wayman28

My battery died this weekend. I had AAA give me a jump but after driving it around for 90 minutes the battery eventually died again overnight and the car wouldn't start. I was all ready to get a new Bosch battery from my local Pep Boys and pulled the battery out of my LS460 when I saw it was a Lexus battery and it had a 7-year warranty.

I called my local dealership and they confirmed my battery was replaced by the previous owner LAST YEAR. The good news was that my battery would be covered 100% since I was less than two years into my 7-year warranty.

I'm curious if anyone else has had particularly bad luck with Lexus batteries? For a brand new battery to fail in a year is completely unacceptable.

Thanks.

Devh

It would appear that the sourced interstate battery is not as good as the Panasonic battery that Toyota is known for providing on their Japan imports. You may encounter this problem again in a few years.

roadfrog

I suspect your alternator may be dodgy.

DiggerJim

Or you may not. There may have been a manufacturing defect in the plates which can & does happen to every manufacturer or it could have been caused by a maintenance issue (e.g. letting it go flat and freezing over the winter). A single battery failure isn't necessarily indicative of a blanket issue with a manufacturer - Interstate batteries get very good marks for dependability, lifespan, etc. so I'd have no hesitation putting in another Interstate-sourced one from the dealer. Especially with the warranty they're giving you.

Interesting thing though - we ***** a lot about costs of Lexus parts & service but this is an example of what to think about in terms of total cost. Don't know what one costs from them but it's about $125 from Autozone or Advance Auto here in CT for their top of the line batteries. Autozone has free replacement for 5 yrs and Advance for 3 years. No pro-ration on either. With the Lexus one you're getting more than double the warranty of the Advance battery and almost 50% more than the Autozone one.

OTOH I find it hard to count on a battery over 5 years old here in the northeast with our winters regardless of the warranty (although with a Lexus battery even if it failed after 5 or 6 years I'd get a free replacement that while not being warranted for another 7 years would likely have several more years - might get 10 years out of 1 battery purchase).

Just thinking out loud.

greg3852

Without a doubt check out your alternator. Sounds more suspect than a bad 1 year old battery.

I8ABMR

The batteries in my LS460 and ISf have also gone in 1-2 years . Actually closer to a year. The heat from the V8 doesnt help and I have done 6 track days in 10 months with my ISF. Its still pretty frustrating to be stuck

jmcraney

If the battery has failed prematurely, then it is very unlikely related to the car. If the battery is just discharged, then the most common cause in these cars is the doorjamb switch. It is very unlikely any individual would experience two consecutive premature battery failures. We have discussed the doorjamb switch's contribution to discharged batteries in several threads in this forum.

Devh

The interstate sourced battery for the LS has a history here of failing prematurely. The original Panasonic that was imported with the earlier versions of the car as well as other Japanese imports has a great reputation for longevity.

The interstate battery only has a replacement warranty for three years after that it's prorated.
The prorated price because of the inflated dealership cost may be as much as a better sourced battery from any of the automotive chains.
My battery failed prematurely and it was replaced however if it fails again and it's out of the 3 year replacement warranty I'm getting something better from a quality manufacture like East Penn.

wes61

I've had my 2008 for 4 years. First time I took in for servicing was told that previous owner had replaced the original with too small battery, so got a new one. Have had to replace again under warranty. Just think that these big boys just eat up batteries.

7milesout

I second this motion. Get it tested. Probably can get it tested for free.

My 2010 is on the original Panasonic. Less than 20,000 miles on the car, but 5.5 years of use so far. Knock on wood.


7milesout

DiggerJim

One bennie of the 600h is that the 12V battery is only used to flip some relays and keep all the computer memories alive as the hybrid pack does the actual starting so there's never any really big load on that one for me. I'd use an Evermax but it would feel weird putting a Walmart battery into that car

jmcraney

It is not true that these cars eat batteries. Many of these cars have defective doorjamb switches.

R Z

My 08 had the original battery when I bought the car. A few months in, the battery went. We'll see how this one does.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

I have that same interstate battery. It's 4-5 years old. I even left a dome light on and parked at long term for over a week and the battery came back. I would check your alternator as mentioned just to be sure.

roadfrog

As McRaney stated, These cars do NOT eat batteries. I live in Canada and the original Panny battery lasted almost 8 years. In fact, it didn't fail outright, but was starting to die after sitting idle for 4-5 days. My replacement AC Delco Professional is going strong after nearly a year. FWIW, the last time someone posted about a string of bad batteries, it was their alternator. It's easy enough to check.