gcastano

Hi everybody
I have to park my new 2013 RX350 for about 3 months. Should I disconnect the battery so it still has some juice to restart. Has any one done anything like that?
I appreciate the input

HarrierRX300

If it's inside a garage and you have an outlet nearby, consider a battery trickle charger:

that's what I do..

RX330inFL

Correct product, perhaps the wrong term. Battery tender is preferred in this situation and not a trickle charger.

tfischer

Battery Tender also sells an extension cord which will allow you to keep the unit inside the garage but run the 12v side outside to a car parked outside. Works great. I also think they make a weather proof unit, probably designed for nautical applications, that can be left outside for extended periods. With these two options, having to park the car in a garage is not essential.
However, leaving a car for three months without a Battery Tender will surely push the limits of its capacity, and there is a very good chance the car will not start after that time. Disconnecting the battery causes all kinds of problems, and I'm not sure about the implication in the original post that this might extend the battery's ability to hold a charge, unless the theory is that there would be no drain at all on it from the electronic systems.
If you are going to park a car for a month or longer, the Battery Tender, which is not very expensive, is an excellent purchase. Highly recommended.

gcastano

Thanks to everybody. Great input. Battery tender is the way.

MikeP

Earlier this year I had to park my 1 year old LS460 for 2 months. I thought about getting a battery tender type device, but decided to chance it. While on the way to pick up my car, I expected the worse and I thought my expectations materialized when I grabbed the door handle to unlock and open the door and nothing happened. There was no puddle light lit nor did the interior lights go on. I removed the key from the fob and opened the door manually. Out of desperation I pushed the start button and the car came to life as if I had just parked it 10 minutes earlier. There must be a shut-down process of all unnecessary electronic functions to save battery power.

I do think that if another month was added, the battery would have needed a jump to start the car.

tfischer

A good battery in good shape will hold a car for two months, but the problem is in knowing when the battery is good enough. Mike got pretty lucky and I would agree with him that another month would have produced a different result. The most common situation is that everything appears fine upon entering the car, as there is enough juice to make the lights, etc, work, but not enough to make the starter kick the engine over - that's when you hear the "clicking" sound, which is the solenoid engaging the engine but not turning the engine over. Another week or two after that even the lights won't come on.
I use my Battery Tender on my SC in the winter, as I can leave that car covered and unused for months, and often if I am gone for over a week, I will put the car that stays at home on the Battery Tender, which will, over the course of two or three days, slowly (very slowly) bring the charge up to full. I don't think any harm can come from this, and I know the battery is ready to go regardless of the circumstances. I read that the slow charge is best for batteries, and none are slower than the Battery Tender.

mac12

I would also put some gas stabilizer in the gas tank and let it run so the gas mixture is well distributed in the fuel system.

tfischer

From what I recall reading (that's two conditions to what follows), I don't think a gas stabilizer is necessary for an unused vehicle unless storage times are about 6 months or more. If you keep a car at a vacation home, for example, that would be a good idea.
On the other hand, using one for a shorter storage period will cause no harm, other than to your wallet for spending a few bucks unnecessarily.
Also, note on the bottle of stabilizer that it expires after a period of time. Apparently there is no stabilizer for long term storage of the stabilizer.

BertL

Right. On our RX for example, there are a number of battery saving functions, including if you don't enter your truck for 5 or more days, it will take longer to gain access with functions using the wireless door/hatch antenna (fob or touching the handle), if you don't enter for 14 or more days only the drivers door can be used to open the truck, and on our 2013s, they added some sort of thing if the head/taillights are left on so the battery isn't drained completely. Pretty smart stuff trying to help ensure the car will start.