Started to write that the sensor needs to transferred regardless of brand and just saw that you got it fixed. Good deal.

As for the 12V vs the big boy (traction battery) - others can explain better than I but, in short, the 12V battery runs the accessories and the traction battery helps drive the wheels in addition to other tasks such as charging the 12V.

 

Yes I was able to buy the original one for $340 at Toyota dealer and get it installed at an independent mechanic shop for $20. I refused to pay $145 plus tax labor charge for this battery installation at the dealer.My old battery was fine and had no issue but I changed it anyway just to be safe. Lasted 12 years and 47K miles. impressive! That means it is not about the age , it is about the mileage when it comes to battery.

I had the brake and rotor replaced at front per the recommendation of the mechanic shop and filters replaced and spark plugs replaced. I was told that contrary to what the Chain auto mechanic shop told me, I don't need struts, suspension work or sway bars replaced.

Now I have to start worrying about the hybrid battery? Maybe my 07 camry hybrid battery will last another 10 years easily cos it is just 47k miles?

 

I have original 12v battery on my 200k miles Camry 07 and it's fine. As far as battery goes it's a combination of age, usage (charge/discharge cycles), care (don't let it discharge too low and leave it there, or it will be damaged) and operating temperature. High temperature (for example mounted under the hood) will shorten its life rather quickly. Spark plugs are rated for 100k miles so probably not necessary and I changed my original break pads at 80k and I drive on breaks, due to heavy traffic most of the time, I could bet case of beer, you didn't need the break job. My dealer tried to pull that garbage on me too, told me need new breaks when the car was on the lift, I said no thank you, I do it myself. Since I was at the dealer I picked new pads, got home, took the tire out and new pads I just got were 10mm, the ones on the car were 8mm, good for another 40k miles at least. BTW your discs should have been resurfaced not replaced and probably were in perfect shape unless you live in mountains, or are very hard on breaks, like I'm. Many mechanics don't know about hybrids, on normal car my breaks would barely last 20k miles, hybrids do most breaking with electric motor, so in my case last about 4 times longer, but I'm very aggressive driver, somebody less lead footed probably should have breaks last at least 100k miles. BTW I learned long time ago "Don't fix if it aint broke" and if HV battery doesn't give you any error codes, personally I would leave it alone.

 

During my previous oil change, 3K miles ago, at the MIDAS which is a Chain auto mechanic shop, they told me they always do free inspection and the guy took my to the lift and tried to explain a lot about why my struts are bad and sway bars are bad and that they are leaking and that I needed all of them replaced. The guy quoted $1870.00 which includes 4 hours of labor charge. I said NO THANKS, just do the oil change. This time at 46k miles, the independent auto mechanic shop guy told me my struts and sway bars are fine. So they are being honest I guess. So far I don't see error codes about the hybrid battery. if they become bad, I will get stuck somewhere, engine dead? Will have to call for two truck ? My brand new 12V Camry hybrid original Panasonic battery won't help?

 

Don't you love the 'free' inspections? Pisses me off that they frighten unsuspecting drivers into getting unnecessary work. Good decision to turn them down.

Don't take this to the bank regarding the traction battery but let me share my experience. My 2008 Camry Hybrid has over 300k miles so I'm not interested in investing in a new traction battery. The hybrid system warning came on maybe 30,000 miles ago so I pulled the battery and cleaned it. It went for a good while with no warning messages but, for the past 6-8 months I have been getting the warning light on and off. When it comes on, I pull out my tablet, look for fault codes, reset them, and drive for another month. It takes 2 minutes to reset the fault code.

Point is, to address your concern - when I get the hybrid system warning light the car still drives as a gas vehicle. How long it will do that I don't know but I have driven 20, 30, maybe 40 miles on gas only, so I am not stranded on the side of the road. I don't know if it could go farther than that but suspect that it would go 100 or more. Do note that the car is somewhat sluggish without the traction battery but I have driven it on the interstate at 75 mph.

Are there circumstances under which the car might be dead due to the hybrid warning? I don't know, thus my caveat.

If anyone reading this is interested in how I reset the hybrid system warning light - I have have the "Torque" app on my Android tablet and purchased a bluetooth dongle that plugs into the OBD2 slot under the dash. The dongle costs around $20, the app was $5. You could probably buy a code reader for $30 that would do the same thing by itself.

 

As hybrid veggie said, in case of error code, most of the time the car should switch to limp mode and get you home regardless. There are some codes that car will not start at all, but look I've seen brand new cars break down, so there is never 100% guarantee. If you really worry about it, get AAA membership, I think they provide free or at least discounted road assistance that may include towing, I'm not sure. Also download UBER application, your car breaks down, you call them up to pick your family and you stay with car until tow truck comes, but that's worst case scenario and if you're prepared for it, probably never will happen.

 

 

It's okay to try to help yourself. The answers you seek are in your owner's manual:

https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfo...chinfoPrelogin

Jump to page 140.

 

Good resource here. I drive an '07 TCH with 80k on the odometer, and will be replacing my 12V this week with an Optima yellow top. It is the original 12V as well and has never left me stranded, but I've been keeping an eye on voltage the last year or two, and when I put the car into test mode on the NAV screen it is reading around 10.8V at rest after sitting for a few days. I don't have a meter to check at the posts, but I assume it's accurate enough. I think it is finally time to swap it out before I run into any problems this winter. My question is about supplying backup power while changing the battery--do I simply hook up a cheap trickle charger to the jump post under the hood? Read a lot of conjecture about the pro's and con's of using backup power...some say it's "dangerous" and can cause a short...others who didn't connect backup power speak of untold horrors and a dash lighting up like a Christmas tree after they finish changing the battery, necessitating an expensive trip to the dealer to get the codes cleared. I have an OBD scan tool and all that. What do you folks recommend?