A Bothering Question. Not sure if anyone has experienced this before.

Bought a 2017 RX450H on Finance just over two and a half years ago.

In the past six Months, randomly the vehicle would not start up in morning. This is highly intermittent and happens just once in a while(but important times too) Which leaves me stranded and I have to jump start it.

Once jumpstarted, it works fine through the day for a couple of days and then needs jump starting again.

Lexus/Toyota fitted a new battery and was ok. Two weeks later, the issue resurfaced.

Took it back to the dealership in Rayleigh Essex, they fixed whatever they said was wrong, changed the infotainment system, changed some wiring????(Car is still slightly new and I've not had any major work done on it apart from fixing a dent) and they confirmed issue is gone.
About a month later, issue resurfaced.

I took in in again before Christmas, and since then, they have been troubleshooting the issue. Found out there is an "excessive battery drain"but not sure what is causing it.
They have had the vehicle for two months and still don't know what is causing the excessive battery drain.

I spoke to the HeadOffice, they refer me back to the workshop!

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO! I am totally exhausted and unsure how to progress.
THEY WONT HELP.

I bought the car from Saxton 4x4 in Chelmsford. The Car is still on Finance (2 Years left to pay off the HP, No Baloon).

I know if i take it back to them, they won't take it back. If I trade it in, they will possibly give me a negative equity. Already paid over 20k on it, about 60% paid off.

HOW Can the Manufacturer not find what is wrong with their own Vehicle?
I called the workshop today after series of not calling back, I was told car didn't start yesterday and they have put it on Charge this morning.

What Are My Options? I cant get a replacement, I cant trade in, I am in a confused state.

 

Seems to me a mechanic would do a "parasitic drain test" to find out what's causing the excessive battery drain. That test measures the current draw of the car when it is turned off. There is always a small current flow to keep the computers etc. alive, but if it is too much, that can drain the battery. If they find it's too high, they will disconnect one fuse at a time until they lose the high current draw. Then they know where the problem is.
Not driving the car far enough or often enough might be a factor.

 

I think it is the 12v battery. Just because they replaced it, does not mean it is good. I have had plenty of experience with AGM batteries that power my walk along golf carts. When the carts would stop working I would get them tested and invariably they would test good, but still not work for 18 holes. If I replaced the battery then all was good for a few years. The same scenario applies to the battery in your vehicle. They test good, but will not stay charged. I messed with my 12v battery for my 2018 450h for about 6 months, even though they said it tested OK. I replaced it and have not had an issue in quite a while. Buying a new battery is cheaper than a new car. With all their supposed testing for a bleeder, they could have just as easily tried a new battery.

 

Thanks for this. I will suggest this to their Mechanics, hopefully they will look into this

 

Thanks for this. They have changed the battery once and will maybe tell them to try another battery or will a higher voltage battery be better? Maybe I just get one myself.

 

Normally your car does not just develop parasitic drain over the last 6 months if it were never an issue before, unless you installed new equipment on it like a dash cam.

What did they actually change on the car? "whatever" doesn't help here - you need everything to be itemized - it could be the things that they changed causing parasitic draw, and it wasn't the problem to begin with (which might be as simple as a weak battery).

 

Thanks. So the excessive drain started randomly and first they changed the 12v Battery, it went back in, then the workshop changed the infotainment system, claiming that seems like the cause of it. Post changing, they observed it for about two days and the car starts as normal. I was not told if they done a drain check. After a few weeks, the issue resurfaced again

 

Hi All, so they came back last week saying they think the drain is coming from a Plug attached to the reverse camera. They are still investigating. Unsure if its something that simple but I wait.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I passed them all on.

 

On the North America RX 2017 models Apple CarPlay was not available from the factory. Was it available in the UK as it looks as if your infotainment screen is complemented with CarPlay aftermarket components? How can the plug to the rear camera be a drain? Perhaps, if you have an aftermarket CarPlay component, said component is responsible for the parasitic drain?

 

Car Play isn't available on mine either. Just uploaded the closest picture I found on Google Images to describe what i meant by the infotainment system which was changed; incase i was getting the unit name wrong. (Should have updated that, putting it in bracket).

I equally do not understand how the plug to the rear cam be causing a drain. Still yet to get back to me on their finding. Car now going into the 4th month with them.

 

Okay. Thanks Everyone for your support.
They finally got back to me last week that the cause of the Parasitic Drain has been found. Apparently after changing the infotainment system and repairing some wires(not sure why, car is still not so old to be wiring repairing) they concluded its the ECU behind the radio malfunctioning.

ECU Changed, they monitored for about 2 weeks and confirms the drain in no more... Halleluiah!
BUT... After i took the car off them, i realised the climate control unit in front of the ECU is totally dead and not working. I told them and they said I can use the controls on the Infotainment system to control climate for now while they order another Climate Control Unit

Now I have been waiting two weeks and no call backs per say.

THINKING...
Have they done a bottle job and not really fixed the issue. Could the climate control unit just be a way of temporary workaround isolating the issue?
Car has been with them for about 5 months before getting it back. Could they just be playing a long game?

I am a bit tired to be honest. Yes, car has not given any issue for like 2 weeks now but then, will i just keep using it will the climate control unit totally dead and having to fiddle with online instructions?

Car is Over 5 Years Old now, So No longer able to swap for a new one.

 

5 months ? No dealer holds the car for 5 months. You mean you have had the problem for 5 months?