NHTSA Complaint #11048592 — 2006 LEXUS RX HYBRID

YEARS AGO, I BEGAN TO HAVE A SERIES OF BATTERY FAILURES WHILE STILL UNDER WARRANTY. EACH TIME, LEXUS JUST TOLD ME IT WAS A DEAD BATTERY, AND REPLACED IT (PRO RATA, NOT FREE TO ME). I GRADUALLY BECAME AWARE THAT THESE FAILURES WERE BEING ACCOMPANIED BY A MESSAGE TO "SHIFT TO P WHEN TURNING OFF IGNITION," WHICH I ALWAYS DO. I SUSPECTED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS SOMEHOW SENSING THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT LEVEL AND WAS WRONGLY ENGAGING SOME SORT OF STABILITY SYSTEM, DRAINING THE BATTERY. THE CURRENT EPISODE IS ACCOMPANIED BY A "VSC" ERROR MESSAGE, WHICH IS INDEED A STABILITY SYSTEM. OTHERS HAVE REPORTED THIS ONLINE AS HAVING KILLED THEIR VEHICLES WHILE THEY ARE IN MOTION. I AM FORTUNATE THAT THIS DID NOT HAPPEN TO ME...YET. HOWEVER, I AM NOW OUT OF WARRANTY AND AM TOLD THIS WILL COST OVER $8000 TO FIX. I THEREFORE WANT TO ADD MY VOICE TO THE GROWING NUMBER OF AFFECTED CUSTOMERS--LEXUS SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CLEAR FLAW IN THEIR MANUFACTURING!