Today I decided to put a Battery Tender on our 2020 ES-350 (UL). But I have 2 questions:

1) Unlike our other and prior Lexuses, when I open the hood a large lighted open hood picture appears in the central dash screen and the analog clock also lights up. I connected the Battery Tender, but the open hood lighted picture and lighted clock did not turn off even after waiting a bit. I don't want to leave these 2 lighted features on in the interior. I know I can close the hood on the connections to the battery but I'd prefer not to. So - is there any simple way to turn these off? I looked for an open hood switch under the hood but could not find it.

2) I'm also thinking of permanently installing the ring terminal accessory cable that comes with the Battery Tender as I'd rather not keep opening and closing the hood every few days after taking the car out. The cable is about 18" long. I could possibly run the cable end so it just sticks out between the 2 wipers with the hood closed but I'd prefer to run it out the front somewhere and tuck it in when not in use. But I don't want to any drilling. So - has anyone had the experience of running such a cable out of the front grill? I'd like to do a clean secure job and don't want the cable end dangling from the front.

Thanks.

 

If you drive the vehicle every few days, you shouldn't need to use the battery tender. If you do, you either have a bad battery, or a current drain issue. When I use mine, it's because it's sitting for weeks at a time, so no issue with having the hood closed. With the hood struts, it's not really difficult to open the hood.

That said, the switch should be located in the latch. I don't believe you can bypass it without modifying it, which is not advisable.

 

I've experience parasitic drain in a number of prior Lexus vehicles. At present, we don't need to drive very often. So aside from the occasional drive to just get out of the house, I'd rather not drive our cars more frequently to just charge the batteries. That's what trickle chargers are for. Opening and closing the hood is not a problem but using the permanent cables that come with the Battery Tender that are exactly designed for this is a more elegant solution. I agree with not modifying the hood switch. Just thought there might be a owner setting somewhere that I have not found, or being able to easily unplug a switch connector without throwing out all sorts of codes. So, still interested in anyone who has found an easy path to feed the wires out the front.