Hello, All! I am an avid Lexus fan (owned a 94 SC400, 03 IS300 Sportcross) and just last week took the plunge on a Black/Tan LS460. 55k miles, quite a Gem! Looking forward to participating on the board and gathering all the knowledge from you All! This is an "all Florida" car, was originally delivered here and driven here.. but because we're in Fl, I'm obviously looking for ways to keep it beautiful.

I'm looking for specific paint protection from rock chips, Sun damage and bird droppings. I've seen some videos for products like C.Quartz and the like, but those things are out of my skill set and look to be products best applied by professionals.

Am I overthinking this? Do I just need to wax it once a month, or just polish/wax?

I also have kids- so... Wondering the best products to use to protect and clean the leather... and HOW OFTEN does one typically apply these things to a car like this?


Can you tell this is my first REAL LUXURY car?

Congrats on the "new" car and welcome to the LS forum! Your car is absolutely gorgeous. It appears to be really well-maintained since the interior looks brand new.

The detailing section on CL will have answers to many of your questions on maintaining your car. Check it out.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...detailing-122/

I have also found this website very informative and useful.
http://www.detailedimage.com/

It does look super clean inside!

Great info! Thanks for the kind words. It's odd. It's SO NICE, I'm almost afraid to take it out of the garage. Good thing I have my OTHER Toyota product- a 2001 Sequoia 4x4 with like 240k miles (still runs like a sewing machine) that I can still use as my "daily driver". It's so beautiful, it's like a work of art.

I just sat in it for an hour last night. Just sat in it listening to the XM stations.

Do you do this with the engine off? Our cars have so many electronics, it'll run your battery out the door. Be careful and enjoy the beautiful machine!

Garage door was open, engine on... Air on max made it like a meat locker in there.

There is a small flaw in the rear seat. 2 small cuts in the leather (not through the under-cloth material. Was thinking about taking it in to be professionally repaired. And having a ceramic coating applied to the paint. Or, do you guys recommend just typical clean/polish/wax cycle?

Congrats and welcome! As the owner of an Obsidian LS like yours, I can only tell you that you have your work cut out for you! LOL. This was my first black car, and it IS a handful. I use Klasse on my car. It's a 2 part system that is relatively easy to use. It works extremely well and lasts almost 8 months. Highly recommend it. Lots of info out there on it and how to apply it. 303 Aerospace Protectant is another product I highly recommend for the interior.

Thanks for the product advice, RoadFrog! I really don't mind the work so much, especially if it lasts 8 months. The interior products, I am very interested in.. I'll search those out today and check them out..

Yeah, black's a tough color to take care of but when it's clean there's nothing else like that mirror finish.

Congrats on your new ride. Definitely a lot of car for the money!

Congrats on the purchase of your beautiful LS, so drive and enjoy.

Congrats on the new car! Looks really good.

Gratz on the new ride. Certainly a handsome looking car. I agree that keeping black clean is a challenge, but well worth it.

Congrats on the new car and I wish you good luck with it!

I would second comotiger's two links in his post. A mod in the detailing forum, Zach (zmcgovern4), is also a writer for Detailed Image. Tons of good info on both sites, plus Zach will answer all questions.

What's all this I'm reading about control arm issues in the front? How can one tell if these issues exist? I did a TSB search, and came up negative- can I assume that my production run didn't have these issues if nothing came up to fix?

What else should I look out for?

Don;t lose too much sleep over it. Yes, it can be an issue and some here have replaced them, but personally I have not and I have nearly 115k miles on my '08. Just something to watch out for (like any car). Good news is, you can have it done for about 1k dollars with aftermarket parts.