Battery Going Dead

[tommcgraw]

I just got back from a 3 hour trip, parked my RX350, went to use it a half hour later and the battery was stone dead. Had to jump it. This has happened 2 times now. Has anyone had this problem?

[FrankN]

Never had that problem with a new vehicle. Sounds like you need to get it in and have the charging system checked. I would ask for a new battery for sure.

[lexinator1]

Owned 2004 SC 430 (less then 35k miles), 5 dead batteries dealer says its an issue (I was told I'm not driving enough) and not sure what is causing it, bottom line its cheaper to replace a battery than pay a mechanic to try to figure it out...sold car, very frustrating, then bought 2008 IS 250, no problems with battery (sold car), just bought 2010 250H less than 1,000 miles....you guessed it...dead battery. Looking at all the posts from this forum and others I think Lexus has a HUGE problem with their batteries/charging systems and they don't know the answer. There are way too many posts on batteries for a car that costs 40k-60k, this is simply unacceptable and now I'm switching to a German car...not waisting my time with Lexus anymore, too bad I like them but don't want to get to know my dealer or triple A guy as well as I have over the past few years.

[Lexus Dream]

I have a Lexus IS-250 And for no reason the car alarm went off for over an hour. Well needless to say the battery died.

They tried to recharge the battery But from reading ALL these post I can see that LEXUS HAS A PROBLEM with their batteries. Along with all the other recalls.

So the dealer replaced the electrical problem that caused the alarm to sound for over an hour. I was smart enought to purchase a LEXUS certified pre-owned.

BUT, now they will are stating that they are not replace the battery because it is a wear and tear item? I don't think so , the battery was fine. I KNOW And so does everyone else in the neighborhood, and I will get them to replace the battery.

Don't let LEXUS push us around. They make the best cars in the world, you couldn't give me another car other then a LEXUS, but we pay a laarge amount of money for that quality.

WIth the large payment, I expect to be taken care of when the car fails.

I am losing my patience with the recalls and the poor treatment of customer service that LEXUS has begun. If they don't start getting their act together I am not sure I will be as much of a loyal customer as I currenlty am.

[Bill-Lafayette]

1. Our 2011 RX struggled to start - only 18 months old. At recent stop at our recycle center, it barely started. I drove right over to local Sam's Club and bought a new one (Lexus Dealer is 1-1/2 hours away). Auto tech at Sam's said they've been replacing many of the 'Toyota Service' batteries. Beware - see your dealer if your RX struggles to start.
   
2. Bill - N. Carolina
   

[LeodLion]

Dont have any problem with the battery nor charging system on my 2010.

[SLG]

At my 26,000 mile checkup, I wanted to change the battery on my 2010 RX350 but BF said to wait. Battery just died with no warning three days ago but it was original and four and a half years old. Read stories about how to reset car settings if replacing the battery myself as opposed to dealer installation, so installed an Interstate battery and all settings remained the same! Everything else has been dealer serviced, but this saved time and am sure some bucks.

[jackmcf]

We bought a new 2011 RX350 in March 2011. We are now on our third battery. My wife is the primary driver and has consistently driven 4,000 to 6,000 miles per year for the past thirty years. She has never had a dead battery until this model. The mileage with this car has also been about 4,000 mies per year for the past three years. However, she was told by the dealer that she 'doesn't drive enough' with this car and that is why the battery keeps dying.causing the car to be jumped or towed three times. They claim that they have 'tested' the car and there is no short circuit or current drain with the batttery.

However, they did not say that there were poor OEM Batteries placed in the vehicle.

The most recent problems that we had was in the past week which started with a dead battery on Tuesday morning in our garage followed by a house call to jump the battery. The car was driven about twenty miles on Tuesday to recharge the battery. Another thirty miles were driven on Wednesday only to be followed by another dead battery on Thursday morning. There was then another call to the dealer and a tow from our garage on Thursday. It was returned the next Tuesday with a new OEM battery and an apology...but no problems were found.

The service and the attentiveness by the dealership was great but we are now left waiting once again for the annual battery meltdown to come next year. We can only hope that it will occur in our garage as it has hppened in the prior two years and not in a remote location.

Our only hope is that Lexus will come up with a better solution to replace the current, "We don't drive enough" admonishment. We probably won't wait for that. We won't be driving much more than we already do, just to keep the car alive.

[JonesS6]

I just got back from a 3 hour trip, parked my RX350, went to use it a half hour later and the battery was stone dead. Had to jump it. This has happened 2 times now. Has anyone had this problem?

Another quote like yours:

I have a 2009 RX350 with 43,000 miles. (still under warranty) I've had to jump the car off four times in the past 3 weeks and have taken it to the dealer twice. Both times they said the battery checks out and can't find anything wrong. They suggested that maybe we left the key on ACC and that drained it. That's not the case. The battery is shot, I replaced it today and they agreed that the battery was bad. My question is that: 1) could something else be draining it? The dealer said that they couldn't find a parasitic drain or 2) Is Lexus service incompetent and dishonest? This is our first Lexus and so far, I'm totally unimpressed. Thanks.

My reply to his statement: I have a 2010 Lexus R350 with identical mileage and identical issues. I had it checked and asked to have it charged at a local garage. They reported that the battery was bad and wouldn't charge fully. I immediately drove the 60 miles down curvy mt. roads to nearest Lexus dealer. This is the second battery to go bad. The first was the one that came pre-installed with the vehicle. This was the warranty replacement battery 1 yr. & 9 mos. ago. Greenville, SC, Lexus mgr. claims nothing wrong with battery. Says he won't replace battery even though it says 84 mo. warranty (Lexus 00544-MF24f-575). Says if he has to "replace a replacement," I have to pay for it. It's nighttime now, I'm over a barrel. I put out the $115+ for the new battery. I ask to hold onto the old battery. Dealer seems mildly shocked. Firm inadvertently(?) tries to charge battery recycling fee. While all this is going on, I decide to report the problem to Lexus' customer service line. Case manager won't be back to me for days. Phone lady politely suggests that I could request a loaner battery until this is resolved. Dealer refuses. I do the arduous drive back up the mt. I'm asking the same question you are. Something just doesn't "smell" right. I wonder if the dealer pawned off a used battery on me for the warranty replacement a year ago, which is why it went bad so fast. Or is there something amiss in the inherent electrical system that Lexus is failing to own up to?

[natoma jr]

Have 2018 RX350 w/ 1075 miles the battery was dead and the  Lexus dealer replaced it about a month ago.  Back at the dealer yesterday because it would not start without a charge they said nothing wrong I don't drive it enough.  Ready to trade it in.

[Hopper_01]

I just purchased a 2013 Lexus RX 350. It sat in my garage last night and the battery went dead. The vehicle only has 9800 miles on it. I used the battery charger to charge the battery. The truck started fine. However the check engine light and the check AWD system is now sending messages. If I get a new battery will this resolve the problem?

[Taffy13]

 I had the same problem for years with my 2010 Rx350 Lexus replace three battery's under warranty and problem still persisted!  Lexus service told me I did not drive the RX enough to keep the battery charged, I would have to boost the car every four or five days. Finally after doing a lot of research on battery's I bought an (AGM Energizer Battery) problem Solved no more dead battery. So if anyone is having problems with a dead battery get that TOYOTA battery out of your vehicle . 

[RX400h]

On 12/6/2020 at 11:37 AM, Hopper_01 said:

I just purchased a 2013 Lexus RX 350. It sat in my garage last night and the battery went dead. The vehicle only has 9800 miles on it. I used the battery charger to charge the battery. The truck started fine. However the check engine light and the check AWD system is now sending messages. If I get a new battery will this resolve the problem?

How old is the battery? Check its date code. I also recommend having a code scanner to see what the code is and what are the causes. We've been using our Lexus to go to Costco and the grocery store, but every outing includes driving at least 12-15 miles out and 12-15 miles back. This ensures that the 12V battery is always fully charged. They tend to last about 5 years or so.

[Richard Robertson]

New 2022 RX 350. Refused to start. After a Jump, it started with several malfunctions listed. All turned out to be bogus. Lexus roadside assistance arranged for a flatbed to carry vehicle to Northside Lexus in Spring, TX. Battery was recharged and problems disappeared. Northside found nothing wrong with battery, but replaced it anyway. I was not charged for the repair or moving the vehicle either way. Car had only been driven 500 miles. Service rep was very nice and kept me informed throughout the ordeal. Still....

[Kate W]

I have a newer 2020 Lexus RX450H - Twice now, I have found it with a dead battery after traveling for 7 - 14 days and leaving it parked while out of town.  Seems ridiculous to have to ask someone to come drive my car while I am out of town.  Thus far dealership has said there is nothing wrong with the battery.  this seems like a design flaw to me.  I am a low mileage driver (i.e. less than 5K miles per year).

[RX400h]

How long was it parked? If you're out of town for more than two weeks, you may consider buying a "Battery Tender" to keep the battery fully charged.

[J David R]

Hmmm.  We bought a 2012 is250 in 2017.  Just had it in for the 90k mi. checkup on May 11.  Replaced battery.  Drove car to St. Louis and back (300 miles), also had it on road--for first extended driving since Covid--several other times.  No problems.  Three days ago, car wouldn't lock, then...lights wouldn't turn on, car wouldn't lock/unlock except mechanically, nothing worked.  Lexus picked it up yesterday, took it to dealership 45 mi. away.  On its way back now.  Service mgr says they charged the battery, couldn't find anything wrong, alternator is fine, we don't drive it enough (sound familiar?? standard line from Lexus???), and so on.  Service has always been good before, but the mgr sounded pretty cavalier about this.  We've had a couple of very minor electrical glitches before, but nothing like this.  Supposed to take Lexus to my son, doing an internship two hours away, for the summer, but now I'm leery about leaving it with him.  Something doesn't sound right about this....

[ken Goodwin]

We own a 2010 rx450h and were having to replace the battery every year for the last 5 years. The batteries cost over $300 each. Our mechanic and the Lexus dealer told us we weren't driving it enough. I decided to replace the battery myself the last time instead of paying our mechanic $200 over the cost of the battery. I discovered most battery dealers don't list a battery for the car. The one in the car was a panasonic sold only by Toyota. After several hours of research I found an Optima 8040-218 D35 that fits. My solution is to leave a smart charger like a Genius hooked up to the battery all the time and plug the charger in every time the car sits for more than a day. The more often the battery goes completely dead the weaker the battery gets until replacement is the only option.

[Martjohnw]

My 2010 has just had its 12 volt battery go dead.  The repair shop has recharged it, but I wonder how long it will last.  I have replaced the battery three times since I got this car in 2014.  I bet this was the reason the previous owner traded it in, as it was in very good condition when I bought it.  I see lots of threads that say the problem is not driving enough, but I drive mine every day, but not very far.  So I am thinking of trading it in.  I am scared to get a newer used hybrid in case the same problem occurs. I'd buy an electric car, but I don't think at my age I would recoup the cost of installing a charger at my house.  So maybe it is back to a straight gasoline engine for me.

[RREngineer]

My 2021 RX350 wouldn't fully start and displayed warning message stating "low braking power", so I thought that the programming was preventing the car from starting due to a braking issue.  But, the car wouldn't turn off, either.  It stayed in "ignition ON" mode.  I was parked inside a parking garage of an airport on the 3rd floor and it was almost 8pm.  I called Lexus roadside assistance and spoke to 4 different persons who could not identify what was wrong nor why the ignition wouldn't turn off AND they couldn't get a tow truck into a 7 ft max clearance airport parking garage.  At this point, all of the various alarms are flashing on the dashboard in a continuous cycle. 

I'm on the East Coast, so I started calling Lexus service dealers on the West Coast since it would only be about 5:30pm.  I spoke to 2-3 in CA (no one new how to get the car to turn off) and 1 in OR who said to disconnect the battery, but I had no tools to do it.  I considered getting the car pushed out of the parking garage but with two down ramps and messaging stating that the car essentially had no braking power, it would be unsafe.  Two hours later, sitting in my car at the airport, a warning message stated that the vehicle was going to shut itself down due to low battery. 

The next morning, I called one of our two local Lexus dealer service departments.  The first one took a message and never called back (still haven’t heard from them).  The second service dealer, Lexus of Jacksonville FL, took my call, found an advisor who knew from experience that a Lexus with battery issues will freak out with all sorts of error messages.  But he has never heard of a vehicle that couldn't be turned off.  I was stuck in the airport for 3 hours, and I live one hour away, so this was quite an ordeal getting transport back & forth twice.  I called AAA (not Lexus roadside) to come to the parking garage the next day and they were able to jump the car, and I drove it to the dealer.  They identified a bad battery (3 year old car with 26k miles) and replaced it under warranty. 

But this was a horrible ordeal.  Why doesn't the Lexus programming with all of its bells and whistles, display a message that the battery power is low or the battery needs replacement, rather than telling me the car has faulty brakes or other system errors!!  This is POOR programming and messaging.  And, why wouldn't the vehicle turn off???  Lexus - - this is a big issue, based on the numerous battery issues reported and the faulty programming that needs to be addressed.