New LC owner’s questions

[Simon Gibbs]

Today was a big day! Collected my 73 plate Sport from Listers Lexus in Cheltenham, brilliant dealership. So I’m probably one of the few owners who leave their LC on the driveway and I’m off on holiday for 2 weeks. How does the Battery hold up? 

[Dingle Dell]

So far, mine has been fine, unlike various cars I have had before. I am a new owner myself though, so don't have much ownership experience to rely on.

I know mine lasts at least 2 weeks, and I get the impression it would last much longer without any issues, though hopefully it won't be parked up so much in future to test this out. 

This being said, if I were going on hols for 2 weeks with the car on the drive, I might be tempted to disconnect the Battery for security reasons!

[Simon Gibbs]

Thanks for the response. We have a Renault Zoe for driving into London and that will be used as a bollard. 

[Brian R]

The Battery does seem to deplete quicker than you might imagine, and I would say 4 weeks before you should be thinking about running the engine or charging through some means or another. In fairness, I do have a dash cam "on guard" and a tracker, neither of which should be pulling much power, but quite what else is running I wouldn't be too sure.

By way of an example, I had an 85-mile journey yesterday and upon arriving home and letting the Battery settle for something like 6 hours, my tracker was showing 12.78 volts and then this morning at 6 it is showing 12.71. So overnight a 0.07 volt drop which might not sound much but in reality translates to something like a 5% state of charge drop. However, in practice I can't use those figures to accurately define volt drop given the relatively warm weather yesterday and the current 3.7 degree temperature!

After a 2-week holiday and assuming the Battery was fully charged you should be able to confidently start the motor without any problems, although I would still suggest after 4 weeks you should consider hooking up a Battery maintainer just to be sure.

[Simon Gibbs]

Thanks. I don’t typically take 2 week holidays but it sounds like it should be fine. I will be using the car regularly, at least once a week and short term storage over the winter where it will be on a Battery conditioner. 

[eightk]

Congrats! 5 weeks October/November, garaged, 2021 car with no problem at all. My tracker has a voltage display on the app - it got to 12.5 ish volts I think, started no problem at all- it’s a Lexus!

[Brian newman]

I ve left my lc500 from March until july this year.on a trickle charge..hopefully it will start!

[malcolmw]

I am sure that you will have no problems. I leave my LC500 on a trickle charger all the time when I am not using it. I used the same regime when I had an Aston DB9 and when I sold it after 12 years, it still had the original Battery fitted. The charger floats the Battery at 13.8V (after a short balancing charge) and this is below the gassing voltage so electrolyte is not lost over the long term. 

[eightk]

I was chatting to a new Merc SL owner a couple of days ago. 5 days. Leave it for more than 5 days without running or charging it and you can’t even get into the boot.

I’ve used an Optimate conditioner for cars before - very good. If I leave the Lexus for a loooong time I’ll be plugging one in. But it won’t really need it cos it’s a Lexus  😎