We own a 2014 Toyota Avalon & a 2015 Rav. We’ve put 4 new batteries in the Avalon & 3 in the Rav since we’ve had them. Our dealer blames everything from the remote starter ( after market) to us letting them sit too long (2 weeks at hotel while on vacation) to every other excuse they can think of. We’ve had them both to the dealership & they can’t ever seem to find the culprit. It’s getting very irritating. Any ideas? I vaguely remember you doing an article in our local paper regarding the same thing.
I strongly suspect your remote starters are part of the problem. Infrequent use of a car and only making short trips will add to the problem.
5 Likes
+1 for @Docnick - we don’t get this complaint for Avalons and Rav4s, so it’s much more likely caused by something unusual with yours - the aftermarket remote starters. Do you have anything else aftermarket on them that hooks up to the electrical systems?
The after market remotes are the only things.
Thanks
Someone should measure the parasitic current drain after the car is off and the electronics have had time to go to sleep. I don’t know if you’re capable of that or not.
You could also start pulling fuses one by one when the car is parked to see if you can identify which circuit is responsible.
I too suspect the remote starter, especially if you have the same one on both cars.
We can take both vehicles to our Toyota dealer & have them do this.
We’ve owned 8 brand new Toyota’s & never had an issue of any kind with any of them so this is very confusing to all of us.
A good independent mechanic would be cheaper, for what that’s worth.
My vote is for removing the after market remote starters.
1 Like
This is also very suspicious. We have had both vehicles back 2 times to the after market remote people & the last time we were there he said “ this particular remote had some issues 
” so we’re wondering why he didn’t do anything at that time. Both remotes came from same place & both vehicles needed new batteries before they were a year old.
That’s what I think too.
I’m not sure I would trust the people who installed those remotes to do an expert job of removing them and patching up the Toyota wiring. Do you have someone else to go to?`
I would think the Toyota dealership could do it. But otherwise yes, we have a friend who was a remote installer for 15 years. Just wondering if maybe Toyota did it they would be responsible for it. We’ve bought all 8 of our cars from them
I doubt it. They can unhook it but since they did not install it go back to where you got the remote starters and have them do it.
If the installers were so irresponsible about the defective stuff they sold and installed, I would not trust them to be thorough and expert in undoing their work.
2 Likes
That’s a fact. Between the 2 vehicles we’ve been back to the remote installers 4 times.
Hopefully they (the installers) plugged into existing connectors in the wiring. Bad news would be if they had to cut into the wiring. Then removing could be a problem. The dealer would require the entire wiring harness be replaced, which would be expensive. Dealers always try to get the car back to factory condition.
A good auto electrical expert would just use a high quality splice to repair the damage, cost much less.
1 Like
These installers are where our Toyota dealer goes for all of their after market installs. I would think the dealer would want to get to the bottom of all of this??
It will be good to have the dealer involved, as an interested bystander observing the work of someone they have trusted.
That is a great idea. The remote people are the Toyota dealers sub contractor. They send everyone there.
Maybe the Toyota dealer will agree to do the job. If they care, it would give them a chance to show their stuff and at the same time evaluate the workmanship of their subcontractor.