It really depends on the battery, you might have gotten a bad apple. Furthermore its the conditions in which the battery is put in use, I don’t know how the weather in NY has been or where you park your car, but if the battery is exposed to cold weather the capabilities of the battery are in sometimes cut by half, therefore the battery dies out quicker and does not put out as many amps.

Hey but as long as its under warranty and its not to much of a hassle, Id take it to the dealership every month or two and have them fix all the little things that might go wrong… .Might as well get as much as you can out of the warranty.

 

living in a cold climate weather avg battery life is 4 years...sounds like ur getting close to that...just replace the battery...u should still be under manufacturers warr

 

I have a 2004 and the battery died after about a year. The guy at the dealer said it was pretty common.

BT

 

Factory batteries for all makes last an average 2 years. My 06 Ford battery went out at 20k miles/around a year.
I see it all the time. Lexus /Toyota batteries from years ago actually were known to last the longest. No more. They changed vendors and the result is now an average battery.

 

My original battery put into service April 2002 is still cranking strong.

 

Did you do anything special to keep the battery running so long? Do you drive the car everyday?

 

I purchased my '02 in July of 2001; the original battery is still going strong.

Each year, I put the car away around Thanksgiving and take it out around Easter. During that time, the battery is kept charged by a BatteryTender. I don't drive every day during the period when the car is out of storage. I have yet to have a problem with the battery (knock knock knock).

 

I have to admit that I don't do anything special. In the winter I don't drive it every day, but I do drive it a few times a week, and in the summer I do drive it just about every day. I also have to admit to draining the battery completely twice by accidentally leaving a door ajar (the lights always turn on when I enter my garage, so my lights stayed on--I'm not thrilled with the way the auto feature works on the headlights; would prefer if they turned themselves off after a minute or so regardless if a door is left open). I just jump started it, though, and drove it for about a half hour and it was fine both times.

I've never had a battery last less than 4 years in any vehicle, so I'm quite surprised to see posts stating one or two years is normal. And that's living in the colder climates of PA, NJ, and MD.

 

I would have checked the battery to see if there was water in it. When I got my GS the car would not turn over one day so I checked the water levels and it was almost dry. This was during the hot summer days in Southern California. Then again, you live in a colder area so this probably wasn't the case.

 

I have a 99 RX300, if I park it for 3-4 weeks the battery slowly drains, it runs and starts fine if driven more often. I assume the car alarm is draining the battery. Has anyone bought a 100ma trickle charge to keep the lead acid battery fully charged when parked? Do the ones that plug into the lighter work? Have heard on some cars the lighter is dead when ignition is off. Is that the case with RX300? Anyone tried one of those solar trickle chargers? Do they work in a garage with windows?

 

mine is an 03 and cranks up strong all the time.
it makes me wonder if I should update to a new batt now.

 

I have a similar problem with my '93 sc300. If I leave the battery connected,it drains over night. Had the battery checked and it's ok. I have to disconnect the battery after driving then reattach when I want to start it. I figure something is shorting it somewhere. Anyone have experience with this problem?

 

There were a few threads a while back about about battery power draining after just a few days of not driving. I've had my 2002 in the dealer's shop four times in the last 18 months because of dead batteries. They check the charging system and check to see if any thing is drawing too much power and come up with nada. Then just throw in a new battery and tell me to buy a trickle charger. I believe something is wrong and I should not need to charge the car after a few days. I know others have experienced this and wondered if a mechanical malfunction was found. (I suspect that the convertible top is drawing power from the battery even though I always use engine power to lower and raise. Just a hunch.)

Thanks

 

I merged your thread with your other similar thread along with others of the same nature so that all of the information can be found in one location.
Short answer so far is that it appears to be an issue with a few isolated cars and no definite answer has been found unless someone can post otherwise.

 

Just to chime in. I just got my 2002 SC430 and had battery problems in just two days. The previous owner said that the battery was changed about a year ago and had no know electrical problems. I had my own mechanic looked at it and found that the battery was weak. I had him order a new battery. He knew to order one with the right ohms/volts output (can't remember if it was one or the other). He stressed that you will have electric problems if you do not get one with the right ohms ... So, if you are going to replace the battery double check it.