herbvdh

At a recent service at Lexus they called me and said the 12V is low should we replace it. I said no I will handle it barely 3 years old so I went where it was purchased. They deleted my records totally refused to honor the warranty etc... I let it be for a few weeks till one day car is dead. So sent my son to Batteries Plus to get a new battery. I checked the reviews on the Optima Yellow and read the bad news avoid at all costs I was lucky it lasted as long as it did.

katzjamr

the optima batteries were over twice as much as a costco battery and you get a full three year warranty that is not pro rated from costco. also the same size battery, i admit its small, from costco has more cold cranking power than the oem. not married to costco for everything but in this case it has been a great solution at a reasonable cost.

sammyjo

I replaced the original battery in my 2008 RX400h in February. It lasted 4 1/ years and 60,000 miles. The car is mainly used as a grocery getter, so lots of 10-30 minute drives at low speed. Perhaps 1/3 of the time on battery. So I would classify as hard life for the little 12v battery.

The last 6 moths prior to replacement, it had to be jumped twice. Attaching a battery maintainer each day helped greatly and never needed another jump. Decided to replace the battery as good maintenance, since I am told most OEM batteries are only designed for 3-4 years of life.

Replaced with a Walmart MAXX Everlast battery for about $80. They have very good reviews and am completely satisfied... although it has only been a few months.

maseace

The hybrid battery pack under the rear seats is used for driving in hybrid mode, not the 12V battery under the hood. In hybrids, the 12V battery actually has an easier life, because it's not being used to crank-start the engine like in non-hybrids. It only powers the electronics, stereo, and lights and it gets recharged by the hybrid battery pack instead of an alternator.

smassey321

We are on our 3rd battery on our 06. The first one lasted 5 years and 30k miles. The 2nd one was dealer installed and lasted exactly 36 months and 60k miles.

katzjamr

the Costco version of this battery has more cold cranking power and has a warranty that is NOT prorated, they cover it fully for three years. my 400h went into service new on July 1 2005, and I replaced the oem battery in march of 2011. it seems to be that some of those oem batteries were recalled, it was not one of Denso's better products.

DocDenver

I bought a 2006 RX400h with 128K miles on it about two weeks ago and so far love it - but worked on the DVD player in the headrest for about 3 hours -- with door lights on -- and then the car wouldn't start. Left it alone for a few hours, and it had just enough juice to start up, but had to turn if off quickly before it could charge. This morning, no go. Looks like I may need to adapt to the small 12V. I'll see how it goes after a long ride, and may just put a new one in to avoid getting stuck.

QUESTION: Is there any kind of jump-starter that you can leave in the car? I see a number of devices that are meant to jump-start a car -- quite a few for under $100 - but looks like they all need to be plugged in at home - and the charge only lasts for month or two - which would be WAY too much for me to remember. I was hoping there was something that would trickle charge from the 12V outlet in the car, and I could just leave it in the car for the next time I need a jump and am not at home.....

thomas1

unfortunately the 12volt outlet in the car is not powered unless the ignition is on. Some have put a trickle charger on their car and unplugged when going. Simple task if you do any wiring, you could set up a pig tail for this task.

maseace

Yes, it's called a new 12V battery!

DocDenver

LOL, maseace! Those folks at Lexus think of everything!!!

Yes, there is a 12V battery in there and it normally works, but I was kind of hoping to have a "back-up" battery that would charge when the car was running, but then not discharge if I left in the airport parking lot for three weeks, or left an interior light on while at work one day. When it wouldn't start because the 12V under the hood was discharged, I'd have the back-up right there inside the car ready to go.

So thomas1, I think having it hooked up to the 12V outlet the way it currently is would be OK - so it would only charge when the car was running and not suck up any juice then the ignition was off. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any battery or "jump-starter" designed to operate that way....

HomerRulez

is this battery an expensive part to replace? would putting a non oem battery with a bit more power hurt the car in any way? Maybe damage the converter/inverter or something?

maseace

No, you can use any 12V car battery that will fit under the hood. You don't need high cranking amps because this battery does no cranking of the engine like a non-hybrid vehicle's battery does.

bvenvert

Well, my wife and I have had our 2006 RX400h for quite some time and have been very happy with the vehicle. We just turned 99K on the Odo on a trip to Colorado and have started to experience the battery issues that indicate it's time for a replacement battery. I have been quite surprised that it has last this long, but we have made it over 7 years on the original battery.

I guess all good things must come to an end. We have an 09 Acura TL that has already had the battery replaced, right at 3 years. The Lexus battery has been way better than average. Guess I will look around and find a replacement this weekend.