Need new battery for Lexus is 250c

[Johnlex]

So I need a new battery 

my Bosch one is only 4 years old and it’s dead.

 

what does everybody recommend ?

 

another one or go for Lexus/Toyota one ??

 

Thanks  

[Johnlex]

Current Battery on its last legs 

plugged in Battery low 

[Mr Vlad]

There's quite a few threads within the gen 2 IS section of the forum about which Battery. Bosch always comes out favourite. 

4 years seems too soon for a Battery to go for a dump. Is your alternator working properly? Does your car have a parasitic power drain which you're unaware of? 

I'd get the alternator tested. Mine went on me about a year and a half ago and through desperation took it to Lexus to sort. £800 later my car runs as it should. Yes I paid a lot but I did get a loan car for 3 days at no cost because I went away for a few days.

[Johnlex]

Yes I agree it’s a quite quick for a Bosch Battery to die/ 

 

well I’ve had a problem with my central locking. I bought a new key. 
changed the batteries in both fobs.

 

they are still temperamental and not working. 
 

but now the car has had a good run and done 120miles plus. Central locking all ok and starts as it shoul in the button. 
 

the car only gets driven a couple of times a week: 

im confused with the central locking system; 
 

 

[Johnlex]

50 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

There's quite a few threads within the gen 2 IS section of the forum about which battery. Bosch always comes out favourite. 

4 years seems too soon for a battery to go for a dump. Is your alternator working properly? Does your car have a parasitic power drain which you're unaware of? 

I'd get the alternator tested. Mine went on me about a year and a half ago and through desperation took it to Lexus to sort. £800 later my car runs as it should. Yes I paid a lot but I did get a loan car for 3 days at no cost because I went away for a few days.

Battery has been plugged in and says half full charging ok fully charged when cars running. 
 

[Linas.P]

Probably need to look at parasitic loss, because if Battery is good and charging then it should last at least several weeks without touching it.

[Johnlex]

The only thing I’ve got hardwired in is the dashcam which also has a Battery pack back up. 

[Linas.P]

Does it have Battery "protector"... when I hardwired dashcam I just had little sensor on wire which would check Battery voltage and prevent it from discharging.

[LenT]

1 hour ago, Johnlex said:

the car only gets driven a couple of times a week: 

Is this typical of your usage over the last four years?

If so, it may have been insufficient to maintain the Battery condition, which may explain its reduced life.  Do you have a Battery charger?

A CTEK will not only provide a trickle charger but also has a conditioning programme that may help to extend Battery life in the future.

 

[Johnlex]

The only thing I’ve got hardwired in is the dashcam which also has a Battery pack back up. 

41 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Does it have battery "protector"... when I hardwired dashcam I just had little sensor on wire which would check battery voltage and prevent it from discharging.

Yes the Battery has an insulator the nextbase dashcam 380 was installed by Lexus 

[Mr Vlad]

Ahhh you only drive the cat a couple times a week. As Len has stated above. The Battery probably doesn't get a 'proper' charge. I second what Len said to get one of those CTEK trickle chargers. Quite a few on here have them and have reported nothing but good results. 

[normski2]

I think Len is on the right track with this. 
My wife and I both retired a while back and both cars were no longer being used on a daily basis.

We first encountered the problem as we moved into the winter months. Both batteries are reasonably new (2-3 years old). Came out one morning to take out Sal’s mx5 and the Battery was pretty dead. Once I’d thought about it I was aware we had not been out in the mx5 for nearly three weeks! I put my old school charger on it and got it going in a short while.

Then I got myself a new smart charger. Mine was a Ring model and very good it is too. I have a permanent attachment to each Battery on each car. So I can then connect up to each Battery ( one at a time ) very quickly with a fly lead and maintain them in tip top condition. This model, as pretty much all smart chargers do, has a conditioning program within the charge sequence that, hopefully, will prevent sulphating of the cells within the Battery.

18 months in and both batteries are behaving perfectly. Just been away for a break in Spain and the airport park up was no problem. The trusty Lexus fired up first time.

[Johnlex]

48 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Ahhh you only drive the cat a couple times a week. As Len has stated above. The battery probably doesn't get a 'proper' charge. I second what Len said to get one of those CTEK trickle chargers. Quite a few on here have them and have reported nothing but good results. 

To buy this ctek is the same price a new battery 

 

but I’m just outside the warranty with Bosch it was bought from Costcos I’m sure they will honour it 

[Johnlex]

7 minutes ago, normski2 said:

I think Len is on the right track with this. 
My wife and I both retired a while back and both cars were no longer being used on a daily basis.

We first encountered the problem as we moved into the winter months. Both batteries are reasonably new (2-3 years old). Came out one morning to take out Sal’s mx5 and the battery was pretty dead. Once I’d thought about it I was aware we had not been out in the mx5 for nearly three weeks! I put my old school charger on it and got it going in a short while.

Then I got myself a new smart charger. Mine was a Ring model and very good it is too. I have a permanent attachment to each battery on each car. So I can then connect up to each battery ( one at a time ) very quickly with a fly lead and maintain them in tip top condition. This model, as pretty much all smart chargers do, has a conditioning program within the charge sequence that, hopefully, will prevent sulphating of the cells within the battery.

18 months in and both batteries are behaving perfectly. Just been away for a break in Spain and the airport park up was no problem. The trusty Lexus fired up first time.

I will buy new Battery and not sure which one yet maybe a Lexus one Toyota fro now us pets direct also I will start the car daily 

[normski2]

The Ring charger and leads was about £45

[Linas.P]

2 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Ahhh you only drive the cat a couple times a week. As Len has stated above. The battery probably doesn't get a 'proper' charge. I second what Len said to get one of those CTEK trickle chargers. Quite a few on here have them and have reported nothing but good results. 

Battery only needs ~15-20minutes to charge and driving couple of time a week would be quite normal. Cannot see this as being an issue. 

1 hour ago, Johnlex said:

I will buy new battery and not sure which one yet maybe a Lexus one Toyota fro now us pets direct also I will start the car daily 

No... don't do it - Lexus batteries are not amazing and you would be just overpaying for mediocre Battery. Consensus from the owners is that Bosch S4 is probably the best Battery you could get, so you already have it... Lexus one won't be better. As well as it seems there is nothing wrong with the Battery you have, so not sure why you want to replace it?

As well do not start car daily, this not only wouldn't help, but likely would hurt the car and the Battery. Unless you planning to start the engine and wait until it get's warm... (and that on 4GR-FSE could take good 10-15min and would waste a lot of fuel), then you simply going to be using more Battery to start the car than it could recharge. As well you would prematurely wear out the engine, because the majority of wear is caused at the start-up and until oil circulates (say first 10 seconds of engine running). If you driving twice a week for 15 min and engine get's warm - this is more than enough to fully charge the Battery. If you do that (drive twice a week for 15 min +) and the Battery still dies, then you need to look for the issues elsewhere, either you have parasitic loss, or it isn't charging properly. Getting CTEK trickle charger would be only addressing the symptoms, not the problem. If you say you driving once a month, then yes - that would be an issue of not driving enough and indeed trickle charger would be the only solution.