Stock Panasonic Battery Life
- Thread starter vondy21
- Start date
rhadam
New member
Mine lasted less than 4 years. Granted though, this is ND and the winters are brutal. And the truck was a dealer vehicle so came with higher miles. I have a better cold crank battery from Costco which should go 5+ years. I wanted an AGM but they were out, with no restock any time soon.
DAW89446
Member
As to the question in the original post: I still have the OEM battery in my ‘18 SR5, just turned over 40,000 miles. In my neck of the woods in north-central Nevada, summer highs are in the 100-105 range, wintertime lows can and do drop into the teens and 20s below zero.
My experience: The OEM battery in my 2002 Tacoma TRD died in 2009 (I think it was a Panasonic also). I’ve had OEM batteries in GM and Ford new vehicles die in six months. When Sears came out with the Die Hard in the early 1980s, I installed one in my 1970 Ford F-250 4x4 truck and it lasted 15 years.
As stated before, the majority of batteries are made by few manufacturers, who make them to the specs required by their sellers to sell within a set price point. Sometimes you get plums, other times you get lemons. People swore by Optimas, until they sold out to one of the major manufacturers (if I remember correctly, Johnson Controls) thus compromised, and then they weren’t as long lasting anymore. When I worked in the auto parts industry, warranty returns went through the roof.
My experience: The OEM battery in my 2002 Tacoma TRD died in 2009 (I think it was a Panasonic also). I’ve had OEM batteries in GM and Ford new vehicles die in six months. When Sears came out with the Die Hard in the early 1980s, I installed one in my 1970 Ford F-250 4x4 truck and it lasted 15 years.
As stated before, the majority of batteries are made by few manufacturers, who make them to the specs required by their sellers to sell within a set price point. Sometimes you get plums, other times you get lemons. People swore by Optimas, until they sold out to one of the major manufacturers (if I remember correctly, Johnson Controls) thus compromised, and then they weren’t as long lasting anymore. When I worked in the auto parts industry, warranty returns went through the roof.
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Humble Leader
Senior Member
OEM lasted just under 100,000 miles, about 6 years and that's through Canadian winters. My wife's rx battery lasted almost exactly 100,000 miles as well in Canadian winters. based on my experience, toyota/lexus OEM batteries are very high quality. My wife's rx battery would have lasted much longer I'm sure of it, but the vehicle sat completely idle for about 1 month at the end of winter and it was drained completely. my 4runner battery didn't actually die, it just tested low so it was replaced as a precaution. I'm also sure it would have lasted longer
I see many upgrading to the AGM types from odyssey or northstar but the stock alternator isn't going to charge them fully - so you can either trickle charge or simply hope it lasts but you aren't getting the best out of the setup
I see many upgrading to the AGM types from odyssey or northstar but the stock alternator isn't going to charge them fully - so you can either trickle charge or simply hope it lasts but you aren't getting the best out of the setup
patkelly4370
New member
My OEM Panasonic in my 2017 recently had to be replaced. Battery was date stamped 2016.
Where I live is tough on batteries. Summer temps over 120°. My 4runner sits idle Wed-Mon every week.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Where I live is tough on batteries. Summer temps over 120°. My 4runner sits idle Wed-Mon every week.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
2021nightshade4x4
New member
It is depressing reading this thread and seeing many cases where these batteries last less than 5 years. I’m in the hot humid south and have gotten 10 years out of a Walmart battery. I hope to see the same from my 4Runner.
Most times in other vehicles when I thought I was seeing signs of a battery at the end of its life, there was an underlying issue causing its inability to hold a charge. Recently had an issue where the radio had was draining 1-2 amps steadily when the car was off. (Non-Toyota)
I pulled the radio and amp fuses, it rectified the issue for about 2 weeks, now something else is draining the power, and the behavior is surreal. Whatever is draining the power completely stops / shuts off around 7-8 volts. Because you could charge the battery, leave it for an hour, a day, week, or month, and while it will fail to start, there’s always enough voltage to remotely unlock it, and dimly illuminate the interior lights. This makes me think it’s not a dead short but an electronic module (BCM?) that won’t sleep.
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Most times in other vehicles when I thought I was seeing signs of a battery at the end of its life, there was an underlying issue causing its inability to hold a charge. Recently had an issue where the radio had was draining 1-2 amps steadily when the car was off. (Non-Toyota)
I pulled the radio and amp fuses, it rectified the issue for about 2 weeks, now something else is draining the power, and the behavior is surreal. Whatever is draining the power completely stops / shuts off around 7-8 volts. Because you could charge the battery, leave it for an hour, a day, week, or month, and while it will fail to start, there’s always enough voltage to remotely unlock it, and dimly illuminate the interior lights. This makes me think it’s not a dead short but an electronic module (BCM?) that won’t sleep.
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lunchboxtheman
New member
My stock battery was dead as a door nail in 1.5 years. Live in the Midwest.
No abnormal usage.
No abnormal usage.
The Panasonic that shipped with my 08 FJ lasted until 2016.
It was still going strong then but I was installing a winch in preparation for a moab trip so I pulled it and installed an odyssey that is still going strong.
Hoping the unit that ships with my inbound 22 ORP is as good.
It was still going strong then but I was installing a winch in preparation for a moab trip so I pulled it and installed an odyssey that is still going strong.
Hoping the unit that ships with my inbound 22 ORP is as good.
Humble Leader
Senior Member
I was a bit surprised as well. the rx battery that died after a month idle was about 11 years old. It must have been the cold winter that did it. I got 11 years and 100,000 miles out of the OEM battery, no complaints
2021nightshade4x4
New member
Can I make a recommendation to everyone - if you have anything that will generate a 12V supply (not just charging) voltage, I’ve used it to bring batteries back that were so low they’d cause the charging set to fault out.
Leave the 12V supply on it for 30 mins to an hour, then switch it back to charging and it will pick right up and safely finish the charge with all the protection circuitry we normally enjoy with modern sets.
This is the same as “hook it to another battery in parallel” but with less amps LOL
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Leave the 12V supply on it for 30 mins to an hour, then switch it back to charging and it will pick right up and safely finish the charge with all the protection circuitry we normally enjoy with modern sets.
This is the same as “hook it to another battery in parallel” but with less amps LOL
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MAST4R
New member
mrblah
Senior Member
Well, San Diego
Mine lasted 3 Phoenix summers and died during the 4th.
yup..cant complain about SD.
The women, the weather, the politics, and the battery life..lol.
ElectroBoy
Banned
Well, San Diego
Mine lasted 3 Phoenix summers and died during the 4th.
Three years of battery life is about average in hot climates, one reason is that the water evaporates faster than in more moderate climates. Maybe topping off the water level more frequently would help extend the lifetime.
