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08 battery problem

Created June 23, 2008, at 8:46 pm by trying

We bought a 2008 Prius in February. It has less than 6,000 miles on it. We went out of town and left it in our garage. We didn’t try to drive it for 12 days. On the 12th day, a Sunday, it wouldn’t start. So I called the dealership Monday morning after I got to work (in my 2001 Ford F150), and was told by someone in Service to go ahead and jump start it and keep an eye on it. It’s parked head in on the left side of a 2 car garage. I didn’t know which side the battery was on (still at work), but figured I could push it out of the garage if my cables wouldn’t reach while it’s in the garage.
My cables wouldn’t reach. I couldn’t figure out how to get it into neutral to push it out of the garage. So I called the dealership again, and the person who answered the phone in Service called someone else to find out how to put it in neutral. The guy on the phone said since I have the “smart” key, I couldn’t put it in neutral with the battery dead. I’m thinking that key isn’t so smart after all, but to heck with it, I’ll go buy some longer cables.
But then, the guy says I shouldn’t jump start it because I might “mess something up”. So the person in Service gives me the wrecker’s number, and told me to get him to take it in and they’d get to it first thing in the morning. But the wrecker said I’d have to call back in the morning, because they couldn’t get into the car lot after hours to leave it.
So now it will be Tuesday, we’re going to have to borrow a car, I’ll drive my pickup to work, but I’m going to have to leave work to meet the wrecker, hoping he can get down my driveway and get turned enough to pull the car out of the garage backwards, in park.
And why’d the first guy tell me to jump start it in the first place?
Shall I go get longer cables anyway?
To be continued...