I installed my solar panel and charge controller in the car Today as my brand new battery is, again, very low. Toyota say i should drive 60 mile every other day which is ridiculous. Neighbour walking past and his brand new Ford Kuga has a flat battery. The ford is actually a Toyota with a Ford Kuga body. All the mechanicals and electricals are Toyota Rav 4 parts. He now needs a new battery and has been told to go 30 miles to a garage and collect a coutesy car befor it expires. I told him that he will need quite a few new batteries in the next few years. I have had 2 in unde 2 years and the 3 week old battery is beginning to fail.
The car first shuts down the interior lights then the passenger door cannot be opened but then it give a message the battery is at 26 percent charge, contact dealer just as mine does.
In a few days i will check charge level after fitting the solar panel and see if the charge has improved. This is a major failure of Toyota hybrids but they will not recall them. The car has to be reprogrammed after a flat battery. The Ford battery replacement takes 2 days in the garage.
I told Toyota that this car will break down every time i holiday and the answer is to call the breakdown service or fit a solar panel.
I expect to lose a lot of money on this car but the Kuga owners car will be worthless once people realise it will need a new battery every year at least.
My breakdown service is already arranged for my holiday return and the van will be in the car park waiting. That van says he is there to start about 20 Toyotas parked up for the return from the cruise. I have also wired in some jumper cables from the boot battery to inside the car as i cannot open the boot when the battery is flat.
I have found that Toyota has fitted a jump starter point inside one of the fuse boxes but that is not listed in the manual and has a small cover over it so no one notices except the breakdown service.
The RAC has recorded that the car cannot charge the battery unless i do 60 mile every other day. This allows them to not turn up for a repeat breakdown for the same fault.
What began as a good idea is now a liability so next year, i will have a petrol car and not a hybrid. Volvo get around this problem by having one battery for electrical and another battery for starting only. The last 2 Volvos were fault free so i may buy another but the smallest one they make is an XC40 large car that i do not need but may have to have to get over breakdowns. The second battery is located in a compartment behind the front lights . next year, when buying a car, i will look at its batteries before buying. New cars are becoming crap now. My boys have to buy oldish cars and have less problems although a 15 year old Mercedes tends to get a lot of sensor faults. The diesel Mondeos dont have many problems though. One boy has a 16 year old Honda Civic and can drive it anywhere and its at 200,000 miles so far.
Stay clear of any Toyota hybrid or Ford car that is Toyota based. I am now waiting to see the constant failures this new Kuga is about to have next door