Battery Replacement on 2018 Avensis 1.6 1WW

[SB1500]

Hi forum, had some trouble with my Battery as of lately. Over the last 6 months whilst cleaning the car etc, the permanently live wired in dash cam was draining it dry and no matter which fuse I tried it was either 24/7 live or disrupted recording when start/stop kicked in…  I found last July it went dead. And a few other times in recent months when the dash cam was running. Eventually I just removed the hardwire kit and now have the cigarette lighter cable hidden away neatly so that it can’t possibly drain anymore… Despite a few jump starts the car has still not always started. Even though it’s been driven long enough for the start/stop system to kick in after a while - making me think it was alright. 
 

I was trying to find the OEM / factory fitted Battery brand. My car had an EXIDE fitted - and I’m not sure if that was the factory option. I suspect it was an EFB. Can anyone let me know if Toyota used that brand from new in some cases? Maybe there are a few factory fit options due to the supply chain. 
 

VARTA was the brand that a relatives new Yaris back in 2013 came with and I’d saw it mentioned on here a few times so I concluded that that was one deemed by Toyota to be good enough.  
 

I went for a VARTA 115 AGM / F21. At the grand cost of £255 (sadly) from EuroCarParts. Mostly as I needed the car to reliably start and it died twice this week which was too much to be depended on…. I’m not sure what the story is with online orders / shipping, then especially to Northern Ireland and I didn’t want to wait for orders to be cancelled days or a week after all the while having the car not start.  
 

it was the VARTA stocked locally or the Halfords AGM - which had a 5 year warranty and was £80 cheaper… forgive my preconceived notions here, but it KIA / Hyundais 7 year warranty is anything to go by, it’s no marker of quality.. if you ask me, I’d even say they expect it to fall apart a little more to need to offer that.  The Halfords has a longer guarantee than the VARTA but I think somethings got to give there… I couldn’t find which company actually manufactures it for them either so it seemed too much of a risk. I’m sure it would have been fine, but the VARTA seemed as close as I could get to a genuine or original Toyota Battery.

as I’ve fitted those Chinese ambient interior lights and do generally have the dash cam running (though only with the ignition on now) it can’t do any harm to have went for the AGM model.  Maybe overkill for my Avensis but I’d rather that than under performing… 

I’m not sure what the situation is in regards to programming the battery… it’s fitted and it’s Worked fine all day. Including start/stop.  The website at VARTA says only to have it installed by a professional.  Though it lists Toyota as a brand which has ‘self learning’. I fear that though it works fine, perhaps damage will be done in the long run if I don’t get it ‘programmed’ in or coded. Anyone able to say for certain what the case is there?

There I was thinking I had everything all sorted - even the little things like the gearbox oil redone, and that the tyres were my only big car spend this year.. Well, now ‘it’s all sorted’.   Some oil filters and genuine oil twice this year is all that I’ll be spending after this.  

[avensis_2018]

WOW that looks good, you actually don't have a lot of spending this year half of it it's only needed because it's only in your head.

take care.

[ighaig]

Interesting post.  If you want good information (and prices), TAYNA batteries Web site is good. VARTA is a Bosch brand name. 

[2009joe]

10 hours ago, SB1500 said:

Hi forum, had some trouble with my battery as of lately. Over the last 6 months whilst cleaning the car etc, the permanently live wired in dash cam was draining it dry and no matter which fuse I tried it was either 24/7 live or disrupted recording when start/stop kicked in…  I found last July it went dead. And a few other times in recent months when the dash cam was running. Eventually I just removed the hardwire kit and now have the cigarette lighter cable hidden away neatly so that it can’t possibly drain anymore… Despite a few jump starts the car has still not always started. Even though it’s been driven long enough for the start/stop system to kick in after a while - making me think it was alright. 
 

I was trying to find the OEM / factory fitted battery brand. My car had an EXIDE fitted - and I’m not sure if that was the factory option. I suspect it was an EFB. Can anyone let me know if Toyota used that brand from new in some cases? Maybe there are a few factory fit options due to the supply chain. 
 

VARTA was the brand that a relatives new Yaris back in 2013 came with and I’d saw it mentioned on here a few times so I concluded that that was one deemed by Toyota to be good enough.  
 

I went for a VARTA 115 AGM / F21. At the grand cost of £255 (sadly) from EuroCarParts. Mostly as I needed the car to reliably start and it died twice this week which was too much to be depended on…. I’m not sure what the story is with online orders / shipping, then especially to Northern Ireland and I didn’t want to wait for orders to be cancelled days or a week after all the while having the car not start.  
 

it was the VARTA stocked locally or the Halfords AGM - which had a 5 year warranty and was £80 cheaper… forgive my preconceived notions here, but it KIA / Hyundais 7 year warranty is anything to go by, it’s no marker of quality.. if you ask me, I’d even say they expect it to fall apart a little more to need to offer that.  The Halfords has a longer guarantee than the VARTA but I think somethings got to give there… I couldn’t find which company actually manufactures it for them either so it seemed too much of a risk. I’m sure it would have been fine, but the VARTA seemed as close as I could get to a genuine or original Toyota battery.

as I’ve fitted those Chinese ambient interior lights and do generally have the dash cam running (though only with the ignition on now) it can’t do any harm to have went for the AGM model.  Maybe overkill for my Avensis but I’d rather that than under performing… 

I’m not sure what the situation is in regards to programming the battery… it’s fitted and it’s Worked fine all day. Including start/stop.  The website at VARTA says only to have it installed by a professional.  Though it lists Toyota as a brand which has ‘self learning’. I fear that though it works fine, perhaps damage will be done in the long run if I don’t get it ‘programmed’ in or coded. Anyone able to say for certain what the case is there?

There I was thinking I had everything all sorted - even the little things like the gearbox oil redone, and that the tyres were my only big car spend this year.. Well, now ‘it’s all sorted’.   Some oil filters and genuine oil twice this year is all that I’ll be spending after this.  

It was the varta Battery in my car came from new they had the Toyota stamp on my Battery also but was a varta battery 

[yossarian247]

2 hours ago, ighaig said:

Interesting post.  If you want good information (and prices), TAYNA batteries Web site is good. VARTA is a Bosch brand name. 

Strictly speaking, a Bosch is a Varta Battery rather than the other way around. Bosch apparently manufacture very little themselves nowadays and in the case of batteries they just take a Varta Battery and stick a Bosch label on it. Its worth knowing because in the UK at least, Bosch branded batteries often retail for significantly more than a Varta, despite being exactly the same item.

[avensis_2018]

OPTIMA have the best Battery but it's an expensive one, but, you buy it only ones.

[ighaig]

The oem Battery on my 2016 2WW is exide. 

[Derek.w]

Self learning systems for batterys as the Battery ages then the alternator increases voltage output to compensate for ageing Battery this then needs reprograming as it wont do a new Battery any good.

Dont knew if you have this system a voltmeter reading may give you a clue.

[Konrad C]

I would like to know what Dashcam you are using and who hardwired it? The Battery needs have larger capacity than normally needed to run systems, when the engine is not running. When I replaced my Battery, I got an Exide with a better spec from Tayna back in 2020. My Dashcam is Nextbase 222X with front and rear cams plugged into the cigarette light socket. I remove the Dashcam when parked on my drive and to backup the memory card. I would like a system with an extra Battery or capacitor to run systems when the cars is parked up, without draining the main battery. Such a system could be added, but probably classed as a modification for insurance purposes!  

[SB1500]

On 1/23/2023 at 10:03 AM, Konrad C said:

I would like to know what dashcam you are using and who hardwired it? The battery needs have larger capacity than normally needed to run systems, when the engine is not running. When I replaced my battery, I got an Exide with a better spec from Tayna back in 2020. My dashcam is Nextbase 222X with front and rear cams plugged into the cigarette light socket. I remove the dashcam when parked on my drive and to backup the memory card. I would like a system with an extra battery or capacitor to run systems when the cars is parked up, without draining the main battery. Such a system could be added, but probably classed as a modification for insurance purposes!  

Nextbase 522GW, I hardwired it myself using their official kit. It was problem free in a 2017 Fiat Panda and 2017 DS 3. But with the Avensis it was either on 24/7, 365 or on only with the car, but cut out when start/stop activated and then the Dashcam shut itself off upon the car restarting. No matter which fuses I tried it was either of those outcomes. 

It's just using the 12V socket since last month now, but still routed in hidden along the headliner and A-Pillar down through the back of the glove box and under the centre console box. No issues in terms of batterydrain now, but also sadly no parking mode... shame. I have the rear view module too, that must suck more power than usual. 

There's a Toyota / Lexus special model of Nextbase Dashcam, and nothing like that for any other brand, so my unofficial conclusion is that there's something up with how Toyota / Lexus cars handle the electrics like these.  That special Toyota Nextbase is about £250 fitted at a dealer and has a special internal Battery / wiring kit... I'd love to know what fuse or how else it works. If my Dashcam failed tomorrow, I'd probably replace it with that. Though it's inferior in some ways to my 522GW and I'm not sure if it supports the rear view module camera. 

Ps, I'm all for being told I did it wrong, but only if someone can explain how it should be done RIGHT - Toyota and Nextbase don't seem to be able to give me any guidance.. 

[SB1500]

On 1/22/2023 at 4:07 PM, avensis_2018 said:

OPTIMA have the best battery but it's an expensive one, but, you buy it only ones.

Never heard of them, think I watched a Scotty Kilmer video about it on the weekend maybe, that circle cell thing looks familiar. He seemed more mad they moved production to Mexico from the US over there......! aha.  I went on their site and the UK one doesn't seem to have a catalogue or Battery find tool for my car, but I've already bought the Varta now.  I'll keep that in mind next time! 

 

On 1/22/2023 at 5:07 PM, ighaig said:

The oem battery on my 2016 2WW is exide. 

Thanks! Glad to know this for certain. Wasn't sure if perhaps with my car being ex-lease someone drained the Battery and it needed replaced with the Exide in the first 4 years.. Thank you! 

[Konrad C]

16 hours ago, SB1500 said:

Nextbase 522GW, I hardwired it myself using their official kit. It was problem free in a 2017 Fiat Panda and 2017 DS 3. But with the Avensis it was either on 24/7, 365 or on only with the car, but cut out when start/stop activated and then the dashcam shut itself off upon the car restarting. No matter which fuses I tried it was either of those outcomes. 

It's just using the 12V socket since last month now, but still routed in hidden along the headliner and A-Pillar down through the back of the glove box and under the centre console box. No issues in terms of batterydrain now, but also sadly no parking mode... shame. I have the rear view module too, that must suck more power than usual. 

There's a Toyota / Lexus special model of Nextbase dashcam, and nothing like that for any other brand, so my unofficial conclusion is that there's something up with how Toyota / Lexus cars handle the electrics like these.  That special Toyota Nextbase is about £250 fitted at a dealer and has a special internal battery / wiring kit... I'd love to know what fuse or how else it works. If my dashcam failed tomorrow, I'd probably replace it with that. Though it's inferior in some ways to my 522GW and I'm not sure if it supports the rear view module camera. 

Ps, I'm all for being told I did it wrong, but only if someone can explain how it should be done RIGHT - Toyota and Nextbase don't seem to be able to give me any guidance.. 

I had my suspicions it was a Nextbase Dashcam. The first gen of Nextbase models had a bit of a reputation for issues, especially the internal Battery. I remember trying to help a friend with his Nextbase 312, which was hardwired by a well known car accessory outlet he bought the Dashcam from. Basically the Dashcam overheated, plus the memory card was corrupted to a point that it was useless. I couldn't repair it for use. Worse still the dashcam electronics were fried and corrupted. Strangely I had at the time my Nextbase 212 and powered via the socket using the cable it came with. It was only on when accessories was powered. The power cable is routed and hidden. Since my car is mostly parked on my own drive, I remove the dashcam, still do with my current Nextbase 222X (with rear camera). I use a 128GB memory card, so never need to use the loop function. I always back up footage onto external hard drives for record purposes. 
With what I saw happen with my friend, I am weary of hard wiring into the cars electrics. I prefer plug and play. Also so cars are sensitive to things being 'spliced' into wiring. On YouTube a lot of the diagnostic and mechanics I watch, seem to have a dislike accessories being hacked into the wiring, especially when it causes other issues, like short circuiting and glitches, not to mention car fires!
That's my view.

[SB1500]

13 hours ago, Konrad C said:

I had my suspicions it was a Nextbase dashcam. The first gen of Nextbase models had a bit of a reputation for issues, especially the internal battery. I remember trying to help a friend with his Nextbase 312, which was hardwired by a well known car accessory outlet he bought the dashcam from. Basically the dashcam overheated, plus the memory card was corrupted to a point that it was useless. I couldn't repair it for use. Worse still the dashcam electronics were fried and corrupted. Strangely I had at the time my Nextbase 212 and powered via the socket using the cable it came with. It was only on when accessories was powered. The power cable is routed and hidden. Since my car is mostly parked on my own drive, I remove the dashcam, still do with my current Nextbase 222X (with rear camera). I use a 128GB memory card, so never need to use the loop function. I always back up footage onto external hard drives for record purposes. 
With what I saw happen with my friend, I am weary of hard wiring into the cars electrics. I prefer plug and play. Also so cars are sensitive to things being 'spliced' into wiring. On YouTube a lot of the diagnostic and mechanics I watch, seem to have a dislike accessories being hacked into the wiring, especially when it causes other issues, like short circuiting and glitches, not to mention car fires!
That's my view.

All sounds quite fair. It was 'wired in' using the Nextbase kit / piggybacking off of an existing fuse, I had spliced in the past to wire in things to an old old Fiat with an in line fuse, but definitely wouldn't do it on my Avensis or any of the newer cars I had

[Konrad C]

On 1/24/2023 at 4:05 PM, SB1500 said:

Nextbase 522GW, I hardwired it myself using their official kit. It was problem free in a 2017 Fiat Panda and 2017 DS 3. But with the Avensis it was either on 24/7, 365 or on only with the car, but cut out when start/stop activated and then the dashcam shut itself off upon the car restarting. No matter which fuses I tried it was either of those outcomes. 

It's just using the 12V socket since last month now, but still routed in hidden along the headliner and A-Pillar down through the back of the glove box and under the centre console box. No issues in terms of battery drain now, but also sadly no parking mode... shame. I have the rear view module too, that must suck more power than usual. 

There's a Toyota / Lexus special model of Nextbase dashcam, and nothing like that for any other brand, so my unofficial conclusion is that there's something up with how Toyota / Lexus cars handle the electrics like these.  That special Toyota Nextbase is about £250 fitted at a dealer and has a special internal battery / wiring kit... I'd love to know what fuse or how else it works. If my dashcam failed tomorrow, I'd probably replace it with that. Though it's inferior in some ways to my 522GW and I'm not sure if it supports the rear view module camera. 

Ps, I'm all for being told I did it wrong, but only if someone can explain how it should be done RIGHT - Toyota and Nextbase don't seem to be able to give me any guidance.. 

I was not aware of a special Nextbase Dashcam for Toyota Lexus! You learn something new everyday.

Did you know the recent Nextbase plug-in power adapters have a current manager, that detects when the car Battery is getting lower and switch off the camera? I found out 3 years ago when swapping out my old Nextbase to my current one. I was setting up the new camera, then because the car Battery was weak, the camera shut down with message about Battery protection. The car battery had run down! I had to jump start the car. All Nextbase dashcams with a rear cam socket on the side, will support rear cam modules. Just read the manuals that are available on line. 

[SB1500]

On 1/26/2023 at 10:14 AM, Konrad C said:

I was not aware of a special Nextbase dashcam for Toyota Lexus! You learn something new everyday.

Did you know the recent Nextbase plug-in power adapters have a current manager, that detects when the car battery is getting lower and switch off the camera? I found out 3 years ago when swapping out my old Nextbase to my current one. I was setting up the new camera, then because the car battery was weak, the camera shut down with message about battery protection. The car battery had run down! I had to jump start the car. All Nextbase dashcams with a rear cam socket on the side, will support rear cam modules. Just read the manuals that are available on line. 

I read that too but I don’t believe it, otherwise surely it would have saved my Battery from going flat on multiple occasions. I could also see that the cam cut off mid recording too as the Battery died. It was wired in according to their instructions. With such a simple piece of kit, it’s unlikely it wasn’t done right, as it worked. There is no other guidance especially on the cut off, but I don’t think it worked for me. 
 

yes, I’m aware of that, i have the rear view module 🙂 

[Cessna]

I was not aware of a Toyota/Lexus specific Nextbase Dashcam either. The one I had fitted by a Toyota dealership around 18 months ago was not Toyota/Lexus specific. It was a Nextbase 380GWX, which is a standard "fleet" model from Nextbase, and can be seen on their website at https://nextbase.co.uk/business-fleet/

The dealer did a great job fitting it. Everything is wired in neatly, and piggybacked off an existing fuse so that it is only live when the ignition is on (including accessory mode). Therefore the car Battery is not drained at all. The Dashcam is one of those with its own internal Battery for the parking feature.

From what I can tell, Toyota dealers still offer supply and fit of this model for the same price Nextbase have it advertised for on the above link. I can highly recommend it.

[SB1500]

On 1/31/2023 at 4:07 PM, Cessna said:

I was not aware of a Toyota/Lexus specific Nextbase dashcam either. The one I had fitted by a Toyota dealership around 18 months ago was not Toyota/Lexus specific. It was a Nextbase 380GWX, which is a standard "fleet" model from Nextbase, and can be seen on their website at https://nextbase.co.uk/business-fleet/

The dealer did a great job fitting it. Everything is wired in neatly, and piggybacked off an existing fuse so that it is only live when the ignition is on (including accessory mode). Therefore the car battery is not drained at all. The dashcam is one of those with its own internal battery for the parking feature.

From what I can tell, Toyota dealers still offer supply and fit of this model for the same price Nextbase have it advertised for on the above link. I can highly recommend it.

Which Toyota model do you have? I thought it was a Toyota / Lexus custom designed job (possibly due to the issues I had wiring mine in using the Nextbase kit with Toyota's electric system), but I checked it out and you're right, it's just a tamper proof design - probably nothing different about it. 

I actually would love to know which fuse Toyota themselves piggyback off of. My issue is, and I didn't have it on the DS or Fiat, but: 

- I piggyback off of a live fuse which gives 24/7 power, and end up with 3 minute video clips overnight of nothing and a dead (I mean, fried / dead for good) Battery which just cost me £255 to replace. There's a chance it might have been now the car is 4.5 years old, but at the same time usually batteries last longer than that.... 

- OR.. I do something like the 12v cigarette lighter socket, so it only comes on when the car is on and engine running, BUT, turns off when start/stop kicks in.. then due to whatever the electric is at during start/stop start when moving off, it shuts off the Dashcam until I press the power button to turn it back on. 

 

I asked Toyota, who don't seem to be able to help ... I asked Nextbase who also said they can't advise on specific models. 

I just reverted back to using the 12v accessory socket to Dashcam, and routed it along the A Pillar and will eventually drill a hole into the centre console box for it to neatly fit in and look discreet (though the cigarette lighter socket will permanently have it plugged in I suppose). I can't risk this new Battery being ruined and the car not starting because of it again. I've tried various fuse spots that worked, no idea why I can't seem to get it to work. But the fuse piggyback kit is pretty foolproof in the sense that, it either works or it doesn't. It's the choice of fuse which is my issue, but none of them I've tried were practical. I never touched anything labelled ECU etc. 

[Cessna]

I have a 2015 first facelift 1.8 petrol Icon Business Edition estate. So not quite the same as your second facelift model.

If I were you I would power the Dashcam using a piggyback fuse to something that is on with the ignition, such as the cigarette lighter socket. It will draw very little current, much less than the multimedia system for example, which I presume stays on when the stop/start system stops the engine. Then it will automatically power up and record whenever you drive the car, and automatically switch off when you turn the ignition off. If it is a Nextbase 380GWX like mine it will still record when parked with the ignition off if it detects movement, but this is done using the dashcam's internal Battery rather than the car Battery (it doesn't have any choice with the ignition off!).

I don't know which fuse my dealer decided to piggyback off, but I will try and find out. The tricky thing is it is in the fusebox deep underneath the dash on the passenger side, which requires removal of the glovebox and getting your head far enough in to see the fuses!