Question to hybrid owners

Yourmama

I was test driving a lexus is300h today. When I first got in the car, battery was as flat as it can get. No reaction to power button at all. Sales guy says the car was parked for three weeks and this is why but I still find it weird. I would expect the starter struggle and maybe fail after 3 weeks but not completely flat. Is this normal in hybrids? For how long you left your car the most and was still working? Is he trying to sell me failed battery?

colm_mcm

2 seperate batteries. One for the hybrid, and one for the cars functions, electronics etc. The cars starting is done off the hybrid battery, and if the cars electronics bits had enough power to tell the car to start, the hybrid system would have done it.
The battery at fault here is a regular type one like any car has, not the hybrid one.

Yourmama

Yourmama wrote: »

.........the car was parked for three weeks and this is why but I still find it weird. I would expect the starter struggle and maybe fail after 3 weeks but not completely flat. Is this normal in hybrids? For how long you left your car the most and was still working? Is he trying to sell me failed battery?

I'd expect a healthy battery to be fine after being parked up for 3 weeks.

ba_barabus

Augeo wrote: »

I'd expect a healthy battery to be fine after being parked up for 3 weeks.

To be fair a 2003 Polo when new would kill a battery in 2 weeks

ba_barabus

ba_barabus wrote: »

To be fair a 2003 Polo when new would kill a battery in 2 weeks

Something wrong there.
Are you referring to all 2003 VW polo or just one?

Cerco

ba_barabus wrote: »

To be fair a 2003 Polo when new would kill a battery in 2 weeks

What is special about a 2003 Polo that would cause current drain while parked?

HandsomeDan

Was this car paked up in Sarsfields by any chance?

Cee-Jay-Cee

OP was the car brand new?

unkel

Augeo wrote: »

I'd expect a healthy battery to be fine after being parked up for 3 weeks.

3 weeks is a long time for a high spec modern higher end car loaded with electronics

I wouldn't just count on the car to fire up after all that time. If the car was mine, I'd either trickle charge it, drive or charge it in the mean time or just lower my expectations to a more reasonable level and not rely on the car starting up just like that without any help

...... healthy battery and 3 weeks standing is no problem. No car stands for 3 weeks in a dealer.... people moving it a few feet etc etc.... won't help.

I'd hazard a guess you know less about modern cars batteries than you do about statistics.

Yourmama

HandsomeDan wrote:

Was this car paked up in Sarsfields by any chance?

No, but just in case, should I avoid them?

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote:

OP was the car brand new?

No, it's 2014

ba_barabus

Augeo wrote: »

Something wrong there.
Are you referring to all 2003 VW polo or just one?

Sorry it was the 2002-2005 model years. The alarm system if parked up would drain the battery. We had 2 in the family at the time and both did it. That was the dealer explanation at the time and I've seen it online several times since online.

Special Circumstances

Kinda feel like an angry lawyer is gonna appear from somewhere and scream "OBJECTION!!!!!" if I post in this thread but... back in the day when cars came without bluetooth built in it was quite common for those aftermarket kits installed without using switched 12v to drain a mediocre battery. (No I don't have the exact statistics for this, it's just a casual observation like, not an academic paper)

So a modern car started and shuffled around the yard without any decent charging time, a few background electronics staying awake for maybe 15mins every time.... why wouldn't the battery be "not in tip top condition".

Hmmm although in this case, would an IS300h turn on the ice engine at all while being shuffled round a yard? Would an alternator run at all while it was moving on electric motor power? Would lights and all other electronics run off the lead acid without any alternator running until a certain point before the petrol engine was instructed to start to charge the battery.


Anyway long story short, as colm mcm said - it's the bog standard lead acid battery that you have in any car that has let you down here. Pretty simple to check of it is still in reasonable condition or replace.

I know people that always seem to need a jump start after parking up in the airport for their hols, I wouldn't think a car not starting after 3 weeks was definitely a major flaw.

That's a lot of text for somebody to nit pick isn't it?

Chippy01

The 12 volt lead acid battery in hybrids are smaller than they are in non hybrids, as they are basically only used to initially power up the drive train computers, which in turn command the hybrid system to take over.

It's a known issue with the Prius, that if the auto boot light switch is in the on position, and the tailgate is not closed properly leaving the lamp lit, that single boot light can drain that small 12 volt battery sufficiently, that the car won't start after parking overnight.

I am on my second Prius, and have left it parked up for over a fortnight on many occasions and haven't had any starting problems. If I did, the 12 volt battery would be the first thing on my check list.

Casati

I'd say its v unlikely the car was sitting was just 3 weeks, simply put thats as long as many folks summer holidays so despite whats others think its not acceptable for a fairly new car to lose power that quickly. My guess is that that specific car had an extra drain on the battery- possibly interior light left on or aftermarket alarm, or porbably more likely it was sitting around for months as they aren't the most popular seller

colm_mcm

We had this happen to new Priuss all the time. No biggy.

danger_mouse_tm

Check and see if there is a warranty on that battery. Like many have said, the small battery (with the big price) is used just to tell the ECU to power on and then everything is done with the hybrid battery. I had the same problem with my 2013 C-max Energi (plug-in hybrid). They dealer replaced the battery for free under warranty. Florida heat kills batteries and I have had a couple of people leave the lights on in the car. I'm a firm believer that once a battery is flattened a few times it's never as good again. We charge our batteries here with an electronic charger every six months.

colm_mcm

Small battery is just a regular 005 battery. Around €80

dingding

Chippy01 wrote: »

The 12 volt lead acid battery in hybrids are smaller than they are in non hybrids, as they are basically only used to initially power up the drive train computers, which in turn command the hybrid system to take over.

It's a known issue with the Prius, that if the auto boot light switch is in the on position, and the tailgate is not closed properly leaving the lamp lit, that single boot light can drain that small 12 volt battery sufficiently, that the car won't start after parking overnight.

I am on my second Prius, and have left it parked up for over a fortnight on many occasions and haven't had any starting problems. If I did, the 12 volt battery would be the first thing on my check list.

I have a Lexus hybrid as well and I noticed the same as the car got older, a couple of weeks at the airport was enough to kill the battery.

The battery was less than 100 euro to replace and I got one from Micks Garage.

The battery is smaller as it does not have to crank the engine, just power up the control circuits.

aidanki

dingding wrote: »

I have a Lexus hybrid as well and I noticed the same as the car got older, a couple of weeks at the airport was enough to kill the battery.

The battery was less than 100 euro to replace and I got one from Micks Garage.

The battery is smaller as it does not have to crank the engine, just power up the control circuits.

how are you finding the lexus on fuel ?

grogi

unkel wrote: »

3 weeks is a long time for a high spec modern higher end car loaded with electronics

I wouldn't just count on the car to fire up after all that time. If the car was mine, I'd either trickle charge it, drive or charge it in the mean time or just lower my expectations to a more reasonable level and not rely on the car starting up just like that without any help

Especially if it comes with keyless entry, and the key was in proximity of the car...

dingding

aidanki wrote: »

how are you finding the lexus on fuel ?

Its the RX 400h and I am getting about 8.8 L per 100 km.

It is not to bad for the size and weight of the vehicle.

zilog_jones

colm_mcm wrote: »

We had this happen to new Priuss all the time. No biggy.

It was a known issue with the earlier 3rd gen Prius and keyless entry that it would drain the 12V battery easily. I think this was resolved by the 2012 facelift (or at some other stage) in that it will go into a lower power sleep state if left alone for a while.

Not sure if there are similar issues with the IS300h. Maybe being at a dealer it could have often been in proximity of the keys (or even other similar keys?), causing more activity than needed?