the battery on my 2015 toyota avalon has failed and replaced 3 times in 3 years and 23400 miles. i was told by the dealer that i needeto drive it more.either the batteries are defective or the car has an electric problem . can anyone assist me in diagnosing this problem ?
I agree with the dealer, sounds like you need to drive it more.
Has anyone competent tested for too-high electrical draw while the car is parked? It means measuring the amperage the battery is putting out while disconnecting all the various fuses and links, seeing each time what effect that circuit has on the amperage. There is probably something drawing too much current, and once found, that can be fixed. The dealer hasn’t done the job, it seems, so maybe it’s time to ask for this specifically there or somewhere else. Has the Toyota dealer searched for any applicable TSBs?
There are auto electric shops. They usually work on electrics that dealers and owners bring to them. You might find one that can put a knowledgeable and methodical person on your case.
Any non-Toyota factory electrics added on? Antitheft? Audio? Those are more likely than factory stuff to present this problem.
If nothing is found wrong, you could drive a lot more or use a battery charger.
Does your Toyota warranty possibly cover this? You could contact Toyota above the dealer level.
If there is no parasitic electrical draw. Agree with dealer. Or as shanonia suggested, but with my modification, a battery maintainer. Might be possible to have a maintainer permanently installed so all you have to do is plug it in.
For an instillation of this nature I would check with the dealer first.
My neighbor discovered that Porsche’s warranty on the battery and primary electrical system seems to be voided if you drive less than something like 5,000 miles a year. This Avalon owner seems to be driving a bit more than that, but if it’s all short trips that could still kill a battery pretty quick, but not 3 in 3 years.
I wonder if they are leaving the remote key fob in the car or very near it all the time. That can kill a battery.
The dealer has dozens of cars sitting in the lot that aren’t driven for months.
Could you imagine how much it would cost to replace all those batteries that died from the vehicles not being driven?
BOGUS!
Tester
Since I retired completely, I drive less than 7000 miles a year with a lot of short trios and my 2012 Camry, bought in 2011 still has the original battery.
How many miles per week do you drive it?
If at least 10-20 miles a week, I doubt not driving it enough is the problem. Either the alternator isn’t properly charging the battery, or there’s something broken that is draining the battery overnight. The shop can easily test how much current is being consumed when everything is off. That number should be no more than in the 50-100 mA range, less is better than more. My older Corolla measures 6 mA as I recall. Newer cars and cars with a lot of electronic gadgetry will measure more however.
If you drive less than 10 miles per week there;s a device called a battery minder (I think that’s the name) that allows you to keep the battery charge topped off, and should solve this problem.
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I think lots of people are forgetting that short trips kill batteries.
A guy doing less than 7K per year could easily be doing lots of 3 or 4 mile trips every day and that’s not enough to keep the battery charged.
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You don’t need to drive it more, just don’t drive it unless you mean it. Walk or ride a bike if the trip is only a half mile long, or get an electric golf cart for those short trips. Short trips don’t just kill batteries.
Electric cars are perfect for short trips.
If there is not excessive draw on the battery, and the alternator is charging properly, then a battery tender/minder/smart charger would be my choice.
As yet we don’t know about those two conditions.
Your mileage suggests otherwise… Ive seen vehicles driven FAR less and no problems… There are many things to look into here and the dealer is probably just shirking the responsibility of looking into a problem that can take a week to manifest.
If it were me… I’d measure the output of the alternator while the car is running as it may actually be over charging the battery…and thus, killing them. You could also check for any lights being left on in non obvious places like in the glove box, sun visor vanity mirrors, trunk etc… After that I would start going through the fuses and systems to see who is drawing too much current at rest. You can even unhook the hot lead to the alternator.
If you don’t work on vehicles then you must rely on a competent shop who will look into it correctly. Anyone who offers a Silver Bullet repair item to solve this issue does not have your best interest in mind, because the cause can be from many different suspects and nobody can know what part needs replacing at this stage in time.
The dealer is definitely not the place for a repair like this.
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