atl_es300

not happy. the battery buddy caused the car to not start. apparently the battery buddy kicked in and to deactivate it, we have to turn the headlights on and off (the headlights will not actually come on, but you have to do this anyway) and pump the brakes and then try to start the car, and keep doing this until it starts. we are definately getting rid of this car, and moving on with our lives.

the car won't start this morning!!! we are actually happy about this. we had our 15,000 miles service done on march 25th at the dealers. i just left a voicemail with my service consultant. i can't wait for them to take it in and see what they have to say now. guess that aftermarket device isn't going to "fix" the problem either.

nick, remember my post from back on page 3? the car is still starting okay since last december, but i wouldn't be shocked for the battery or something else related to the battery to fail again. our es was bought brand new in 2002, so i don't think the lemon laws apply to us. :( we have been told by both the dealership and lexus corp that the solution they provided should be enough to satisfy us. we hate their fix. it feels like we have a car with crutches. we have not fought this tooth and nail as we should have. too many other things going on in our lives. we hate the es, too. we will never buy another lexus again. still considering selling it prviately, but it's a real downer that we've paid for this car already, and we'll be eating the early depreciation costs on it should we sell it so early.

lenore, thanks for the info, but supposedly they have already run ALL the tests, and they say everything is normal. there is no unusal draw on the battery and the alternator is not bad. since the dealer and lexus is sticking with their driving distance/time theory, we want it in writing. we can't think of anything else to do besides getting rid of the car, which is basically brand new since we drive is so infrequently.

we were told that we must drive it at least 20 miles (ie highway) at high speed (at least 55 mph) continuously for something like 20 minutes every week or some such. we are going to try and get that in writing.

the dealer and lexus is convinced that the reason we are having our battery problems is due to our low mileage and infrequent driving habit.

your battery problems seems more severe than ours since you've only had your car 4 months while we have had ours nearly 3 years; however, the frequency of the battery dying is still unacceptable. just a couple weeks ago, our battery died for the 4th or 5th time, and the dealer finally added an aftermarket device on the car that auto-shuts downs all electrical components should it detect a low battery level so that at least the car will start, but even this makes us feel wary about the car. the root cause of the problem is still left untreated. we got the "battery is bad" theory a couple of times, too at first, but now that it has happened to us so many times, they say it's because we don't put enough miles on the car. we still haven't decided one way or another about keeping this car, especially with the warrenty about to run out. keep us posted on your situation, and we'll do the same.

nick, we have almost the same identical battery problem as you have described. we have had our es300 since 2002 and every year since then, we have had a dead battery at least once a year and during one year, we had the problem twice. the dealer suggests that we do not drive the car enough to sufficiently recharge the battery. we are unhappy with this theory and our 3 year warranty is coming up. we have also been told that this is not an uncommon problem, and the customers who do have this problem tend to have very low mileage. while our driving habits may be below average, it makes no sense to us why a car would be made in such a manner that requires high mileage for it to function. also, like you, the tech department at the dealership has repeated advised us that the alternater is not the problem. we are considering trading in the es300 to get rid of this headache, and not neccessarily staying within the lexus family of cars.