I am sad to say that my 85 year old friend is now in a nursing home and will never return to her home. Her 2010 LS460 AWD with roughly 30,000 miles is parked in her garage and has not been driven for the last couple of months. There is no telling how long that car is going to sit there. What is the long term effect if any of removing the battery? I know leaving the car just sitting is not good for it but that is just the way it's going to be until she passes, which could be years. I was thinking of asking her attorney who is also our attorney to let me wash it fill it with gas with fuel stabilizer park it and remove the battery.

Thoughts please

Dennis

 

Sorry to hear about your friend! It might be a good idea to talk her into selling the car, value will drop and no use is not good.

 

hfahmy

Not an option she does not need the money, she loves the car and it says you are here forever. She is actually saving money now. She had 24/7 in home care that was costing her 20k a month, but it got to be to much for in home providers.

Dennis

 

Dennis, I am very sorry to learn about your friend. Sad news.

The manual typically offers a few thoughts on storage.

I take no exception to your initial thoughts. More may come to mind later, but what I would do, to start:


-Check engine oil and all fluids

-Add fresh gas and stabilizer (or just stabilizer, at this point), and run the engine with it for a while. Driving it for a good 45+ minutes would be ideal.

-Do not engage the parking brake when you park.

-To mitigate tire flatspotting, park the car on Tire Cradles. At a bare minimum, pump the tires up to 38 or 40 psi.

-Connect a tender to the battery. Alternatively, nothing wrong at all with pulling it out (as you suggest), fully charging it and shelving it for later use.


Whenever a good battery is reconnected, the car will go through a "boot-up" routine (with a progress bar showing on the navigation screen telling you NOT to shut power off), and only until this is complete will the engine start. No damage whatsoever from this, other than every single setting being erased.

 

Very sorry to hear about your friend.

Edmunds has some nice tips, reiterating what was said above and also adding some additional pointers, like the parking brake (don't use it). Here's the link.

They suggest changing the oil, car covers, etc.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-...m-storage.html

 

Funny, I had just remembered and added this!

Very helpful link.

 

Echoing what already mentioned above.

- Fill full tank of gas and add fuel stabilizer
- Get an oil change
- Inflate the tires up about 10 psi
- Put carpet underneath the tires (if the car locates in cold area). (Do not put the car on jack stands)
- Wash and wax the car
- Leave the car in neutral and use chocks
- Take the battery out of the car and put it on a good battery maintainer
- Put a car cover on

This is the procedure I've been using when I store my sport car away for the winter. And it can be use for long term storage as well.

 

Thanks Guys some good pointers

The battery is the original one so I am guessing by the time this car gets driven again it will need a new one. Plus the car will be left in her garage at the house with no one around for weeks on end so not keen on leaving it on a battery maintainer.

caha14

Had that same screen when I changed my battery a couple of weeks ago after it was out for 2 days. Although my car did start as soon as I hit the button. Then that screen came up on the Nav Screen.

Dennis

 

Dennis, I have very close personal experience with this. Firstly, let me say you are absolutely right in following whatever her wishes are. If she loves the car and wants it until she dies, then so be it. It's her car and that is that.

Not knowing how long this car will sit, the only things I would do is fill the gas tank, put in a Stabil, wash it and put on a cover. Somewhere down the road when the estate has to sell it, a buyer having to put on new tires and a new battery won't have any impact on the sales price. And even if it did, your friend won't care anyway.

Take pics of the car regularly and show them to her. I'm sure it will bring her great joy.

 

Nospinzone

Thanks

I went through this same issue with my dad after he had his stroke. This is her 3rd LS. She has had one 430 and this is the 2nd 460. I drove her to an Ohio State vs Rukers football game last year and pushed her around in a wheel stair for 3 days which was her last long trip in her LS and she loved it. She got her Masters and PHD from OSU. It was a one way trip of 700 miles, an easy 1 day trip for me and we made a 5 day trip out of it.

I will take some pictures of Brutus Buckeye and show her. Some days she will remember and some days she will not.

Dennis

 

Dennis, you are a good friend.