Mysterious Taco non starting incident

Has this happened to anybody else? Yesterday I went to start my Taco and all it did was click, kinda like cars with a bad solenoid used to do. I called Toyota Roadside Assistance and the dispatched a guy with one of those “jumper machines”. He said his machine would run some diagnostics. He the told me the battery was good and to try and start it, and it started. He told me they had responded to 10 calls that day with the same issue, and 17 calls the day before. And I’m wondering what caused this, did the satellite send some bad code to all Tacos, was it sunspots, the weather?

 

Bad battery, try having it load tested.

 

Aliens are at it again! Maybe Coronavirus is to blame! Best get prepared for the end of days.

 

That is weird....seems like a failing battery but 27 in 2 days?

 

Solar flares!

 

your battery has Self Quarantined

 

I feel so much better now.

 

I'm sorta surprised that there hasn't been a run on tinfoil. Don't worry about ME, cause I keep plenty on hand.

 

So on a serious note. It sounds like he used a Capacitive battery style tester. I have used these testers and I have found that they can false pass a bad battery. I prefer a load tester.

 

I think it is XM Satellite radio because I won’t subscribe.

 

I never even tried out the "free" trial of XM. I've got my music on a USB thumb drive.

 

Not hijacking the thread but what's wrong with satellite radio? I've heard so much new music in the past 8 years that I've owned my two Tacomas ... stuff that's never heard on the regular radio, new songs months before they are on anywhere else.. sports, interviews etc... Sure it costs money.. but it's way better than the local "oldies" station that plays the same 14 songs over and over and over and over and then throws in Stairway to Heaven every other 3rd Thursday of a full moon.

 

^ Reminds me of the Calguns Kali flowchart. lol

 

There’s nothing wrong with satellite radio. I had a trial for a while and even thought about getting it. But then quite a while before the trial ended XM kept interrupting songs I liked to play a commercial. That so annoyed me, I vowed I would never have XM radio. I liked it when I was away from my local stations, but when local I like to hear the news and weather, and if I want to hear a particular artist I have a CD player.

 

I've never had a free trial.. and never had to deal with commercials? One of the things I like best is no commercials and discovering new music... but we should let this thread get back to it's original topic .. appreciate your opinion

 

So, what I have learned is that most of you think I need a new Battery. And it does seem to point to that. I’m just kinda surprised the battery would be bad. It’s a 2018, I bought it used, but still every other vehicle I’ve had in the last 20 years the batteries have lasted 5-7 years. Does Toyota use low quality batteries? Would towing a travel trailer with electric breaks shorten the life of the battery? Any recommendations for a new battery, cold cranking amps, etc.? Btw, wouldn’t start again this morning. TIA. You are a fun bunch!

 

There are many variables that can drastically decrease the life of a battery. It could have also happened before you bought the truck since you bought it used.

 

Yeah. OEM batteries are shite