A few weeks ago, I asked for help as to why my ES300h won't start when it was not used for a few days. I did get a few response and I am thankful. I had the car towed to the dealer and spoke to them after they investigated the problem. They again said because I don't use the car daily or even every few days, then I need to place a trickle charger on it to ensure the battery is charged. Needless to say I was upset considering we are talking about a $50,000 car not a $20,000 Kia. Is that what is normal?
My question for all of you is whether you have had a similar problem with your Lexus? I would like to know if this is normal. This is my 4th Lexus and never had that problem. So if you can let me know your experience, I would like to know so when I speak to the dealer GM and the Regional Lexus Rep, I have some ammunition. I'll await responses.

Thank you
Dan A.

 

To follow up my previous thread concerning my ES300h draining the battery, I would also like to know not only IF you had/have the problem but even IF YOU DON'T have the starting problem. In fact, the more responses I get from those of you who haven't had the problem, the better for me to convince the dealer that there is an issue with my specific Lexus and it needs to be fixed..

Thanks again.

 

I also have a 2021 ES300h UL and routinely drive it 5 days a week for only about 3 miles each day. I have used it for several overnight road trips totaling about 300 miles each. I live in the South, so the lowest temperature experienced this year has been 28* F for about a week. I have not had any starting problems since I took delivery on 11/12/2020. Sorry to hear you are experiencing this issue. Doesn't seem normal to me. Dan, please keep us posted on any developments.

 

Thank you Mike for the response. It appears your driving is similar to mine and you haven't had issues with battery drain. The dealer has had the car all this week waiting for the Lexus engineer to check it out. Depending on the outcome, my next step is a meeting with the dealer GM with an eye to invoking the Florida Lemon Law.

Anybody else have a response? I can use as much ammunition as possible.

Thanks again

Dan A.

 

3-4 days seems like an incredibly poor standard. I doubt that's normal or even acceptable. I've left my CT200h in the garage for two weeks while I was traveling and started without a hiccup. So a much more expensive ES hybrid with a larger battery should be able to do the same. People on Prius forums leave their Priuses long-term as well. For me, anything less than 30 days seems reasonable.

They need to either check for parasitic draw, meaning anything causing the car to sap power from the battery while it's turned off, or replace your 12V. What would cause an abnormal draw is a module/computer fault or a short. Also aftermarket equipment but your car is new so I doubt you've installed anything. The car should be in a sleep state when you're away from it.

Go on amazon and buy a jump starter pack in case it happens again for an emergency.

If it were me, i'd insist on replacing the 12V battery under warranty.

if they won't budge, replace it anyway and bill Lexus for it.

 

Last summer I took delivery of a very low miles 2019 ES300h. I haven't experience any issues yet. The car lives outside and longest I went without driving was 4-5 days. No issues starting each time. When I went in for last complimentary oil change I asked SA to pull all past records. There were a couple of complaints from past owner about drained battery but there was no notes what was done to fix. SA told me it was common when car isn't driven often. It matched up as the car had less than 7K on the odometer at time of purchase.

 

Take a look at the below video. This guy is a master tech specializing in Toyota. Skip to around 12:51. He is talking about common complaints with battery dying prematurely. It may provides an insight into your issue. I am guessing it works on the same tech for the Lexus vehicles as well:

 

Yeah, AMD means business and knows a thing or two about these cars.

 

I just bought a ES 300h and was looking through the Warranty and Services Guide. It says to drive it once every “several months for at least 30 minutes or 10 miles” to prevent issues with starting. So there is definitely a problem that is not normal going on if you have starting issues when it just sits for a few days. Take it to the dealer and show them that page in your Warranty and Services guide. It’s on page 68.

 

No problems starting my es hybrid. I hardly ever drive it. It has been started after sitting for 3 to 4 weeks with no problems.

 

Dan A. Sounds like I wrote your thread. Only and I mean only difference (even down to this being my 4th Lexus) is that my car is a 2019 bought as a leftover in January 2020, it has just under 5000 miles (thank you COVID). Just had it towed from my house Thursday (it’s second visit to the dealer in 3 months). Today the dealer told me “that I don’t drive it enough and have to start it at least every 3 days”. WHAT? A $50,000 car?? I’m furious AND I got a bill to pay for about $100 for them to charge the battery - ridiculous. I called the Lexus 800 number and before I got cut off that service representative said “that just doesn’t sound right, maybe once a week...”. UGH!
thank you to the person pointing out the video with the DCM issue and to the one for page 68 in the manual.
When I have that phone call tomorrow with the service manager I may know more about this (or speculate about it) then they do. I’m not picking it up and having to put a trickle charger on it when I go away for a long weekend at the airport because my new car won’t start.

 

Had the ES300h towed to dealer yesterday AGAIN since it would not start (4th time in 3 months). Got a call today that they changed the battery. Well, it's about time!! We'll see how it turns out. I also called Lexus Customer Assistance and started the paperwork needed under the Florida Lemon Law.

Thanks again for all your helpful suggestions. I do appreciate it! Will keep you advises on progress.

Dan

 

Have mine since May 2019 with currently around 56K km on it (35K miles) and literally had 0 problem so far with my ES300h. Although I do drive a lot to work every day but during my vacations, I just leave it in the driveway and have no problem starting up the car a couple weeks later. Even after my 2 weeks Holiday vacation in the Canadian winter, I never had problem starting up the car (I park my car outside).

 

The dealer changed the battery in late March and so far all is well. Apparently, the original battery had a bad cell. What I can't figure out is what took them 4 visits to finally figure that out and correct the problem? I suggested that could be the problem on the first visit. It took them 3 more visits to finally change the battery. Having restored classic cars as a hobby, I'm a "car guy" and know about cars and how they work. Granted I owned older cars (57 T'Bird was the latest) but a battery is a battery no matter what year the car. All indications at first indicate a defective battery especially when when it first failed, there was corrosion on a battery terminal. That's a strong indication something is wrong.
This is my 4th Lexus and I never had a problem with dealer service until now. Another thing that's interesting. Usually, after a dealer visit you receive al request to rate the service received. I don't recall ever receiving it. Interesting! Perhaps it's because I raised the fact I was ready to complete the process to declare the car was a lemon under the Florida Lemon Law. I met the requirements (3 visits without resolving the same problem) and was ready to submit all the forms required. It's obvious the dealer wasn't happy over that possibility. Since I didn't receive the dealer service review form, perhaps they have control over who gets it. If you indicate to them verbally that you have no complaints, you get it for a positive review. If there was a problem, you don't get it.
Something to ponder.

Dan

 

I live in Quebec, Canada. This is my 3rd ES bought new (2015, 2017 and 2019h) Last winter, after 18 months and 17000km, 3 times in the same week, barely 18 hours after my parking (one night), my battery was discharged completely. According to the dealer, I am not driving enough (30 km / day). By watching the posted video, I understood that my remote starter problem, which has been working randomly since I got the car, seems to be related as well. It looks like it's the DCM that needs updating. I will speak to my dealer on my next visit.