moose66

The warranty makes sense. Just think of how tough of a sell it would be for Lexus/Toyota, or any other manufacturer for that matter, to sell a car such as the 450h and not stand behind a component of the vehicle which is so unique, and expensive to replace. No matter how much testing was done prior to actual rollout, nothing can simulate actual driving conditions. Things such as driving habits, amount of driving, location with respect to varying weather condtions, and so on will help them determine what they need to do with future battery packs and other compenents. They'll be certain to go over failures with fine tooth combs to make sure the next generation is developed above and beyond what we currently have in our cars. Comped replacement is a small price to pay for the information the failures will provide. Especially if it is as few as it appears to be at the moment.

bamachem

Oh, don't get me wrong... I LOVE MY GS. I will have it for a VERY long time, and when I replace it, it will be with another Lexus Hybrid without question. Simply phenomenal car that comes with absolutely unmatched customer service from Lexus.

L8Apex

That all sounds good, but I wont believe it till I see it or hear of a case where a owner "out of warranty" needs a battery replaced. Simply getting hold of the right person in a company the size of Toyota is a nightmare.

adamselene

WOw! That is a nice rumor!!

Sounds good to me. Besides, I only have 40K miles.

redbaron

iTrader: (2)

What are the symptoms of a battery going out? I will be in the market for one of these in the near future (once I sell 2 of our existing cars), and would like to start my research.

2008GSh

So far, as best as anyone can tell, only one battery pack has failed on all of the GS Hybrids. And from what I can gather from his posts, it was a "out of the blue" event and Lexus fixed it for free under the factory warranty.

All of the research i have seen is that Hybrid batteries easily last 10+ years, many last much longer. There are lots of first Gen Priuses putt putting around with 300,000 plus miles on them on the original battery pack, and many taxi companies are switching to Priuses for their in town taxi service. millions (perhaps even Billions of miles on these battery packs with few if any issues)

I bought mine and drive it, without an extended warranty, without a worry in the world. (when the Hybrid system goes off warranty it will not change my level of worry one bit.)

If anything, my observation has been that the hybrid system seems to reduce normal wear and tear on the normal ICE part of the car. The brakes in particular are in pretty much like new condition with over 40,000 miles.

Buy it, enjoy it, don't fret it.

L8Apex

I worry about the batt as much as I worry about the tranny. It could happen and it would be expensive if it did, but its rare that it goes out within 10 years.

hdlex

iTrader: (1)

My lexus GS Hybrid was one of the most reliable cars I have had , in comparison to the bmw's and mercedes I have owned.

warren52nz

I just bought a 2007 GS450h with 41,000 Kms on the clock from a Lexus dealer here in New Zealand. They said the hybrid battery passed its test but was a little low so they replaced it for free under warrantee. Worth $NZ3,500 (about $US3,000).
Didn't notice any difference but nice to know it's new. He also said they'd never replaced one and had to order it from Japan.

sonnyhood

When ever lexus does a hybrid warranty replacement, they replace the inverter and the battery and the motor. Inverter is $2000 + on its own, and motor is similar. Its around $8000-10000 to replace all.
I think cause like was said earlier, they want to analyse the parts and see why it failed together.

warren52nz

I'm pretty sure they only replaced the hybrid battery on mine. They didn't mention the motor or inverter and only the battery was on the invoice (although it was free).

sonnyhood

a buddy of mine is a mechanic and he was mucking around with a prius.
He dismantled the hybrid battery and found that out of lets say 30 cells.
Its usually 1-2 that are the problem, you can just replace the 1-2 from wreckers and the others are perfect.
the prius system is similar not exact but im sure the battery tech is the same.
Inverters have more complex problems. be interesting in a few years to see what happens with the 3gs hybrid range