GS450h Hybrid Battery Failure

[Richard Jackson]

Hi all,

I was wondering if you had any advice or suggestions.  I have a July 2006 Lexus GS450h with 200K on the clock.  Yesterday I got a warning Check Hybrid System, Check VSC and Check ECB.  I plugged my OBDII into it and it gave me an error code of p0a80: replace hybrid Battery.

I rung Lexus this morning and the formal diagnosis will be £130 (I imagine for the best 30 seconds work of their lives) and then I am awaiting a call back for the quote of how much a Battery replacement would cost.  Apparently I have no recourse as I am out of warranty for mileage and time.

I am coming up to MOT and I have posted previously about an intermittent warning light for the timing chain and tensioner replacement (which Lexus confirmed).

Neither of these faults seem to be fair as they aren't included in any service on the car and coupled they are obviously a nightmare.  Focusing on the hybrid Battery for now, does anyone else have this sort of experience or know if I am just incredibly unlucky or whether these cars are all going to go pop when they hit a certain age or mileage?

I love this car but it just seems so temperamental.

Thanks,
Richard

[mkbean]

If you have had a service at Lexus with a hybrid health check in the last 10k miles don't they warranty the Battery?

If you aren't covered - http://www.hybridbatterysolutions.co.uk

 

[Richard Jackson]

Thanks for the link.  Unfortunately haven't taken that option.

Does anyone know if it is actually safe to drive in the short term with those warnings?  Does it just mean that the petrol engine runs the car with some awful mpg, or is there a likelihood that the electrics will power out whilst I'm driving or something crazy like that?

Forgive the newbie questions ;-)

[Zotto]

I suggest to give a look to this thread:

 

[Richard Jackson]

That's ambitious but a very good read.  Thanks.

Lexus just called back with 2.5K to replace it ;-(

Does anyone know if it is safe to drive with the warnings on?

[cruisermark]

hi

 

this fault is not uncommon as you think - i have seen gs450hs for sale with 60k on the lock and already had the Battery replaced - if you give richard a ring at hybrid Battery solutions he will have all the answers for you

Actually the 2.5k seems cheap for lexus - normally its around the 5k mark

[Richard Jackson]

Thanks mate.

[Zotto]

Just to avoid false positives, give a look to 12 V Battery to make sure  it  gives right voltage and is well connected to cables.

[Richard Jackson]

Hi,

I wanted to update you so others can see the results. After a few months of minimal use during the holiday season, I got in touch with Richard at Hybrid Battery Solutions in Northampton. He quoted me £750 for the Battery fix and a gave me another option of a complete recondition of the unit for £1,500. I took the cheaper option and he had it for a week.

Richard told me that the car would be safe to drive before the work and the electronics wouldn't just die in a dangerous situation.

Richard was happy to offer lifts to and from the Thrifty Car Hire depot nearby and communication was very good. I gave a £100 deposit to secure the booking and then paid the balance by bank transfer before collection.

The car is much more responsive than it was previously and I am getting a good 5-10 mpg more. He said that a 200K fix of a hybrid Battery was typical and he seems to get quite a bit of work around cars of this age. As well as fixing the faulty cells he also boosted the nearest 3-4 cells to failure and seemed confident of a reasonable period of good running.

I haven't put my foot down much yet but acceleration seems much quicker than before. Hardly surprising about this and the MPG but I am a happy customer.

Highly recommended.

Cheers,
Richard

[KentIS300]

I am booked to go to Richard beginning of October :) so looking forward to a proper running car :)

 

[hybridbatterysolutions]

On 18/09/2016 at 9:31 AM, Richard Jackson said:

Hi,

I wanted to update you so others can see the results. After a few months of minimal use during the holiday season, I got in touch with Richard at Hybrid Battery Solutions in Northampton. He quoted me £750 for the battery fix and a gave me another option of a complete recondition of the unit for £1,500. I took the cheaper option and he had it for a week.

Richard told me that the car would be safe to drive before the work and the electronics wouldn't just die in a dangerous situation.

Richard was happy to offer lifts to and from the Thrifty Car Hire depot nearby and communication was very good. I gave a £100 deposit to secure the booking and then paid the balance by bank transfer before collection.

The car is much more responsive than it was previously and I am getting a good 5-10 mpg more. He said that a 200K fix of a hybrid battery was typical and he seems to get quite a bit of work around cars of this age. As well as fixing the faulty cells he also boosted the nearest 3-4 cells to failure and seemed confident of a reasonable period of good running.

I haven't put my foot down much yet but acceleration seems much quicker than before. Hardly surprising about this and the MPG but I am a happy customer.

Highly recommended.

Cheers,
Richard

Thank you much appreciated

Kind Regards

Richard