I am looking at a 2014 ls which had 4 batteries in 5 yrs. replaced. Any thing to look for?

Pete

 

Did you see that on the carfax or the dealer's history report? That's really odd. I haven't had any issues related to the car eating batteries.

 

Did the car sit a lot? I have an 07, the previous owner out on low miles and let it sit a lot in an unattached garage during winters in Wisconsin. He went through at least 3 batteries in 67000 miles. I have had the car for 2 years, put on 40000 miles with absolutely no battery issues.

 

1. high vibration
2. high underhood temeprature
3. completely discharged too frequently
4. bad voltage regulator
5. forgot to mention cool new electrical accessory that draws 5 amps all the time
6. charging rate off scale (100 amp garage cart)

 

Saw in on carfax

 

Based on a previous issue I had with my 08, you may want to consider the door jam switch the culprit. Not saying that's the issue, but, when the switch doesn't work, the headlights generally stay on which eats batteries. Just a thought.

 

thanks for the info

 

My wife killed 2 AGM batteries in 2 years by opening the right hand sun visors mirror then flipping it down to hold a sun shade in place. Turns on the overhead light.

 

Headlights don't "eat" batteries. They discharge them. What I got from reading the Lexus service records is that, on average, the battery lasts only two years because it's damaged, not discharged. That is way too often.

 

Well well, look who is back. What I was telling the OP is that if the door jam switch is bad, at night, when you turn off the car, it can keep the headlights on, sometimes indefinitely. That was a possibility for the OP to consider. I never said it was the problem. And, I'll stop there before I say something deserving.

 

Those batteries are replaced under warranty, Lexus dealers just replace them and bill it to Lexus when they get discharged. Extremely unlikely he got 4 bad batteries.

 

I think RZ gave you some good advice.

The LS460s are well designed automobiles. They consume batteries at about the same rate as other cars.

The OEM batteries in LS460s are commonly referred to as Flooded Cell SLI (starting, lighting, ignition) batteries. These batteries, unlike other types such as lithium, deep cycle and AGM, can not be reliably completely discharged and then restored by charging. They are designed to provide lots of current for a short period of time and be recharged quickly. These types of batteries are susceptible to damage if their State Of Charge is taken below 50%. Even discharging them one time below the 50% SOC can damage them and begin a life cycle death spiral that will result in failure in a few weeks or months. If you have a discharge event, you should have your battery tested by a competent battery technician to determine if it sustained permanent damage and needs to be replaced. Battery warranties do not give any consideration to if of how they were damaged and dealers will prorate the replacement based on the battery's age.

Here is some good information on car batteries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_battery

Defective doorjamb switches can defeat the feature that ensures that the headlights are automatically turned off after the ignition is turned off. We have discussed the doorjamb switch problem extensively in this forum. Not only is there a risk of battery discharge, there are other risk such as locking the key in the car and defeat of safety interlocks.

 

Why not use technically correct terms such as discharged or damaged. One is temporary and fixable, the other permanent. "Eat" has no application to batteries, is confusing and not helpful as it does not suggest what to do with the battery that was eaten.

 

Why not go haunt some place where people are scared of you. Go away troll. You're a waste of good oxygen.

 

If a bad door switch can discharge the battery to the point of damage, why is there no software timer that would after so many seconds turn off whatever is turned on by that door switch?