Simple question which two different answers. Is the 12 volt battery in my RX450h different then others? I am told that I need to get one from Lexus. I am told shops won't check it because they will do damage to the sensors and computer!

Who is right? Can I replace the battery with one from Napa, Costco etc

 

There's nothing special about the h 12V battery. It's in the trunk, next to the spare. The only thing that would make it stand apart is that it is not used by the starter, as there is no starter. That's why Prius has a small, motorcycle-like battery.

 

About a year ago, I looked into one from COSTCO and they had it only better specs than the OEM battery. All I remember about the price is it was reasonable. I probably need to do it again as I'm still on the OEM one that will be 5 years old next month. Car build date was May of 09 (1st production month for the 2010 RX450h). Someone else here some time ago posted a trick about keeping the replacement and original hooked together while changing to keep all the data in the computers, maybe they can chime in here. I'm thinking that could be a good idea.