Battery Charging?
 

Hi guys! :-) I have a question.

So about 6 months ago, I took my grandma's boyfriend to get a Lexus. We got him a 2005 LS430.

Apparently, his son--who knows nothing about cars, but claims to be an expert--told him that with the LS, you have to charge the battery nightly or it will die and that there is some special charger that the Lexus dealership will sell you to do this.

I know this is not correct. It sounds like the son is thinking of an electric/plug-in hybrid. I told my grandma I would double check with you guys... the batteries in the LS's are fine, right? I have never had a problem with mine, and I have had it for 2 years now.

I just wanted to make sure I am not missing anything.

Thanks so much. :-)

Robert

He must be thinking of a cell phone battery. What non-sense!

Perhaps he is thinking of leaving the car at an airport parking lot for several weeks. Since the LS does have lots of electronics, it does draw more than a '56 Chevy even with everything turned off.

However, he is completely wrong about requiring charging overnight, I am sure that many, many owners will have the same experience that I do - with a good battery, it will go at least two weeks (and probably substantially longer) and still start the car nicely.

About 15 - 20 days is usually what it takes to drain the battery.

i was in VN for over a month, came back and start my LS no problem. it had a AAA battery hehehe.

LS does not need special charger or nightly charging.

The LS430 with smart key option does have higher parasitic electrical loss than a car without. But even with smart key on the car will start up after being garaged for 2 weeks easy if battery is in decent health. There is a switch on the LS to preserve the battery charge that turns off the smart key if the car is going to be parked for more than a week or two. Location of smart key switch in the interior is in lower dash somewhere (not obvious- consult the owners manual).

Thank you so much for the replies. I thought the son was full of crap. I will let my grandma know. :-) You guys are awesome. :-)

Kenshimoto - It must have taken a bunch of AAAs to provide 12V at cranking current :-)
(note the smiley)

lol i thinks its AAA brand. it was from previous owner

We take several 4-6 week road trips per year,I have been using one of the Harbor freight float chargers and have not had a problem since.