1NICESC430

I'll be garaging my car (only 600 miles on it, so far) over the winter in an unheated, uninsulated, detached garage. Some of the storage suggestions I've received are to cover the concrete floor with plastic, disengage the ground on the battery, and to cover the car. I've found a custom SC430 car cover at www.lexuspartsmall.com for $190.55 that is described like this:

"The car covers are made using a uniqe, ultra thin, three-layer construction:a polyester outer shell,an acrylic foam middle layer and a soft inner layer. Cover is made of ultralon fabric for lightweight and easy storage.Seams are overlapped & double stitched,providing extra strength.Front & rear hems are finished with durable neoprene elastic so cover stays firmly in place"

Also ....
I'm seriously thinking of getting door edge guards even though I don't like the look. One place I often park is in a narrow driveway that has a stone wall next to it. The car's doors are pretty big and so am I. I've already dinged the edge and don't want to do it again. The car being silver, perhaps clear guards might not look too bad.

This will be the first time I've purchased either a car cover or door edge guards and know little about them. Does anyone have any comments on either of these items?

Thanks
Ed

1NICESC430

Thanks for the welcome, genearch. Yesterday I read just about every post in this forum and found it to be a very well-maintained and highly-monitored forum.

Thanks, too for the tip. I went to the Heaven for Cars site and found the cover I would need for my specific situation, but could not find a list of cars for which they have custom covers. I sent them an email asking about SC430 covers.

I'm so happy you got such a kick out of that winter thing. Hmmm ... that reminds me, I have to get a snowblower tune-up soon.

TOPLEXS

Car cover is a great idea, however be sure to never put cover on a dirty car...guaranteed scratches.

As far as stone wall..Good idea to put a piece of carpet or other padding on wall to avoid chips. I even put a piece of foam on my garage wall to avoid possible scratches or marks.

Put a "battery tender" charger on your battery. Most modern cars use some juice, even when turned off to power alarm, and preserve memory for onboard computers. This will not over charge your battery, as trickle chargers do, but will keep your battery at peak charge.

Change oil after sitting all winter, and check air pressure in tires.
Car should be all ready for spring.

1NICESC430

Thanks, TOPLEXS ...

I knew about trickle chargers, but didn't know what a battery tender was until I did a Google search on the phrase (9,760 hits). Whew! I now know more about batteries than I ever wanted to. The Deltran site, http://www.batterytender.com/index2.html is loaded with information.

Now to get an electrician to wire my new garage. By the time I'm done with everything this car will have cost me 100 grand.:eek:

BONLAW98

As a new owner of a black/ecru that spends considerable time outside during the day in southern california I am interested in a car cover.
Not just any car cover, but one that has especially good uv protection, lightweight, easy to put on/remove, and won't get me dirty in the process.
I have scanned the threads and have not come up with anything concrete. Please relay your thoughts and experiences. thanks

TOPLEXS

Best deal is $50 "Universal" cover at Costco. It is made of breathable, yet water proof fabric. Thick enough to protect car a little, yet lightweight. A high quality cover at an unbeatable price.

Have not yet seen custom cut covers yet for SC 430.

Your car must be clean, not even dusty, when you put on your cover or the slight rubbing caused by the wind and taking it on and off will cause scratches at the pressure points.

While my car is White, I think Black is the classiest color for the car.

BONLAW98

THANKS TOPLEXS- PARANOIA WAS SETTING IN WITH NO RESPONSE FROM ANYONE - AND YOU ALL DON'T EVEN KNOW ME YET!!
A $50 INVESTMENT, AT LEAST INITIALLY MAKES SENSE TO SEE WHETHER OR NOT I CAN STICK WITH PUTTING IT ON AND OFF. AT LEAST I DO KEEP THE CAR VERRRRRY CLEAN. AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED DISHES CAN PILE UP IN THE SINK, BUT MY CARS ARE ALWAYS CLEAN.
IT SEEMS THAT LEXUS WANTS $225ISH FOR THE COVER AND ONE SUPPLIER QHOTES $190 FOR THE "LEXUS" COVER.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY EXPERIENCE OR OPINION PLEASE POST.

THANKS

BONLAW98

GENEARCH-----YOUR POST CAME IN WHILE I WAS COMPOSING MY REPLY. THANKS TO YOU. WHEW!!I CAN LET GO OF THE PARANOIA TOTALLY. CONGRATS ON YOUR CAR - YOU WILL BE IN TOTAL LOVE. YOUR SITE IS THE ONE I WAS REFERRING TO. PLEASE LET ME KNOW EASE OF USE. THAT IS ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT ASPECTS, BECAUSE IF NOT RELATIVELY EASY, I LIKELY WON'T DO IT.

TOPLEXS

One other car cover issue, is that with such a beautiful car you will want to show it off to everyone. It is difficult to cover up such a beauty.

Order some Zaino. Makes the black glow!

BONLAW98

1. THANKS.
2. LONGO LEXUS
3. Okay, Okay.

Longo ultimately came through first with the color combo I wanted. However Cory at Riverside Lexus was extremely responsive and did get me a car within 3 months, just could not get me my first choice. Longo was only 3 month too. Longo provides pickup and delivery and free loaner; I am about 40-50 miles away. Since I have not noticed any of those new car problems that need major adjustments Longo is coming to my house to perform 1k checkup and oil change, as well as reconfiguring my nav system. Can not complain about that type of service.

BONLAW98

ZAINO ! You betcha. First thing I did was dawn/clay/z5 (because I didn't have z3)and z6. Within last 2 weeks I have also z3'd twice and I used 1/3 of z6 bottle. It is pretty darn good stuff and easy after the 1st "almost killed me" day of applications.

With reference to not covering the car so people can admire -- Id be happier if they admire a clean, no UV, dust free car on my drive home. But it's true, people really admire the car.

liners

I bought a LEXUS custom cover from the dealer specific to the SC.

It's a great fit with pockets for the mirrors, LEXUS logo embroidered on the front and even a clear plastic window sown in the back to reveal the license plate.

BONLAW98

WHAT IS EASE OF USE? FOLD UP EASILY AND SMALL?

BIG QUESTION-- DO YOU END UP WITH ALL OF THE COLLECTED DUST AND DEBRIS ON YOU WHEN YOU PUT ON OR REMOVE?

DO YOU REALLY USE IT? DID YOU GET A LOCK AND BAG?

PLEASE LET ME KNOW

BertL

BONLAW98: Your mileage may vary with this, but thought I'd offer a couple of things. First, since the car was typically in a garage, I used to use a cover for my SC300 (just sold last weekend in anticipation of my SC430 arriving one day!) in two cases: At airport garages when I had to do that and on trips where the car needed to be left outside overnight -- especially if there were trees with sap or such around! I always locked the cover on -- was not a big deal, but also would help if heavier winds came up (they did once in Florida near the coast, and it stayed on fine, when another one had either disappeared over night or the owner had taken it off -- I don't know). As far as if you get dirty taking it on and off -- well, you will need to practice a couple of times how to fold the cover -- I worked out a way for the most part to keep the "inside" of the cover (the part touching the car) always touching itself when in storage by folding the sides of the cover up onto the top and keep folding inward until you have a long strip of the cover on the top of your car, then starting at one end, flipping it over onto itself. Worked very well to minimize dust and dirt on the inside of the cover... at least for me. I only "washed" the cover a couple of times when it was extremely dirty by putting it on the driveway, getting rid of the sap in a couple of places (was better than on the car!), and then rinsing it down and hung over the fence to dry. Make sure it is COMPLETELY dry before you refold it...

Now, for my SC430 (if it ever arrives), I already have a cover for it -- because of the bulk of my old cover, I spent the bucks and bought a custom "Weatherguard" cover -- it folds to perhaps 1/3 of a normal cover and has a high tech material that breaths but repels most of the water (the biggest problem with the old cover if it really rained hard for extended periods of time). Several places sell this cover, but all end up coming from "Covercraft" or I found some dealers use the same material, just manufacture it themselves -- they each have different logos, red tabs (to tell front from back), etc on them so it looks like it's made for that dealer. I found that Autosupermarket http://www.autosupermart.com/shopcar...raftindex.html had the best price and beat Covercraft's web site price -- I had delivery within 2 weeks. The whole thing for the SC430 folds to perhaps a 18"x12"X3" package, with lock and bag. As to if the cover works as well as the article says -- I don't know yet -- need the car to arrive first!

Good luck!

BONLAW98

The wait for the 430 is certainly worth it; but the 3 months I waited seemed an eternity. Congrats!

Do you mean "weathershield"?
That was the closest name at the web site. Does not appear to be custom. What size did you order? The bag and lock are extra, right? Was impressed with the how small it folds into - Size does matter after all.

Please let me know if I am on the right track. In so cal I am interested primarily in the UV and dust factor.