reddirtcowboy

Several years ago I used a solar charger about like the one you have pictured to keep the battery up on a Class A motor home and it worked fine for a while but stopped working one day and I ended up tossing it. I just laid it on the dash and plugged it into the cigarette lighter which was unswitched. It was parked out in an open lot and got plenty of sunshine and it worked fine until it didn't. I currently have three Battery Tender solar chargers, all are larger than the one you have pictured, and all are used outdoors. They have been working trouble free for many years. One is used to maintain a deep cell RV battery in a Casita travel trailer, one is for a motorcycle, and a third one is maintaining an automotive battery that powers some 12v LED lights in my storage shed. The one you have pictured doesn't put out much amperage. Dean's article above gives some info regarding the amperage required to maintain a charge so you need to a charger capable of at least maintaining a float voltage. And of course you'll need enough sunlight during the day. Facing south helps, especially in the winter. I can't answer about the fuse box solution but Battery Tender makes a 12v accessory connector. Hope this helps.

Just a quick update. I connected a Battery Tender Plus positive lead to the jump start terminal under the hood and the negative lead to a convenient body bolt a couple of feet away from the positive lead. But then I discovered that I can't close the hood entirely because the positive battery charger alligator clamp sticks up too much so there's not enough clearance. To prevent the hood from closing I put a small piece of wood over the hood release latch and this prevents the hood from closing all the way and I can still put my car cover on. Kind of annoying that it's not as clean and tidy of an operation as I envisioned but at least it's functional. In case anyone is curious, the battery was fully charged two weeks ago and yet it still took the Battery Tender 2+ days at 1.25 amp to bring it back to float voltage.

Hey Dean, thanks for that article and for the feedback. I really like the idea of the on-board mounted charger but I'll probably go with using alligator clips on the jump start terminal under the hood. My LC doesn't get out of the garage much, just Cars and Coffee once a month and the occasional Sunday drive so a charger/maintainer is definitely needed. Btw just for giggles I looked online at the price of a Lexus brand battery...wow!...$1250 plus $200 to install. Uhhh, no thanks LOL! I don't mind going to the dealer for most things but when the day comes it'll be a Die Hard from Advance Autoparts for me. Thanks again for the great article!

I have a 2020 LC500 coupe garage queen here. A few months ago I got a Subaru Outback for my wife's grocery getter because she was putting too many miles on the LC. (11,000 miles in four years haha!) Actually it was because she was getting tired of me making her park a 1/4 mile away from the store front. Now she can jam that Subaru into a teacup sized parking spot and I don't care! 🙂 But now the LC needs a battery charge every now and then and I'd like to get a Battery Tender to keep the battery topped off 24/7. So I have two questions. Is the original battery a standard "wet" lead/acid battery or AGM? Also, when using a trickle charger do you connect it directly to the battery in the trunk or do you connect it to the jumper terminal in the fuse box under the hood? All things being equal I think I'd prefer doing it under the hood so I don't damage the rubber seal around the trunk opening with the extension cord. Conversely there's plenty of room to come up underneath the engine compartment with the cable. I appreciate any suggestions or advice. Cheers!

I read your post where you rented the LC500 and I really liked your comments. I can see where the seats in the LC aren't for everyone, ie not too short, not too tall, and not too wide, but fortunately they fit me perfectly. We haven't taken any long trips in ours yet (heck we haven't even driven it in the rain yet!) but so far my impression is that it's a great Grand Tourer and I suspect the h-model would be even better as a practical daily driver. The Lotus would definitely be a fun car. I think I read somewhere that this Emira will be the last Lotus with an ICE so it may have the added advantage of becoming collectible someday. Regarding the oil dilemma, I just noticed that Mobil 1 synthetic 5w30 is GF-6A spec. According to the Mobil 1 website it's fully backward compatible with GF-5. Just to be sure I'll keep poking around on the internet to see what other LC owners are doing. Here's the Mobil 1 link: https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants/about-us/mobil-1/mobil-1-modern-engines/ilsac-gf-6

I get what you're saying about getting the oil up to temperature. That said there are three things surprised me about my visit to the dealership for the oil change. First I was a little surprised that the owners manual didn't go into much detail regarding the oil. Other than the usual charts use to account for extremely high and extremely low ambient temps about all it says is to use "Genuine Toyota" oil 5w30 GF-5 spec for normal ambient temps. Nothing about whether to use dino or synthetic and nothing about which category the "Toyota" oil falls into. Then at the dealer I was surprised to find that they don't use Genuine Toyota oil at all...at least they didn't call it that. They used Kendall synthetic blend. Then surprise #3 was the service advisor said that "they", presumably Toyota, does not recommend using synthetic engine oil in any of their V8 engines. I'm tempted to call bull s**t on that last one. I can live with the Kendall synthetic blend for now, especially since the first oil change was gratis courtesy of Lexus. I was thinking about switching to Mobil 1 full synthetic at the 10k service but obviously I wouldn't want to do that if indeed Toyota recommended against it. My guess is that synthetic blend is what they sell and therefore that's what they want you to purchase but I thought I'd toss it out here to see if anyone else had run into anything like that. Assuming that I do switch to full synthetic I'll have to find out if the dealership will let me provide my own oil. Just fyi they quoted me $109 for an oil change (using the Kendall synthetic blend of course) which I didn't think was too bad considering that it takes 9.1 quarts. At one point in time I considered doing my own oil changes since I do all my other vehicles myself, but this car is so low to the ground that getting under it is too much hassle and little dangerous so to the dealership it'll go. On a side note my wife and I really love this car. Actually its her car and she drives it 99% of the time but on the occasions that I get to drive it it reminds me of why I like cars. Ohhh that sound!! Even wifey cant' help but get on the loud pedal from time to time! I almost never see another one so it's high on the exclusivity scale and it never fails to get a lot of looks in traffic. Even soccer moms at the grocery store stop will give it compliments. I have no idea what the depreciation is going to be like but it's such a beautiful design that I can't help but think that it'll hold its value reasonably well. I'm a buy and hold kind of guy so I expect we'll keep this one for a long time.

I just had my 5000 mile service done at the local dealer which included doing an oil and filter change. Before taking it in I read through the owners manual but I couldn't find anything specific to what kind of oil to use, only that it's 5w30 and has to meet GF-5 standard. However, the recommended 5000 mile oil change interval seems most appropriate for dino oil and I noticed that the dealer used a synthetic blend. Since our LC is only used for short trips and around town I'll probably stay with the 5000 service interval and synthetic blend even though I'm partial to full synthetic oil but I could be persuaded to switch to dino oil or full synthetic if given a good reason. I wouldn't say that cost is of no concern because it is somewhat, but the overriding concern is what's best for the engine. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? What kind of oil do you use? Thanks!

Email is on its way.

I have a brand new set of four Denso Iridium spark plugs part# FK16HR-A8 3484, still in the box, that I bought for my 2013 ES300h that I never installed. I was waiting for the car to hit 120k miles but I just traded it in on an LC 500 and the time has expired for me to send them back to Amazon for a refund. There's no point in me hanging onto these so if anyone can use them they're yours for $25 shipped. They currently cost $11.48 each ($45.92 for four) on Amazon. Just let me know where you want them sent. Everett

Just fyi, today I called the local Lexus dealer to get confirmation that my 1000 and 5000 mile services are free (they are) and out of curiosity I asked what the price is for the 30k service and 60k service. He estimated the 30k service at $700, the brake fluid flush is the biggie there, and the 60k service is $1400. It gets a brake fluid flush, rear diff fluid change, coolant flush, and new spark plugs. I asked if they have ever done either one and he laughed and said no, no one around here has put that kind of miles on an LC yet! I waxed the car yesterday and in the process I discovered that it has the StoneX clear vinyl wrap on the hood and front fenders, along the rocker panels, and around the rear brake vent and rear wheel well opening. I guess the selling dealer didn't know it was there. So that was a nice little perk. After the wax job I cleaned and polished the wheels inside and out. Man those polished 21" wheels really pop against the Infrared. My wife spent a good part of the day today reading the owners manual and dialing in all the settings. She also found this how-to video online...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq1j7GIDmPM. It's kind of tedious but informative. Everett

Thanks Dave, that's what I was looking for! Headed to the IMSA 6 Hours at Road Atlanta this weekend and should have ample opportunity to 'exercise' the LC and the paddle shifters along the way.

Many thanks for the input Doug. I saw an earlier post where it was suggested to change out the run flats for regular tires and I suspect I will do that as well. I've noticed that there is a certain type of pavement where the road noise is pretty bad, significantly louder than the ES300 that I traded in, and I suspect the tires are somewhat responsible. Thankfully on any other type of pavement the LC is whisper quiet. I too like to tinker and I wonder if many LC owners are DIY-ers. I prefer to do my own routine maintenance because I like to see firsthand what's happening with the car plus I'm very meticulous and while there are many awesome shop mechanics out there far too many are just trying to meet or beat flat-rate and don't have a great amount of attention to detail. Obviously there are some things I can't or won't do myself but simple things like oil changes, changing the various filters, wiper blades etc, I have no problem doing those myself. Fwiw I plan to use Mobil 1 synthetic after the 3rd oil change. I haven't had a chance to play with the paddle shifters yet and have zero experience with those so there will be a learning curve I'm sure. I have no illusions about it being a track-day car and I'm happy that Lexus tilted to the luxury side of the equation but still packed in enough horsepower to put a grin on your face. It sure has a glorious sound when you step on the loud pedal! And so far every time we've taken it out we get looks and thumbs up from folks and we get a real kick out of that. Thanks again for the tips! Everett

Hello, Just purchased an almost new LC and although it will be a while before I have to do any maintenance other than oil changes I'm wondering what you folks have been doing. Since the front tires are a different size than the rears is there a need to rotate the tires from side to side at regular intervals? Does anyone here change their own oil and filters (air, oil, and cabin) and are there any 'gotchas' to be aware of? Also wondering what products you prefer for cleaning and protecting the leather? And what about cleaning the carbon fiber door sill covers? I vaguely remember years ago that some products caused CF to turn milky white. Any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!

You'd think so but for some reason the local dealer only searches a 500 mile radius. Thanks for the thoughts on the black interior. I assume the preponderance of the Camel tan reflects consumer preference but I'm curious whether that preference is based on practicality or purely on emotion. I wouldn't have even given it much thought if not for all the Youtube videos of people gushing about the tan interior. Having said that I'm also happy to report that we ended up buying an Infrared with the Camel interior. We found a virtually new 2020 model with 1700 miles that was loaded up with options and after looking at it in person (as opposed to videos and photos) my wife decided that she liked the tan better after all. And I think I'll grow to like it more, especially if the Camel tan is more popular and easier to resell someday. We drove it 500 miles home yesterday and thoroughly love this car. It's a pleasure to drive and we can't stop looking at it. Honestly I could park it in the driveway and pull up a lawn chair and just sit and look at it for hours. LOL!

Hello, Just wondering if anyone has noticed a red LC with black interior at their local dealer, preferably in the Southeast US. I've been monitoring Autotrader for a while but not having much luck and I'm not aware of any means to search Lexus dealer inventories other than pulling them up one at a time. It would be nice if there was a national Lexus database that's searchable. If you're aware of a red LC with black interior on a dealer lot in your locality please post a reply. On a side note, am I the only one that wants a black interior? Is brown interior just that popular and black that unpopular? Or maybe there's a Japanese glut on brown leather and they're trying to get rid of it all! Thanks!