My Maruti Ertiga CNG, which is nearly 3 years old now, has never had battery issues. Even my Ford Ikon, which gets fired up once in 7-10 days, always starts in the first go.
BHPian Sanidhya Mukund recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Hello all,
I am creating a new thread about this as I feel this issue needs to be brought to the fore. After almost 6 months of research and test drives, I purchased a Toyota Innova Hycross Hybrid ZX (o) in February 2024. The main reason for ignoring enticing options like the Kodiaq and Tucson was that the Innova name is a stalwart of reliability. You know that it will fire up each time, every time, and won’t stop till it gets you to your destination.
However, 8 months and 7.5k KM into the ownership, the car has started facing battery drain issues. In the first instance, my parents had gone somewhere and had left the vehicle with the chauffeur. He told me that he parked the car for a couple of hours and then attempted to start it when my parents called for him. However, it didn’t fire up. I immediately drove down in my Mercedes C-class and found that the car was showing symptoms of a dead battery. I asked around for jumper cables, which a guy had, luckily. The car was hooked up to the Merc and it fired right up.
I suspected that our driver must have been using the aircon/audio system in power-on mode, which must have drained the battery.
However, today, it happened again! Less than a week after the previous incident, this morning, after the car was brought out of its parking spot and parked in front of my house’s entry gate, the car refused to start when it was time to leave! This time, I am sure that nobody had been sitting inside and fiddling with the aircon/music system. No devices were plugged in and no accessories (dashcam etc.) have been installed. No lights were left on. Since the car was blocking the Merc and the Ertiga had gone for an errand, I missed an important commitment.
This time also, I had to call for jumper cables and have the vehicle jump started using the Ertiga:
Mine isn’t the only case:
Here’s what BHPian Sameerg had posted in June 2024. His car also didn’t have any aftermarket accessories and his symptoms were similar to mine:
My two-month-old Hycross has faced a battery drain issues twice now. The first time it happened was when the car was just a week old, service centre folks said it was due to car being driven at low speed. Which lead to car running mostly in EV mode and engine not being used enough. I felt it was a stupid argument but since I was travelling and my father was dealing with the service folks, I didn’t debate much.
This morning, the car didn’t start again. Has anyone else faced this issue? Any idea why this would be happening?
Furthermore, I came across a video on YouTube where a guy tells us how he had to sell his Hycross ZX o because of this problem. For those who speak Hindi, he describes the exact same issue at the 5:30 mark in the video. In his case, it was so frustrating that he sold it to buy a Fortuner.
As is evident from BHPian Sameerg’s case, Toyota folks seem to have no clue about what needs to be done in this situation. Very, very frustrating. My supposedly ‘unreliable’ Mercedes C-class has never had such an issue in the 10 years that we have owned it. Even my Ertiga CNG, which is nearly 3 years old now has also never had battery issues. Heck, even my Ford Ikon, which gets fired up once in 7-10 days also always starts in the first go. Very sad to note that a car which has reliability as its USP is behaving in such a manner that we are losing faith in it.
Here’s what BHPian karan561 replied:
I have faced this issue a couple of times on my HyRyder hybrid.
Had to call for Toyota roadside assistance to jump start.
Haven’t really found a solution yet.
Here’s what BHPian Kosfactor replied:
How does the EPB work in Hycross? Is it a motor at the wheels or ABS pump?
I ask that because the sound of EPB engaging as my neighbour parks the vehicle is quite loud.
We know that EPB has to readjust overnight as the temperature falls, given its winter already I’m wondering if this bit is ‘awake’ all night.
Here’s what BHPian car_guy1998 replied:
Our Hycross VX Hybrid is 14 months old and run 42k Kms as of now. But, haven’t faced any battery draining issue yet **touchwood** though I’m away from the car now. Also, the car is been used as a daily driver.
But, after seeing this battery drain issue, I’ve become bit apprehensive. Now, I’ve to make my dad and chauffeur alert on this issue.
Also, during the first week of this month, the car was mostly unused since my dad was on a trip to Japan though the car was used by my mom once for her shopping visits during that timeframe. But, still, haven’t faced the battery drain issue.
The car was also given for 40k Kms service during the same time.
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