Total Electrical Failure

[wesue4u]

Everything has been totally normal. I drove the car to work and shut it off.

At first, the doors would automatically lock, so I got back in and tried to start it.

NOTHING

No lights, no start, no power. Heck the trunk wouldn't even pop open.

By all appearances, it seems like someone disconnected the battery, but of course, this didn't happen.

Any ideas as to where to start?

[landar]

Everything has been totally normal. I drove the car to work and shut it off.

At first, the doors would automatically lock, so I got back in and tried to start it.

NOTHING

No lights, no start, no power. Heck the trunk wouldn't even pop open.

By all appearances, it seems like someone disconnected the battery, but of course, this didn't happen.

Any ideas as to where to start?

You are not far from being correct. Battery cells are connected in series and if just one fails, the whole battery fails. Or it could simply be a bad battery post connection. Or perhaps the battery was drained somehow with something being left on.

Start by opening the hood, checking the battery with a voltmeter. Then jump the battery and see if you can get the car started. If so, check the charging voltage. It should be around 14V or so.

How old is your battery?

{edit} I see you are in the wrong section of the forum. You have an '08 LS460. Same logic still applies. So you are probably on the original battery and it is not uncommon to fail at the 3-4 year mark.

[VBdenny]

A 3 year old battery in Florida is all done, killed by the heat. Anything after then is a bonus.