Thread: Venza Grief

I purchased a 2011 Venza new from the dealer within the past 60 days. It is now schedule for it's forth service in that time. The Chech Engine and AWD light continuously go on. A factory damaged O2 sensor was blamed during the early service. A second O2 sensor is now scheduled to be installed. The Service Manager states that weather conditions in the prarie provinces combined with Toyota's strict emmission standards and prarie fuel quality have combined to cause these failures. He went on to state that Toyota has been swamped with these issues on this vehicle model over the past several months.

Can anyone confirm any of these details? Does Toyota have a money back guarentee policy?

Thanks!

More Venza Grief !;

My 2011 Venza is only 45 days old and I have had to boost battery twice in mornings ; once at -25c and again today when only -12c; Block heater was used in both cases. Why is battery not keeping charge ois battery not fully charging ??? I have had one major highway trip while rest of driving is around city . Dealer also had to boost car to get it out of the show room; perhaps that should have been a clue ??!!

Venza battery=JUNK. My 2010 V6 Venza already got a new battery at my own expense. The car only has 9800 miles on it now and a new battery. I am in the automotive parts business. Toyota chose to put the smallest CCA (Cold Crank Amp) battery in these cars they could get away with. If I left my car ignition on without car running for 15 minutes, battery is dead. Toyota put in a 565 CCA battery, equivalent to our cheapest Valucraft battery available. I put in a 750 CCA battery and car starts now like it is summertime. Shame on you Toyota. I already contacted Toyota No Customer Service and was told too bad, you should have taken it to your dealer. Yeah, replace a bare minimum battery with another bare minimum battery. No thanks, I'd rather not get stuck in a parking lot on a cold night. I bought my own top-of-the-line Gold battery and have no worries now. Thanks Toyota!

many thanks for the info on the Venza battery

After having to boost my 2011 Venza twice in first 1400 km I went to dealer for a charging system/battery inspection; I was told that the 582 CCA battery is in good shape but required charging as it only had a 35% charge;
according to my Toyota Service department using the heated seats, defroster , rear hatch door, rust module, etc. on cold days will drain battery on "short" trips; I was told to go and drive it for 1 hour at highway speeds or to charge with a charger at home . I charged it for 90 minutes on a 12 amp setting and that brought battery up to 100% charge. Needless to say I am dissappointed that for all the reasons and options I purchased the Venza for (as I traded in my trusty 2008 RAV4 without heated seats, no power tailgate, but which did have rust module and it never had starting issues in 3 plus years) to find out now it is not "advisable to use such options in cold weather/short trip situations. i gues I'll have to look at a betetr battery as i plan on using those options when cold !!!

So much for North America testing which was promoted for Venza by Club Toyota Magazine

LOVE the car; HATE the battery !!! here in frigid Winterpeg ( Winnipeg, Canada)

Sad part about the battery issue, is it is from a good vendor, Johnson Controls. They make excellent batteries. The problem: Toyota opted to put in a bare minimum rated battery. In a stripped car, the battery may do fine. In a car with electronic devices requiring some power, it doesn't cut it. The only cut was made by Toyota to save some $$$ at the customers expense. Bite the bullet, make that Toyota battery a "core" and go purchase a good 700-800 CCA battery. Your problems should be over with a higher capacity battery under the hood in the cold!

I am curious - is the "rust module" energized all the time????? Did you consider disconnecting it to see if it made a difference on charge life?

Rust module is energized all the time as per instructions; if problems persist I may consider disconnecting.
thanks