alphacat

Agree you cant tell by voltage drop you have to see the standard current draw. Voltage drop is not indicative of a constant load situation unless its very precise and in the situation you outline with a brand new battery your car is drawing too much current. My bet is the standard you have a hidden tracker. If not your battery should last at least 5 or 6 weeks. No manufacturer would design it for less.

I have heard this problem (light going off after a while then coming on again if you switch them of and on again) is the ballast control unit and not the bulb(lamp). quite expensive I believe. I have the problem on my 430SC..

I hit a Pigeon just above the grill drivers side. Dented it and I had to have the dent removed.

Nobodies going to spot mine unless the garage door is open. its put away until the spring........

My boot lid ended up high one time. I just ran the engine put my foot on the accelerator raised the revs to about 2000 so the battery was at 14.3 or so volts and cycled the lid up and down a few times. No problems it sorted itself out.

I like that.... Gadgets cant beat them...........

Its a diesel !!!

Once you have had the car for a few days the button positions are irrelevant. The car becomes part of your body you become part of the machine... Seriously I don't find it a problem I just feel them and I know which is which, they are in easy reach so its just a job of familiarisation. If you find them a problem don't try for a pilots license. As for the arial I think its retro .... If it was fitted to a mini they would charge extra for it.............

I think too many people instantly think of the battery. I did. So I tested the battery.. My battery holds its charge under discharge and charges with a standard 6 amp charger over the required period. That's a good sign. if it tops up too quickly or doesn't fully charge at all its got a duff cell. You do not even need a hydrometer really (even if you could use one on a sealed unit). I have done a load test on it and it holds up well. If a cell is low that wouldn't happen. If a battery wasn't going to deliver the required amps it wouldn't take 2 weeks find out.. discharge would happen quite quickly and charging wouldn't. I think many people have gone to a garage with a battery drain problem and been advised and sold a battery they do not need. I have a battery tester too but its not worth buying one really...I also use a voltmeter and in the cig lighter socket I can see the drain over time. If you put the lights on the car and shine them at the garage door or wall. Then start the car and rev it. If the lights brighten you probably have a battery not holding a decent charge. At least that used to be a good test but I expect on the 430Sc you would need full beam as the HID lights may behave differently.

PS. I don't think the Mk 2 430Sc wheels are ugly at all. The dinner plate ones were a disaster but in the US they seem to like that especially on cars in Jewish Racing Gold !! I suppose if your the sort who likes to have purple rinsed hair (and many 430SC drivers in Florida do) the wheels are not a problem !!

Top Gear isn't something you should take seriously where cars are concerned. Most of them know almost nothing about engineering with the possible exception of James May who is enthusiastic about technology When they (usually Clarkson the one with knock knees )starts going on about 'how boring engineering is' and how 'they wouldn't like to go to dinner with the man who designed a double clutch gear box' I get very turned of. I don't like going to dinner with men no matter what they do. They give a wonderful report on the Mazda RX8 and it certainly is a great car to drive. But what a disaster to live with......or rely on. My son often knocks my 430SC in line with Top Gears comments but when he is sitting next to me and his knuckles are white when I am overtaking 6 cars in a row who were waiting behind a lorry (for no reason I could imagine) he has admitted it feels very fast and much more powerful than the 282 BHP its supposed to have.. When I took him to Wales to pick up a BMW335 (340bhp chipped) he couldn't stay near me on the way home.... and I don't have any extra anti roll bars either... he didn't keep that car long its 6 speed auto just wasn't in the same league as the 430SC 6 speed gearbox.

If disused trackers are in place in the car they are on purpose hard to find so trying to find a fuse which covers it is a bit hit and miss. I have heard one fuse often used by those installing trackers is the fuse that also protects the cigar lighter / 12 volt socket...... Of course that means you cant just take the fuse out or you will lose the 12 v / cigar function too. But it may help to find some of the wiring causing the drain. Even if Lexus/Toyota do have a naturally heavy battery drain it certainly should be designed to last more than a few weeks. it wouldn't be sensible to accept this as cars are left at airports for that even on an average holiday etc etc. So I am convinced battery drain issues are down to something other than bad design.

That's what they do in the US the SC is now a very popular car for modifications and there are lots of parts available to play with. They seem to take modification to an art form... Usually get spares even by mail much cheaper from the states too. The only one I was interested in was the clear reflectors (instead of orange) but they came out at about $400 a pair !!!! Unbelievable for 2 bits of plastic.

I don't think the 430SC is meant to be a sports car. More along distance cruiser.. With the top down there are other problems other than being 'floppy' as in most open tops. I don't think its that bad considering its size. I have noticed a few kits for anti roll stiffness with good reports. But I prefer the car as it is. To me it has the right balance between 'ride' and 'handling' with the emphasis on 'ride'. The Japanese though enough about this and the Mk2 is certainly a good balance. I have driven a number of convertibles (owned by my son) BMW Z4 (bumpy and bone shaking) a Honda S2000 (even worse than the Z4) and a Porsche Boxter (not bad but not as comfortable as the 430SC). Unless you take the car to a race track I wouldn't mess with it.

I expect they just need more work..... It happens...

My car was fitted with parking sensors when new. But its not Lexus policy to tape them up. When factory fitted in place clips are used. Trackers are sometimes fitted after market and taped to the same wiring. So I am becoming convinced a lot of the battery drain reported is from trackers fitted but where the subscription is not now paid. The device will still use power. Even with the ignition off and the car in a garage. I know of one case where this has happened and it took some time for the tracker equipment to be located panelling removed etc .. The best thing is to find the fuse and hope its independent then remove it.

That's interesting I had the same taped up wire under by rear bumper noticed it when it was taken of to be resprayed I think I may have the rest of the traker hidden somewhere taking current !!!! Thanks for that...

I have the same problem with mine my car is on SORN at present and the battery lasts just under 3 weeks. Then its down to 9v and wont start the car. I intend to keep it in the garage until spring and so have bought a battery isolator from Amazon. There are plenty for sale If you buy one get the black knob version its better quality and arrives quicker. The green one is cheaper but no so well made and delivery times are from China and can take ages apparently. When I go on holiday and take the 430 I always book Valet parking then when I return its them who have to start the car !! I have tried locking the car, unlocking the car etc. Nothing seems to work it just drains. I am going to isolate the battery and just put up with resetting the seats when I put it back on the road or sell it.

I agree about main dealers... They really cant handle issues like this.... trouble with Lexus main dealers is they don't like to sell spares etc to independent engineers. If you want an exhaust system you have to pay for fitting as well even if you want someone else to do it. Electric issues can be very difficult to address and often relate to things such as trackers fitted by external agencies and then removed later... This is often the cause of battery drain it seems. I topped my battery up the other week and left the car garaged without use for 2 weeks. This was about the limit as the battery was reading 11.4 volts enough to start the car but if it drops further there is not much chance.

I keep my FM transmitter in the centre console.. Its about the size of a mobile phone and has an SD card with music on it transmits and tuned to FM button 5. I always leave it in the car.. although its not plugged in. Never had a problem with the alarm.

Well over priced I would say.... and what you get is not much different from everything else. 'Ubiquitous' sums up BMWs. I think their engines are terrific but it all comes at a premium. I had a test drive in an M4 about 5 weeks ago... very fast but too noisy for me and the car just wasn't worth its £60000 price tag.. I didn't like the gearbox either... Sat Nav was much better than the SC430 but then it should be its a generation newer... I wouldn't buy one.. Rather have something different like a Maserati Gran Tourismo.

No but they should not have jump started it on a completely flat battery. They should have charged the battery for at least a few hours before doing that. Its understandable if it was broken down at the side of the road but not in a body shop.

Blame the dealer its obviously their fault.. For them to say they have no idea isn't acceptable. I would think it could be related to your other problem too. When my battery went flat (after leaving it in the garage while on hols for nearly three weeks) I plugged it into a charger and within an few minutes some sort of alarm was going off... Not sure if it was the theft alarm. It seemed to be coming from the rear of the car. I reset it all by switching the ignition on and of and it started again so I disconnected the battery charged it up over night and re connected it.. I have had no problems ever since it all works fine. I would advise disconnecting the battery completely and leaving it a few hours and then reconnect.

I asked Longlife in Leeds and told them I wanted a quiet exhaust to match the original. They went on about 'mid sport' being the most popular sound but when I said I don't want any sound.. They suggested in a round about way it couldn't be done with their method... I stuck to the original.

I think its very acceptable in the SC with the roof down. Much better than a BMW Z cars or the Honda 2000 if they can be compared.