...well tonight, and for no apparent reason, the battery on my RX 350 2012 went dead..(the usual cracking noise....diferent messages etc)....I called Lexus (I am in NJ) and requested help, thay said that the tow truck will be there in 1 hour and if the messages continue to show that the RX will be towed to the nearest dealer, which happens to Prestige which is where I bought it. The truck showed in 40 minutes after the initial call.
Sure thing a charge was given and all went back to normal...my worry is why a 1 year old battery will get discharged for no apparent reason....should I go back to dealer and have then check the RX?....should I get a new battery?..(I guess it will be prorated, but by whom)...anyone with any suggestions, similar experience or advice, I will appreciate..oh.....and while the charge was being given Lexus call and ask me if the tow truck had arrived...when I got home 1 hour later another call to find out if everything was ok...impressed...........

 

I'd take it in and have them check everything out, including the battery. If the battery is defective they will replace it under warranty. If you were to buy one, they will not prorate anything unless they can test the old battery to determine it was actually defective.

We had a 2005 Sienna van that we bought in early 2006. The night we bought it, we had to jump it because we were tinkering with things in the driveway for about 20-30 minutes and it wouldn't start. We found that a bit odd. About a year later we had an issue and took it in. They tested the battery and it was defective so it was replaced under warranty, no prorate, no charge.

The car is a year old. Let the dealer figure this out.


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The battery failed on my 450h after about six months. It was not holding a charge. I took the car to the dealer. They tested the battery. It was bad. They replaced the battery for free and gave me a new warranty on it. In the past, I have had batteries fail and they replaced them giving me a prorated credit toward the new battery. So the fix will be either free or a small charge ... unless something is causing the battery to fail. In which case, they will repair defect under warranty. Good luck.

If you want to avoid a possibly unnecessary trip to the dealer, many battery chargers will display the status of your battery. I picked one up for about $75 at Walmart that allows me to see the volts the battery is putting out (before and after charge) and access if it has a problem very quickly. Very easy. It is also a good way to avoid having to deal with tow trucks and getting stranded. Very easy.

 

I agree you should take it in to be checked, just in case. Have a trickle/battery charger is also a great idea. I have one so I can try to give myself a recharge, just in case.

 

I agree with ecr72.....the car is a year old. Let the good folks at Lexus figure it out or give you a new battery.

Good luck with this issue.

 

I have been curious about this myself.... I had an 04 LandCruiser, and in extreme heat, the batteries usually die within 2-3 years, batteries HATE heat. This one was 8 years and showing almost same voltage as new, load test also, nearly same as new. I figured, why gamble, just replace it. As it turns out, Toyota does NOT import this battery into the USA, it is a Japan only battery. A military grade battery...I was blown away by this. It demonstrated that a high quality battery can be made, albeit, I did find out the price for this battery if imported, without any duties or taxes was $500.
OTOH, I had a friend with a Lexus, and it went through a battery nearly every year. I once had a Jeep which had the same issue. Both for different reasons. On the Lexus, it was low use, and constant drain on the battery from all the cars electronics. This is one of the unfortunate issues of all the bells n whistles these cars have today..when the car sits, the battery is draining at all times... and all batteries do NOT like to be drained, it shortens their lives. In the case of the Jeep, through no help of the dealer, I finally tracked down a very minor short in a cable (these can be nearly impossible to find, and a consequence of having the metal frame act as a common ground).... after 5 years of constant problems, the problem ended.
So, pay attention to the battery issue, as the dealer can easily write it off as a defective battery, but often, there is other reasons for the battery failure, which may continue. If you do not use the car for extended periods of time, a battery tender is a good idea to extend battery life. A load tester is also a good idea to predict battery longevity.

 

The battery on my 2012 had to be replaced two months after delivery.

 

Interesting. I had an old 4Runner that still had its original battery (as far as I could tell) when it was 11 years old. The battery label stated it was a 72-month battery from Toyota (Panasonic?).

 

...well I picked up the RX 2012, today from Prestige, they gave me a brand new awd IS 250 as a loaner and they found nothing wrong with either the battery or the car's charging system, they suggested that I ask my wife if by any chance anything was left on..and what she responded if I repeated I will be banned from this forum for eternity......
...very quietly I said "I know honey".....and then the volcano really went off..."don't you I know honey me"....enough said....tonight and every night for next few days when I go to sleep I will pray to all my favorite saints that this incident don't happen again...I know I am not THAT young but I would love to live a few more years....you all should pray for me as well.....<S>

 

I have a 2012 RX built in Japan with the tow package,trans cooler ,and I believe it has a heavy duty battery as well. I don't use the RX as a daily driver, but luckily so far .......(fingers crossed).

 

Are you suggesting the tow package (or Japan build) provides for a heavy duty battery ? Would be nice if that is true, but prob. not. I have a 13RX with tow package and Japan build...battery says, Lexus Torrance CA. It is listed as 70Ah, decent for its size. I am curious if the non-tow package Rx, Canada build, how many Ah's are spec'd on the battery?

 

Are you sure you did not leave anything on causing the battery to discharge?
If not, there are two possibiltites. The charging system is not working or the battery is bad. A good battery should not discharge without any reason. Firstly, watch it. If there is any sign that the battery is weakening take the car in for a checkup. Or take it in now.

 

Agree with Leo... batteries do not discharge for NO reason, specially suddenly. Considering your life was at risk once already, its best you don't ask any more questions. :-) At this point, the best you can hope for is to keep tabs on the battery .... use a volt meter, monitor the exact voltage of the battery.... if its discharging, you can pick this up from the voltage reading falling... anything below 12.2 Volts is getting dangerous.... above 12.6V is ideal...

 

The towing prep packages come with the transmission oil cooler, heavy duty radiator, and heavy duty alternator.

 

..thank you guys for the advice...lol...I will NOT bring the subject up again to the wife..I will keep an eye on the situation but the dealer did check the battery and all electrical possible malfunctions....pssss....now is 12 midnight and she is sleeping...I do believe that without her realizing it something was done "wrong", but I can't figure what, even when I listen to the radion with the engine off after about 10 minutes the car automatically turns radio off and indicates that it is done to prevent.....(drum roll please!!!!!.....a discharged battery!!!!!!!!!!!!)...so if I discover anything I will pass it to the group in a very "quite" manner as to NOT awake sleeping giants"...if you know what I mean.....lol