YWW

I thought I would share with you with my latest Lexus battery replacement experience on my 2008 RX350. Original OEM factory battery died in June 2011 after just 3 years and it was replaced free by local Lexus dealer covered under the original factory warranty. However, I was told at the time by the dealer, the replacement Lexus battery had a full 7-year replacement warranty on it with no proration and it said 84-month warranty on top of the battery. Well, I took the RX in this morning for routine maintenance and technician found my RX battery bad. Found out the replacement Lexus battery only carried a 4-year warranty with proration if it was replaced during the original Lexus factory warranty despite the battery said 84-month warranty of top. Dealer explained that if the replacement battery was replaced outside the original factory Lexus warranty, that replacement Lexus battery would carry a 84-month prorated warranty, not the 7-year full replacement warranty as originally told to me by the dealer. Bottom line is when you are due to replace your factory or replacement battery, there's NO point to consider Lexus battery since their battery price is considerably higher than what you can find at Costco or Sam's Club which come with much more attractive warranty terms than Lexus especially when Lexus seems to change its tune on the verbiage on the warranty over time.

mdbrown

Just buy an Optima, problem solved.

BlackLexRX

They're 159$ at my dealer, pretty competitive really. Optimas are top level, otherwise a battery is a battery. These cars eat batteries so replacing them comes with the territory. If yours lasted six years and it was already free to begin with, what's the big deal? I don't need fine print to understand that.

mandyfig

Others correct me if I am wrong, once you have claimed a failed battery, the replacement will be guaranteed by the number of months remaining on the original battery. In short you do not get an extended warranty, unless otherwise specified in writing (I do not think a company offers stackable warranty, where the warranty period starts at 0 if the battery is replaced from a warranty claim) . The typical battery warranty for full replacement is now only 42 months (talking about Costco).

mjeds

pretty sure all battery warranties by any company are like this. Heck warranties on any items, brakes, tires, transmissions, engine components, etc. no one stacks warranties, the warranty on the replacement is always the life left of the original part from its original in service date.

new battery = 7 year warranty, replaced at 3 years means the replacement only has 4 years left (regardless of how it is marked), if that replacement gets replaced 3 years after it is installed (6 years from the in service date of the original) then it has 1 year left, if it gets replaced at the 4th year; there is no more warranty on the replacement. The clock starts again when you pay for a new battery.

DennisMik

^^^ what he said.