Another bad 12v battery
01-31-12, 05:51 AM
#1
Driver
Thread Starter
Another bad 12v battery
2007 Rx400h. Days after buying it in June 2009, dealer had to replace the 12v battery due to starting failures. Based on all the other reports of 12v battery problems, I posted that I'd replace it in 3 years just to be on the safe side.
Didn't even make it. After a pair of start failures that POS Lexus-branded 84-month battery has been replaced by one from Autozone.
By the way, on the first start failure (late evening in a supermarket parking lot), we somehow got it going again; holding the key in "start" eventually lit the ready light after about 30 seconds. We tried that while Lexus had us in hold trying to arrange for road service. Drove 2 miles to home, and the voltage was just fine when we got there. Drove it the next 3 days without incident, voltage checked each time we left or arrived home and it was fine every time, so we were starting to think one-time problem.
Then the first morning I didn't check the voltage before starting, second failure after it being overnight in the garage. Battery was at 10-some volts so I pulled it out, put it in the Cadillac's trunk, and added Autozone to the shopping list.
My advice: First time it does not "ready" when you turn the key, try holding it for a little while. And as soon as possible don't think twice about replacing the battery with a better one.
Didn't even make it. After a pair of start failures that POS Lexus-branded 84-month battery has been replaced by one from Autozone.
By the way, on the first start failure (late evening in a supermarket parking lot), we somehow got it going again; holding the key in "start" eventually lit the ready light after about 30 seconds. We tried that while Lexus had us in hold trying to arrange for road service. Drove 2 miles to home, and the voltage was just fine when we got there. Drove it the next 3 days without incident, voltage checked each time we left or arrived home and it was fine every time, so we were starting to think one-time problem.
Then the first morning I didn't check the voltage before starting, second failure after it being overnight in the garage. Battery was at 10-some volts so I pulled it out, put it in the Cadillac's trunk, and added Autozone to the shopping list.
My advice: First time it does not "ready" when you turn the key, try holding it for a little while. And as soon as possible don't think twice about replacing the battery with a better one.
02-12-12, 04:53 AM
#2
Yep
We bought a certified 18,500 mile 3 year in service 2008 RX400h in December 2011. It was trucked to us and had been stored in MD dealer's garage. It would not start to get off the carrier. Had to jump it. I charged it, immediately, but it failed to start w/o jump 2 more times the next day. I charged it each time. It was up to full charge in 1-2 h each time. After charging it would read 12.45 V on a Solar battery tester and about 280 CCA, but tester said to "charge and retest". If yoy drove the car for a while after jumping/charging, it would read only 12 V on tester (mine and the AutoZone one) and you would get the "charge and retest" message on the tester. My suspicion was an "iffy" cell. After the three incidents in mid-December, it starter w/o incident...but I did carry a booster battery device in the trunk and kept the battery vanity panel off.
We took it to Ann Arbor Lexus dealer last week (early February) and reported our experience with it. They changed the battery under warranty....would have been $145. Put in one from a Toyota dealer down the road as they were out...they had 2 on order (which tells you something itself) and we had come from 120 miles away. I hope the Toyota battery (spec'd for Highlander hybrid) is better, but I suspect it is the same as Lexus oem.
Next time around, I will be putting in an Advance Auto parts battery at ~ $90.
Toyota really should be ashamed that they put in such a crummy battery in a $50,000 car. Thing should be an AGM.
- nopcbs
We took it to Ann Arbor Lexus dealer last week (early February) and reported our experience with it. They changed the battery under warranty....would have been $145. Put in one from a Toyota dealer down the road as they were out...they had 2 on order (which tells you something itself) and we had come from 120 miles away. I hope the Toyota battery (spec'd for Highlander hybrid) is better, but I suspect it is the same as Lexus oem.
Next time around, I will be putting in an Advance Auto parts battery at ~ $90.
Toyota really should be ashamed that they put in such a crummy battery in a $50,000 car. Thing should be an AGM.
- nopcbs
2007 Rx400h. Days after buying it in June 2009, dealer had to replace the 12v battery due to starting failures. Based on all the other reports of 12v battery problems, I posted that I'd replace it in 3 years just to be on the safe side.
Didn't even make it. After a pair of start failures that POS Lexus-branded 84-month battery has been replaced by one from Autozone.
By the way, on the first start failure (late evening in a supermarket parking lot), we somehow got it going again; holding the key in "start" eventually lit the ready light after about 30 seconds. We tried that while Lexus had us in hold trying to arrange for road service. Drove 2 miles to home, and the voltage was just fine when we got there. Drove it the next 3 days without incident, voltage checked each time we left or arrived home and it was fine every time, so we were starting to think one-time problem.
Then the first morning I didn't check the voltage before starting, second failure after it being overnight in the garage. Battery was at 10-some volts so I pulled it out, put it in the Cadillac's trunk, and added Autozone to the shopping list.
My advice: First time it does not "ready" when you turn the key, try holding it for a little while. And as soon as possible don't think twice about replacing the battery with a better one.
Didn't even make it. After a pair of start failures that POS Lexus-branded 84-month battery has been replaced by one from Autozone.
By the way, on the first start failure (late evening in a supermarket parking lot), we somehow got it going again; holding the key in "start" eventually lit the ready light after about 30 seconds. We tried that while Lexus had us in hold trying to arrange for road service. Drove 2 miles to home, and the voltage was just fine when we got there. Drove it the next 3 days without incident, voltage checked each time we left or arrived home and it was fine every time, so we were starting to think one-time problem.
Then the first morning I didn't check the voltage before starting, second failure after it being overnight in the garage. Battery was at 10-some volts so I pulled it out, put it in the Cadillac's trunk, and added Autozone to the shopping list.
My advice: First time it does not "ready" when you turn the key, try holding it for a little while. And as soon as possible don't think twice about replacing the battery with a better one.
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