn't follow this advice then it is possible that your car had been jump started multiple times and that this had degraded the 12V battery. It's possible that the dealer may have had to jump start the car while it was sat on the forecourt just doing an occasional test drive. I think the dealer probably realised that the 12V battery was damaged before you bought the car and decided to replace it for a new battery of the same spec.