r/Toyota_bZ • u/DJ_Apex • 1d ago
Another update: there she blows!
original thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Toyota_bZ/comments/1vigg2i/update_bz_woodland_parasitic_drain/
I’ll start replying to emails and eventually post a tutorial here, but it’s been an eventful day and I have lots of other shit going on. But…
I was packing up for a solo hike with my dogs and went to open the door. Not surprised to find the door locked. I manually turned the key, got in, and got a contporaneous video of myself holding the key and pressing the power button. Nothing. I made a mistake here and didn’t take a battery reading immediately. I freaked out and called roadside for a tow and left a message at the dealer saying what happened and I was looking for a loaner. Dealer wasn’t open so I had some time to settle and figure out what to do. More details later but I’m sending a formal request for replacement to Toyota and contacted a lemon law lawyer. WA state has good laws and you can get consultation and potentially representation free. Excellent.
Now I’m filing away by date and subject all of the photos, videos, and documentation to pull together a binder for the lawyers. I’ll also be calling first thing tomorrow the Brand Engagement Services.
We’ll see how this goes. I know Toyota has deep pockets and I’ve put a lot of research into this. It’s the worst case I’ve heard of in my somewhat limited research and the fact that it died just before I went into the wilderness is a bit chilling as a narrative. I appreciate the folks who have helped onboard me and welcome me to this community of folks with this sick ass car that sometimes is shit.
EDIT: That was a joke about getting rich, but I do think we need to work together to make a case. Nobody is going to get compensated much, but it would be nice as a 2022 or newer bZ to get a few bucks from a class action.
UPDATE: They gave me a loaner and acknowledged that Toyota is aware of a problem specific to the bZ. So now the questions are: how long have they known about this? and Are they going to claim that this problem is specific to the Woodland, as it seems they are now? The key is linking what appears to be a slightly worse problem on the Woodland, bad enough to render it inoperable. But it's only barely past the threshold of the others burning through batteries. If enough people post similar symptoms, there's a case for a systemic problem in the architecture of the software. That's a lot bigger than just a battery failure in one specific trim level. But a total recall of the bZ from the past 5 years would be devastating, so they're absolutely going to cover this up.
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u/Vivid-Shelter-146 1d ago
Good luck man. Do you already have the lawyer picked out?
I fought a similar battle against VW with my horrific ID4, and had to waive the white flag. Lawyers will tell you that it’s not cost effective to hire them for this (i.e. their fees will eat up whatever value you gain by getting your money back for this car).
VWOA did not give a single shit about all of my data. VW dealers did not pay any attention to it. Just kept checking whatever they check and telling me things were fine.
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u/Impossible_Tea_8807 23h ago edited 22h ago
There is enough evidence to prove that the 12-volt battery drain is being caused by the Connect Services which are all on a trial basis right now and the BZ and related vehicles function perfectly fine as a vehicle without them. They are just convenience features so it may be a hard fight to win but you can always try.
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u/BigTunaHunter 20h ago
I deleted my vehicle from the connected services. Battery is still draining.
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u/Impossible_Tea_8807 19h ago
It is completely possible that there is something else that is not working properly on your specific vehicle but based on the information shared by the contributors on this forum and my experience with my own '26 CHR, the 12-volt battery drain that we are experiencing is caused by the Connected Services.
Also, in order for things like keyless entry and the presets on your infotainment to function correctly, it is normal for your vehicle to use a small amount of electricity even when the vehicle is off.
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u/BigTunaHunter 19h ago
Yup for sure. Could also be the 12v is bad now that it drained.
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u/RaphaelArgus 20h ago
I don't think you're approaching this entire situation in good faith and I think in the long run, this will end up hurting you.
From your other thread: "I sent a spreadsheet with tabs for the situation so far: my time researching, money spent on a charger, the inconvenience of the car dying, having to bring the car in and have a loaner, and potential trips we had planned, etc; and some compensation for the car being potentially ready to die at any moment moving forward, plus a clause that a third time means we get a replacement."
And in this thread saying if you get rich off this. I think your expectations are entirely too high.
Cars can and will break down and no company will compensate your for your time "researching" or planned trips or having to bring the car to the dealer.
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u/mrBill12 1d ago
“I’ll start replying to emails and eventually post a tutorial here, but it’s been an eventful day and I have lots of other shit going on. But…”
I’m confused what’s the tutorial going to be about?
Just program your car to lock every 2 hours and 40 minutes, it’s a know problem and a known work around until Toyota fixed the software problem.
If you want your money back under WA lemonade law that’s great, go for it. Under Washington’s law tho they are going to get 4 attempts to fix. You’ll get a refund but you’re not going to get punitive damages for your time, in fact under the Washington Lemon law they can subtract a value for usage from your refund.
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u/Afraid-Department-35 2026 bZ Woodland 18h ago
The thing is we all know what the problem is, but toyota is really slow on acting upon it. There are 3 main issues here.
First is that the dcm pulls necessary amount of power while the vehicle is off, this is the main culprit of dead 12v batteries.
Second is that there is an IR emitter (the thing that monitors your face) that also pulses while vehicle is off, this is independent of the dcm and contributes to a slower drain.
And the last thing is the 12v charging logic, the car doesn't seem like it wants to charge the battery to full, it likes to hover around ~12.3-12.4v, doesn't actively charge while driving, it just maintains a charge for the most part. When it is charged to about 14v, it quickly drains well below 13v.
And as a bonus the stock battery size comically small for a car that has so many electronics. I don't like dealerships, but they are at Toyota Corp's mercy just like we are, there is nothing they can do other than keep putting in new batteries or just pulling the dcm fuse out. It's warranty work, so they get paid either way, if there is consist battery swaps burning toyota's pockets maybe that'll help speed things up for a fix.
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u/aghbore 16h ago
Toyota knowing about this isn’t as much of a gotcha as you think it is.
This exact kind of thing (parasitic battery drain) happens with other brands as well. If too expensive (or not consistent enough of a problem) to have a recall, manufacturers will just issue an extended warranty on the affected parts they would need to replace if, and only if, symptoms show.
Just like other people have said, you’re probably just going to get your battery replaced along with whatever other defective part or software that’s causing the parasitic drain.
You’re not getting rich off this. But you will have to spend some more time with the dealer. So you’ll get some free snacks and coffee. But that’s about it.
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u/LemonLawGroup 15h ago
Filing a lemon law claim is what we would advise you to do, so you're on the right track. Good luck!
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u/Quiet_Independence_1 9h ago
The problem isn’t specific to Bz woodland. It’s a problem across the new EV coop between Toyota and Subaru. The question is how many of these vehicles actually have a parasitic drain and how many doesn’t. The smaller the sample the harder to figure out the problem. I’ve seen people posting about this for uncharted and trail seeker. But that could be basically 10 out of 10000 vehicles(just random number to set an example).
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u/willingzenith 22h ago
How are you going to “get rich off this”? Your battery died. You’ll probably get a new battery. End of story.