kerry7

Having left my 2010 RX350 AWD in garage for 2 weeks I found the battery was completely dead. Nothing worked and had to recharge battery which corrected the situation.
As far as I can determine no lights were left on and doors were closed. However I did notice the RX hatch was ajar, not locked in place. Could that have caused it or does the system unlatch it automatically if battery gets low? I read in manual where system has a door disable after 14 days but could not find anything regarding the hatch.
Last year I left the same vehicle parked for a month without encountering a battery problem.
Does anyone have any idea what happen?
Perhaps I am getting forgetful and left a light on. My GM car has auto disable after 20 minutes if anything is left on. A nice feature.
Thanks

cubu

I believe the hatch needs power to latch. Our 2013 turned off the radio that I had left on while working on the car after 30min or so(not sure how long) and gave a message about conserving battery.

the difference between last year and this year, is an extra year of aging on the battery. Have you had it tested? Is this the original battery, if so, it might be getting near end of life.

If you leave your car parked for extended periods of time, a trickle charger might be a good option

Evitzee

It would be good idea to use a Battery Tender if you are going to let it sit that long. I have heard you should turn the lighting stalk switch to full 'OFF' when the car is sitting for an extended period of time, i.e., don't leave it on AUTO. If the rear door was left ajar it may well have drained the battery due to the interior lights being on. I don't think the latch releases if the battery runs down, that would be a security issue, if you had left the car at an airport and the car unlocks itself that would be a theft or vandalism opportunity.

kerry7

Thanks for the suggestions.
I think I figured out what happened. Back of car was too close to garage door to open from behind. My daughter reached from side to unlatch and retrieve item. when closing she manually pulled it down by side but did not realize it didn't latch. in further tests I found (as noted in above reply) the interior lights remain on causing battery to drain. Since the garage lights were on my daughter would not have realized the interior lights were on. By the way opening any door will cause the latch to engage. so had she open a door awards the latch would have closed and lights go off.
Also battery is fine. All of mine have lasted for at least 5 years.
I still like my Buick with the auto off after 20 minutes. Maybe Lexus could take a hint.
Thanks again.

BobBass

It was the hatch!

Same thing happened to me; I didn't realize it hadn't shut all the way due to the furniture pad I keep back there shifting and obstructing the lock mechanism.

Another lame Toyota design; there's NO WAY the electrical system shouldn't have a sensor or have a design built in that shuts down interior lights after a certain amount of time. This happened to our Sienna MiniVan once when we left a map light on while leaving it at a longterm airport parking lot. Since this is a well-known Toyo design flaw, I always bring a battery booster with me when doing long-term parking away fom home.

GRPFAN

On my 2000 RX300 this same thing happen at the airport.
My wife wrote down our parking section, turn on the interior light, lock the doors, and
2 weeks later on return the battery was completely died.

Come on Lexus this is 2012, wake up.
These SUV's aren't cheap, install a cutoff light switch after so many minutes.

Cars costing less then $18,000 new have this safety switch on them.

tfischer

Here's another solution. LEDs draw very little power. I replaced almost all of my interior lights last year with LEDs, which are far brighter. They also draw far less power. In an uncharacteristic lapse into thoughtlessness, I left a door unclosed on a garaged car for about 18 hours. The car started up again just fine.
So far, that's two advantages.

dctex99

It;s actually a "time delay relay"; we sell them for air conditioner systems so dumb people don't short cycle their a/c. We wholesale them for $12!!!!!

billy44bo

My 2001 Dodge Dakota had it were it would turn the lights off after the 20 min but it keep the 12V cigarette lighter hot so you could charge something while you were in a store.

awerner68

I'm running into a similar situation but when I was tailgating. I parked the car pulled out the key and had the hatch up enjoying the pre-game. I did not think that having the tailgate up for 2 hours would drain the battery even with the dome light on but it does.

The battery is fine (had it tested at two service centers) but it appears the RX330 draws a lot of power with the hatch open and dome lights on.

It doesn't sound like there is a configuration change that can be made to keep this from happening. This is a real bummer as this car is great for tailgating but not when you are left with a dead battery.

tfischer

One solution would be to change the lights that turn on when the hatch is raised from the conventional, original lamps to LEDs. I think that there is one in the overhead door and two on the sides. I'm not sure if others go on as well, as I have never looked.
The LEDs are brighter and draw far much less current. I changed them (all interior lights) and find that the extra illumination in the rear section is quite handy. Several posts here discuss what is necessary and several swell on-line stores that sell the replacements. Highly recommended, and although I cannot guarantee that these replacements would not drain the battery in a few hours, I do not think that they would. Anyway, since we all have jumper cables in the car at all times, having a dead battery in a crowded parking lot filed with like-minded, congenial football fans is not much of a problem.
One further note: technically, I wonder if you were actually "tailgating" at the time - with an RX, perhaps you would be have been "hatching," or something like that. Perhaps a new word is called for, as who wants to "go hatching" before the (big) game?

Evitzee

Actually, running the battery down to full discharged condition takes it's toll on longevity. It's certainly not recommended to do it very often. By all means carry jumper cables but I always make sure all doors and hatches are fully closed and the interior lights are off before leaving the vehicle. We have to take some responsibility for operating these vehicles, we can't idiot proof life.