Battery Has Discharged!

[RunningInPleasePass]

Good result, it took me nearly a week of argument for them to agree the Battery was faulty, then a further three weeks to source a Battery.

If the dealer is any good he will have a new Battery in stock, or he will borrow one from a new stock car and have you on your way.

[geo13647]

Sounds pretty rubbish, did you use eco mode? .... i still have not dared use it ...slowly moving back to my old way of driving weekend by weekend.

I found complaining directly to Toyota Customer Relations (email from website) is a handy way to get things moving, chances are if the problem continues they will get involved any way.

A recall looks quite likely at this rate...

Very rarely use ECO, tend to leave it in normal, with a fair bit of PWR when a bit of poke is required.

I find that ECO is not really useful, it certainly doesn't seem to save me very much.

Certainly the modes should not affect the 12v charging, as this is done from the HV via an inverter.

Even running on full electric, the 12v should still be trickle charged ( assuming a good battery) as the ICE will kick in when the SoC of the HV drops too far.

I think they will eventually drop in a software patch to fix/ improve the charging cycles.

Can't see them doing a global Battery replacement & charging circuit change, but you never know.

G...

[geo13647]

Sounds pretty rubbish, did you use eco mode? .... i still have not dared use it ...slowly moving back to my old way of driving weekend by weekend.

I found complaining directly to Toyota Customer Relations (email from website) is a handy way to get things moving, chances are if the problem continues they will get involved any way.

A recall looks quite likely at this rate...

Very rarely use ECO, tend to leave it in normal, with a fair bit of PWR when a bit of poke is required.

I find that ECO is not really useful, it certainly doesn't seem to save me very much.

Certainly the modes should not affect the 12v charging, as this is done from the HV via an inverter.

Even running on full electric, the 12v should still be trickle charged ( assuming a good battery) as the ICE will kick in when the SoC of the HV drops too far.

I think they will eventually drop in a software patch to fix/ improve the charging cycles.

Can't see them doing a global Battery replacement & charging circuit change, but you never know.

G...

[Surv1v0r]

Reading up on the Auris Touring Sports I stumbled across this:

I drove the car for over an hour, parked up and went on holiday for six days. When I came to come home the battery was flat. Had to call the AA. They found no fault, but back at Toyota dealer they said if you leave the car for a week you must disconnect the battery otherwise they always go flat. I asked Toyota and they confirmed that this is true, as I must have left it with the battery part charged. Used every day and after over an hour's drive, are they in cuckoo land? But they tell me this must be done. That means you disconnect the battery inside the boot, you can't lock the car and the alarms don't work, so be sure to inform your insurance company. I'm getting rid of mine it's not fit for purpose, or more precisely it can't even claim to be a real car beyond wheels and an engine. Buy one at your peril, or mine at half price!

Surely this can't be right?

[Yolina]

Certainly doesn't sound right. I know mine's not an Auris, but back in September I left the Yaris hybrid unused for 19 days and it stared absolutely fine.

[geo13647]

Well, amazing about turn by mr T, apparently my 'Battery faulty, needs replaced' has been massaged back into life.

The diagnostic now says 'Battery ok'

From what I can gather, reading between the lines, mr T told the dealer to recharge & test again,

as they were not going to accept the first reading.

The garage had the Battery on a conditioning charge last night & today, well so they tell me.

At least I have the car back! let's hope it was a one off issue. Think I'll keep a boost pack in the car just to be sure.

Seems to be fine, but it was before the issue arose. So time will tell.

To be fair, they get the one freebie, if it happens again, then it's back to get a new battery.

G...

[RunningInPleasePass]

Good luck, I hope your Battery is okay now.

The question I asked when my Battery went flat was "what did I do to flatten the Battery, why is it necessary to charge it up when I drive more then 500 miles a week, and will it happen again" the dealer had no answer and could not reassure me.

[geo13647]

Good luck, I hope your battery is okay now.

The question I asked when my battery went flat was "what did I do to flatten the battery, why is it necessary to charge it up when I drive more then 500 miles a week, and will it happen again" the dealer had no answer and could not reassure me.

I was asked the same thing, dont't do a huge mileage, but then neither do half the drivers on the road.

Basically mr T's attitude seems to be '"it must be your fault", "because our car is perfect"

It is a design fault, no new car should be so badly designed, especially nowadays,

that cannot manage to keep it's Battery sufficiently charged under normal circumstances.

If NASA can design a satellite power system to last over 30 years in the really hostile environment of space,

surely Toyota, the 'hybrid expert' can manage more than 3 months in the relatively less hostile environment of Scotland..

After all, they have at least 30 years technology advantage...

G...

[Opifex]

All new Toyotas are coverd by roadside assistance which I assume includes cover for finding the car is dead at home. I realise that it is very tempting to get out a charger and get the car going yourself but if you have time to wait it would be better to call on the roadside assistance. That way the cost of callout will be paid by Toyota and if the same fault is reported often enough it will encourage them to do something about it.

I haven't been following this thread but I wondered what could be keeping it going for 133 posts, so please excuse me if I am duplicating someone else's thoughts.

[Dasbob]

RE Opifex: In a nut Shell its 133 posts long as its taken that long for Mr T to sort my problem, and in that time 2 other people have had the same issue!. I am on my 4th weekend now with my "new" Battery, looks good so far but i am still so glum when it takes more than 1/2 second for my car to open when i touch the handle.

Its a good idea to get MR T to pay for the issue, i sort of ignored the road side assistance as i been with the RAC now for 13 years.

RE Geo: EVERY time i spoke to them they said "you dont drive your car very far do you?" ... even multiple times on the same day i would get that question. My answer was "yes i drive the car 20 miles to work, then 20 miles back home" . They never able to give me a reason as to why it should go flat on me. They did say it was fine when they tried to start it after the weekend... the odd thing was the car was in the exact same space i left it in on the Friday....any way a friend of mine suggested the reason they suddenly put a Battery in it was because they went to start it up that morning and found it dead, so panicked and put a new Battery in. It was either Toyota customer relations or that which suddenly sparked them at 9am from saying "Yeah its fine, not much we can do" to at 1pm saying "we are just putting a new battery in right now"

[geo13647]

It's me again, well it seems that the magic number is 4.

4 degrees that is, when a Toyota Auris Hybrid is a useless £20k paperweight.

For the second time in under a week, my car is broke.

If the temp drops below 4 degrees, the aux Battery fails.

1st time was ok, no real impact.

This time however was different.

Early morning run to the airport to catch the red eye to London, for a business meeting.

Checked the car on Tuesday night, all ok.

Went out at a cool (4 degrees) 5 am, no lights, no locks, nothing, another dead car.

Have you ever tried to get a taxi at 5 am?

Well eventually got one & made my flight, at a cost of £48.

Returning tonight, took me 2 hours longer than usual, having had to get public transport home.

Mr T is going to get an expenses claim to cover my costs, as his car is not fit for purpose.

( possibly under the sale of goods act)

Guess who's not a happy & tired bunny?

G...

[RunningInPleasePass]

Sorry to hear about your ongoing Battery problem, your recent experience is almost exactly like mine, 5am car fails, £130 taxi ride, dealer who thinks re- charging the Battery is the answer.

You need a new Battery,in all probability the dealer won't have a battery, mine took 3 weeks to source, but if he values your custom he will borrow one from a new stock car to get you on your way.

Contact Toyota Customer Relations, they will try and help, and who you will have to approach for your expenses etc, good luck.

[geo13647]

Car back, they gave in & swapped out my 12v Battery with the one out of the demonstrator.

So, time will tell.

G...

[WasMr2]

I have followed these posts from the start and sympathise with all those who have had problems. For what its worth I have found from experience that once the 12v hybrid Battery is fully discharged it will never be the same again. I currently have an Auris Excel hybrid that, as yet, in its first week has not failed to start. That said I previously owned both Gen 2 and Gen 3 Prius. The Gen 2 always started with no problems during 2 years in my possesion. The Gen 3 had the 12v Battery replaced at the end of its 3rd year due to failing to start on a number occasions. When it failed I jump started it from the positive post in the engine compartment fuse box. The reason for the batteries premature failure was i believe due to it having been fully discharged on two occasions. The first time was when I failed to fully close the drivers door, first catch only with the door not flush with the body work. This was with the car parked on the drive for about 5 hours. I had to jump start it to get it into the garage. The second total discharge occurred about six months later when I left it in the garage overnight, again with the door not fully closed. In this condition the brake compressor continuosly cycles until the Battery discharges completely. The moral is even if you leave the car in a safe location, lock it. It will shout at you if the doors are not closed fully closed.

[Nozuka]

Hi Guys

This problem seems to be all around the internet...

Since i'm planing on getting an Auris HSD soon, it made me kinda worried.

Did you have any more problems after they changed your Battery? Or did the problem not reappear since?

And how many days without use did you leave your Car standing without a problem?

Kind regards

Nozuka

[RunningInPleasePass]

Hi Guys

This problem seems to be all around the internet...

Since i'm planing on getting an Auris HSD soon, it made me kinda worried.

Did you have any more problems after they changed your battery? Or did the problem not reappear since?

And how many days without use did you leave your Car standing without a problem?

Kind regards

Nozuka

Hello Nozuka

I had the Battery let me down on my brand new Auris HSD, it took the dealer three weeks to get me another one, but the car has been okay ever since.

The longest time I've ever left the car without running is a couple of days.

I don't think it's a very widespread problem, but with the internet anybody who has had this problem has a stage to air it.

Kind regards

Kevin

[FROSTYBALLS]

That is the case with most service plans, regardless of manufacturer. You can have the requirement for a copy invoice to be supplied written into the service plan.

The four week wait for a new Battery isn't as bad as the experience we had with Mazda - where we needed a new HT Lead for an 8 month old car. A cobbled together HT Lead (dealer's own words) was used in the interim. After a 10 week wait for the Mazda HT Lead, I insisted Mazda UK fit the equivalent part from Ford (the car was built by Ford at their Valencia plant, used Ford engines/running gear, etc). The Ford part was fitted the next day and no further problem in the remaining 3 years 8 months we had the car.

[Nozuka]

@Kevin

Thanks for the fast answer. So you had this Battery for like 2 months now?

I'm also following a german forum and they made a list of members with and without the problem.

The result so far:

23 people with failing Battery

30 people without

Obviously those people with the problem are more likely to enter the list, which kinda screws with the result. But its still a surprisingly high number of people in just one little forum.

None of them found a fix yet.

[RunningInPleasePass]

@Kevin

Thanks for the fast answer. So you had this battery for like 2 months now?

I'm also following a german forum and they made a list of members with and without the problem.

The result so far:

23 people with failing battery

30 people without

Obviously those people with the problem are more likely to enter the list, which kinda screws with the result. But its still a surprisingly high number of people in just one little forum.

None of them found a fix yet.

That's right, bought the car at the start of September, Battery failed after a week, car returned start of October, but, touch wood, been okay since.

I'm surprised at the number of failures on the German sight, the problem must be more widespread then I thought.

I would of thought the fix would be to fit a larger capacity Battery, but I suppose that would mean altering the Battery compartment in the boot to accommodate it.

[Dasbob]

I got mine end of June and by August it was failing (i pretty much drove it every day for the first month)

The car has been fine since they gave me a Battery out of another car,The car is lovely, but this problem with the car has tainted it for me. If you asked if i would go through it all again, i would say no, i can not recommend my car to any one, if i do and it goes wrong like mine did, then some one else has to go through the frustration of the garage telling you twice that theirs nothing wrong with it, when you know there is the very moment you try to start it up after the weekend.... then end up late for work and having to work later than planned to make up the time.

If you are happy to spend a huge sum of money to most people on a car which ... has a reasonable possibility it might not start up one morning, then hear Toyota telling you that the car is fine (making you feel like your doing something wrong or making it up).. then go ahead! i recommend the car, but in all honesty all i can offer as advice is to take your money else where

Its a sad state of affairs, i loved the car when i got it (check my first few posts), but now when i go to open the door and it does not unlock i panic,like the other week when i forgot to lock the car, came out and put hand on the handle and nothing happened... my heart sank.... or when i forgot the keys were in my other jacket, got to the car one monday morning then found it wouldnt open, sure both times it was easily dismissed, but for them seconds i thought "oh no.. not again". I still have a jump start machine in the boot.

[geo13647]

Hi Guys

This problem seems to be all around the internet...

Since i'm planing on getting an Auris HSD soon, it made me kinda worried.

Did you have any more problems after they changed your battery? Or did the problem not reappear since?

And how many days without use did you leave your Car standing without a problem?

Kind regards

Nozuka

The Icon model seems ok, as that is what the 12v system was designed for.

However if you go for the Excel model, all the extra consumers, stress the 12v system to it's max.

It only needs a slightly below spec Battery, or other component in the system to turn your car into an expensive lawn ornament.

Once the woefully under specced Battery goes completely flat,

it starts to sulphate, sometimes a reconditioning charge will bring it back to 95%,

But after that it's on the slippery slope, each time it runs down, the Battery is further damaged, takes longer to charge, and holds less charge, therefore it runs down sooner, and so on.

Toyota do not recognise this as an issue, as their cars are perfect, and never have any design flaws.

Just had mine back a week, so it will probably fail again for the 4th time, just in nice time for Christmas.

So, buyer beware, as far as the Excel model goes.

Lat time, it failed, I had not used it for 1 day, next day it was dead, just in time for a 5am run to the airport.

G...

[Nozuka]

Maybe something like this would help you guys get some peace of mind when parking somewhere for a longer period of time:

http://antigravitybatteries.com/microstartxp3/

If i still decide to get me an Auris HSD in a few months, i will definitely buy myself something like this..

[PeteB]

Maybe something like this would help you guys get some peace of mind when parking somewhere for a longer period of time:

http://antigravitybatteries.com/microstartxp3/

If i still decide to get me an Auris HSD in a few months, i will definitely buy myself something like this..

Wow - amazing device - I must admit when I started looking at this I checked the date to see it wasn't 1st April!

Since my first flat 12v Battery in my 1st Classic Prius in 2002 I've carried a jump starter in the boot, but it's a heavy beast and the size of a gallon can of oil. Had I needed it, in the Classic it would have been no trouble to access as the boot lid opened with a key or a pull cable like the fuel cap release.

However, in the recent Toyota Hybrids, if you can't unlock the car, getting to the boot is rather challenging. This beauty could be kept in a glovebox.

I see at least one eBay seller is shipping to the UK for about £100 including shipping (plus presumably the carrier would sting for import duty and an exorbitant fee for collecting it).

Certainly something to consider as it can be kept in the glovebox.

[aCactus]

Would something like this work? There would need to be enough charge in the car Battery to allow the start up process to click a few relays so that there was "power" to the 12v socket...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Auto-Tecnik-Emergency-jump-start-assistance/dp/B00GWJCHL8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_7

[timberwolf]

The Alisapy seems to be closer match but I do wonder about any patent infringement and the quality/reliability of any of these products?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ALISAPY-Portable-14000mAh-Multi-function-Electronics-White/dp/B00EF7YABY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_24