2003 Lexus ES 300 car batteries

DEBART97

MEMBER
2003 LEXUS ES 300
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
75,000 MILES

A battery from Lexus after 25 months went dead. The tow truck driver said it had a dry cell and showed me the dry leaked acid. Lexus said the battery wasn't defective just went bad and charged me 125.00 after a prorated discount. They said if it was less than 24 months it would have been free. I felt the acid must have leaked out before the 24 months and Lexus should have charged me less or replaced it free. My question is was the battery defective or just went bad. Thank you

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi debart97,

Thank you for the donation.

Where warrranty is concerned, even if the battery had been defective, noticing it out of the warrranty period makes it non warrantable and you would have to pay for it. On a goodwill gesture, they have given you a discount.

If the battery had leaked, you have to proof to them that it took more than 1 month for it to leak dry, failing which they would not accept resposibility for warranty.

If any leakages are present, there would be corrosion around the battery area as the acid would do their work. The leakage definitely caused the battery to fail, not because the battery went bad.