Cup Holder Retrofit?

[SLORICK]

My First Generation 1994 LS400 Cup Holder too small to hold most drinks today.

Wife's 2002 LS430 Cup Holder is better, but doesnt seem like an easy interchange.

Any way to retrofit? Any Aftermarket solutions anyone found?

[1990LS400]

My First Generation 1994 LS400 Cup Holder too small to hold most drinks today.

Wife's 2002 LS430 Cup Holder is better, but doesnt seem like an easy interchange.

Any way to retrofit? Any Aftermarket solutions anyone found?

I've been driving LS400's for 20 years (a 90 LS and now a 00 LS) and I don't remember buying a soft drink or a coffee (don't buy them too often) that came in a cup that didn't fit in the cup holder of either LS. What are the "most drinks today" you are buying?

If you are buying some sort of huge "big gulp" drinks, you could transfer a portion of them to a container that fits the cup holders. Your Lexus dealer sells drink containers that fit the 90-00 LS cup holders perfectly as do the ones from OXO our neice gave us.

The only other solution I know is to use a device like shown in the attached photo.

[SLORICK]

<<What are the "most drinks today" you are buying?>>

OK, Funny Guy, , , My cupholder is fixed, so only holds small drinks. Wife has a "variable" grip cup holder with arms in her 2002 LS430, which will hold medium, large cups from 7/11, Fast Food Joints, and Starbucks Frappachino bottles, small and even large, I think. Big Gulps are too Big, but my 1994 LS400 fixed cupholder wont even hold a small Frappachino. I will check with my dealer but closest is 3hours away. Even Lexus Coffee GoCup wont fit my cupholder.

[1990LS400]

OK, I admit the cup holders in all model years of the LS400 are pretty flaky. The front seat cupholders in my wife's 98 Camry are better and hold fairly large cups and water bottles. We've rented numerous Toyotas when I've traveled and all of them have had better cupholders than the LS400 including the 2009/10(?) Camry we rented in California last week.

If fact, most more recent cars seem to have better and more cup holders than the LS400. That Ford Five Hundred/Taurus I rented, loved and reported on here a few years back had so many nice big cup holders, the occupants of the car could have had a party. Seriously, I think there were two cupholders for each occupant.

I'm just happy my 00 LS400 has rear cupholders. Not having them was a P.I.T.A. on the 90 LS I drove for many years. It seemed silly to me that the 90-94 LS400 sold in most other countries had really nice cupholders in the rear armrest while we in North America got zilch.

[lexfourcam]

my friends always complain about that too. well i guess they'll just have to get a beer hat like that guy hahaha

[eatingupblacktop]

I'm just happy my 00 LS400 has rear cupholders. Not having them was a P.I.T.A. on the 90 LS I drove for many years. It seemed silly to me that the 90-94 LS400 sold in most other countries had really nice cupholders in the rear armrest while we in North America got zilch.

I'll look for a post either here or at CL that had some pix. I've meant to look for it to find out if it's available to order as a part, even if you have to import it or do some retrofit. Don't know if there are aftermarket kits but I'd rather go OEM anyway. Obviously useful and looks great in the pix. When I find it I'l post it here.

[1990LS400]

I'll look for a post either here or at CL that had some pix. I've meant to look for it to find out if it's available to order as a part, even if you have to import it or do some retrofit. Don't know if there are aftermarket kits but I'd rather go OEM anyway. Obviously useful and looks great in the pix. When I find it I'l post it here.

I'm guessing that a new rear armrest for a UK/Euro market 90-94 LS with cupholders under its flip up lid would cost quite a few hundred $$$ -- part of the high cost might be due to the UK/Euro rear armrest having switches for the standard rear seat heaters. Of course, we didn't get rear seat heaters either while they were standard on all years of the UK/Euro LS400 -- our cold butts were ignored.

Attached is a photo of the OXO drink containers we use almost daily -- they fit "like a glove" in both the front and rear cupholders of my 00 LS and have never come when taking a curve fast. If they did slip out, a nice feature of the OXO containers is a push on/off button on their tops to prevent spills.

[SLORICK]

1990LS400, what is that black base your OXO containers are sitting in? If part of your 00 LS, then you have a better cupholder than my 94 LS. Also, you have a 1inch section between base and armrest that I dont have.

Somewhere there is a Lexus Engineer or Designer who is the GURU OF CUPHOLDERS and knows the evolution/history of the model years. Or, some owner at a Lexus Meet could make it his Masters Thesis/Project to photo each model year, compare differences and evolution, write an article, and see if any improvements can be retrofitted into earlier year models.

In 16 years, I understand Fast Food Drink Cups grew larger, or supersized a few years after 94 and cupholders changed, and lately the size of soda cans have changed. Mini-Cans now and slightly different sizes to charge you more or give you less for same cost. I just drive slow so the ice cubes dont slosh out of my wine glass here amoung the vineyards of Central California.

[1990LS400]

1990LS400, what is that black base your OXO containers are sitting in? If part of your 00 LS, then you have a better cupholder than my 94 LS. Also, you have a 1inch section between base and armrest that I dont have.

Somewhere there is a Lexus Engineer or Designer who is the GURU OF CUPHOLDERS and knows the evolution/history of the model years. Or, some owner at a Lexus Meet could make it his Masters Thesis/Project to photo each model year, compare differences and evolution, write an article, and see if any improvements can be retrofitted into earlier year models.

In 16 years, I understand Fast Food Drink Cups grew larger, or supersized a few years after 94 and cupholders changed, and lately the size of soda cans have changed. Mini-Cans now and slightly different sizes to charge you more or give you less for same cost. I just drive slow so the ice cubes dont slosh out of my wine glass here amoung the vineyards of Central California.

The "black base" my OXO containers are in are the cupholders that eject from under the console -- the 95-00 LS cupholders are different than the 90-94 LS cup holders in the way they deploy but they are about the same size and hold cups/water bottles about the same. I owned a 90 LS and 00 LS concurrently and didn't see much difference in how well their cupholders worked. The 95-00 LS cupholders are simpler in design and don't hide behind a little door like the ones in the 90-94 LS when retracted -- maybe the 95-00 LS cupholders were cheaper to manufacture.

I appreciate the "ice cubes dont slosh out of my wine glass" comment -- just got back from a week in the area just north of you ... did the San Simeon/Hearst Castle tourist thing, had dinner in Cambria, stayed two nights in the Paso Robles Holiday Inn and bought a few way-to-expensive bottles of wine at local wineries before we headed north to Monterey and Santa Cruz. As I said above, the Camry we rented during our stay had substantially better cupholders that any in an LS400.

Our trip included a tour of the Blackhawk auto museum near Fremont -- really cool ... even the wife and sister-in-law liked it. Sitting outside on a patio near the Blackhawk having a beer was perhaps the best part -- can't do that here in Kansas where we've been having ice storms. Nobody should live where palm trees can't grow!