Dead battery - Will Toyota warranty given my mods?

Battery crapped out on my 20 Tacoma. According to dealership, warranty on the batteries are 3/36, and I'm under both as of now.

I do have a bunch of mods to my rig including 2 light bars, a 10k winch, and an aftermarket amp for the stereo, with everything connected via a Bantam Spod.

I wanted to just bring the battery in and swap it out, but dealer says they need the truck there in order to run their diagnostics and fulfill the warranty. I know its a judgement call, but do you think they will deny warranty based on the mods? Was hoping a service writer or previous Toyota tech might chime in.

My plan was to eventually put in an AGM, but the allure of squeeking out an extra two years on a free battery is there. Part of me says don't cheap out and do the right thing and put in an appropriate battery for my needs, especially since I wheel and have dealt with leakage.

 

I believe you would be fine. I think they would have to prove that your mods caused the battery to die, which they won't be able too. Stock batteries suck, and I doubt the dealer is going to care about replacing it.

 

They should warranty it, but you never know if your service advisor is a stickler/dickhead/having a bad day.

You got 2 years out of it, which is awfully short for a battery, but also not the end of the world if they make you eat it. Just make it clear that their goodwill today determines your choice of service visits tomorrow. (I mean, don't lead with that statement for cryin out loud, just have that one in your back pocket. I shouldn't even have to say this out loud, but you never know with some people.)

 

I'm of the other opinion. They are going to see all of those mods pulling on that battery and deny whatever prorated warranty you have left. This is why they want to see the truck. It is not the dealer that has to prove your mods caused the failure, but the other way around and you will not win that one I don't believe.

 

Actually I purchased in Dec 19, so roughly 2.5 years, which is actually fairly common in our insane desert heat. I've dealt with this the entire time I've lived here

 

This is what I'm worried about. I mean its clear I am vastly exceeding the draw that the factory system/battery is designed around. Not the end of the world if they do deny, just go and buy an aftermarket AGM

 

respectfully:
is it even worth your time? I mean if you don't have the right battery for your demand, why not just finish the job? I'd rather buy my own and have more confidence my investment in doodads is going to work and my truck will most likely start more reliably.

 

Still worth a shot to see I think. A battery is cheap and its 5 minutes of labor. I'd wager that the average service guy wouldnt have a problem with it for a friendly customer. Unless they're a dick.

 

Ok like everything in life, your attitude and behavior can make an enormous difference. Just be pleasant and polite, if they are reasonable people and able you will drive out with a new battery. I was a service advisor. Easy going people always got the benefit of any doubt, and jerks just didn't. Any clear call is the same for everyone, but where I had wiggle room on each side of the line, well I am just like everyone else.

 

I would give it a shot but it would be easy for them to prove that the mod's could cause premature damage to the battery. They could simply add up all of the draw from every accessory and say that if you were to run every single thing at the same time it would be over the rated output of the battery. Also, they could run an ammeter in line with a new battery and say that your mods could have a parasitic draw on the system also causing the battery to go bad early. I suggest going in preparing to not have it covered in which case you can buy a new Odyssey and be happy for many, many years...and if they do warranty it out, you save a couple hundred bucks for the time being.

 

There is a thread on here about stock batteries dying at the 2 year mark. Mine included. Toyota would not warranty mine btw.

 

Buy a replacement battery yourself and send the bill to Toyota for reimbursement

 

I don't agree. The dealer (or any shop) isn't going to diagnose a vehicle over the phone. They need you to bring it in to verify it's indeed just a failed battery, and not for example a bad alternator or excess parasitic draw.

 

I swapped my OEM battery for an AGM the second week of ownership.
Why wait in this case, really?

 

You guys are 100% right, I guess I just needed to hear it. Silly to have spent a small fortune on mods and then cheap out on the battery. Calling Batteries Plus on their X2 models. Now I I need to decide on the 24 vs 27 and if the latter is worth the extra weight.

Weights:
OEM 24 - 42lbs
X2 24 - 57lbs
X2 27 - 70 lbs

 

May as well invest in that dual battery set up you have been wanting.

 

I had mods on my 2017 and didn't have any issues doing a warranty claim on my battery. YMMV due to the level of "give-a-shit" your dealership has. I was instructed by Toyota corporate to have the truck checked out by the dealership before they'd refund me the cost for my new battery (emergency warranty repair, battery died on a weekend and I had to go to work. Dealership was closed at the time). The dealership didn't even know what to do so they checked that the alternator was outputting the correct voltage to the battery and sent me on my way. Easy day.

 

Naw I haven't really seen the need. I don't camp for extended periods of time where I need to power accessories for days at a time. Truck is always running when I've used the winch or the light bars.

 

My stock battery was too small (and junk) for keeping up with my little mods. Adding a fridge made it worthless. I have also had issues with Toyota wanting to warranty ANYTHING since I have modded my truck. I knew I was overloading my stock battery with a winch and fridge and other small items. It was cost of business for what I needed. I got an Odyssey AGM and had them up the voltage on the alt when I had my tune. Works awesome! I am going to get a PLB40 or something else to keep the cycles off my Odyssey and save it for winching and normal stuff...

 

Just buy a better quality battery better suited for your needs. Or look into a dual battery setup. If you are off roading, definitely go the AGM route to prevent the leaking.