Makita has come out with a new 12V Max CXT compact cordless vacuum, LC09. The new cordless vacuum is relatively compact, and sports some neat features and accessories.
- Compact design, 13-5/8″ long
- Bagless 2-stage cloth filtration system
- 3 suction power settings
- Up to 33 mins runtime on a 2.0Ah battery
- 46 CFM max
- “Optimum design for car interior cleaning”
- Weighs 3.7 lbs with compact battery
- 500 mL capacity with a dust bag, 330 mL capacity with a paper filter
- Carrying strap
If there’s any doubt that this is designed for cleaning the inside of your car, here are the nozzles and attachments it comes with:
- 13″ rubber crevice nozzle
- Floor mat nozzle
- Upholstery nozzle
- Soft brush
- blower attachment nozzle (with hose)
What’s also neat about the new Makita cordless vacuum is that the accessory end of the hose can tuck into the front, presumably to help keep the vacuum compact and neat for storage and transport.
The soft brush extension nozzle also has a rotating tip that can be turned to a right angle, for cleaning in tight spots and corners.
Did Makita just come out with a cordless car cleaning and detailing vacuum? Yes, and it looks awesome.
There’s no specific mention of the size of the flexible hose, but it looks to be a good length – long enough for sufficient reach, but short enough to keep things easily portable.
The vac ships with a 5-pack of paper filter bags, 194566-1. Looking at the online user manual, you can use a reusable dust bag, which has to be cleaned out when full, or a disposable paper filter. Replacement dust bags are also available, 166084-9.
I don’t quite get how they call it bagless if you need to use a cloth bag or a disposable paper “filter” (which looks like a dust bag to me).
Price: $99 for the bare tool (LC09Z), $152 for the kit (LC09A1)
The kit comes with a charger and 2.0Ah battery, plus a carrying bag. The bare tool product images don’t show the carrying bag, and so I would presume it’s only available with the kit.
Buy Now(Bare Tool via Tool Nut) – Best price as of the time of this posting
Buy Now(Bare Tool via Acme Tools)
Buy Now(Bare Tool via Amazon)
Buy Now(Kit via Tool Nut) – Best price as of the time of this posting
Buy Now(Kit via Amazon)
At the time of this posting, Tool Nut has the best pricing.
Tool Nut and Acme are running $20 off $100+ Makita promos at the moment. So, for the kit at Tool Nut, that means a final price of $132 with free shipping.
Additional paper filter bags are $7 for 5, and replacement cloth bags are $5 each, via Tool Nut.
First Thoughts
This screenshot of my order confirmation email should give you a good idea about my first impression. I should point out that I didn’t pay $152, I paid $132 plus tax, with free shipping, thanks to the current $20 off $100+ promotion.
I don’t need that battery, but a dedicated battery for the vac could come in handy. Well, I kind of do need it. While I have a bunch of Makita 12V CXT compact Li-ion batteries already, those are attached to tool review samples. With this being a personal-use tool, it’s only fair to buy a battery for it.
I also went for the kit because I want the included carrying bag, which doesn’t look to be included with the bare tool option.
I have several vacuums that can be used to clean out my car. I even bought a Ridgid auto detailing vacuum hose kit ($40 via Amazon), and it works quite nice.
But cleaning the car can be a drawn-out hassle.
The new Makita LC09 compact cordless vacuum looks like the perfect tool. It comes with every nozzle I could think of needing, and the nozzles also look to have potential use outside of cleaning out car interiors. It might be optimized for that use, but I can see some places where I could use it to clean the crevices and hard to reach parts of certain workshop equipment.
The whole package just seems really appealing to me.
$99 seems like a good price for the bare tool and all of its accessories, and $152 seems fair for the kit version.
Part of me is thinking “why not just buy the new Makita 18V 2-gallon cordless HEPA vac and find some small attachments for it.” The Makita XCV11Z looks like a great vac (one showed up for review but I have not tested it yet), but as mentioned I’m drawn to the balanced design of the new LC09A1 kit. It looks perfect for all of the smaller car cleaning tasks.
Right now, I’ve got lots of dried dirt on the floor (on hard plastic protectors that I could remove and rinse), drywall dust in the bag, some food crumbs by the kids’ seats, dirt in their seats, pebbles on the floor…
I’d like to say that I’ll clean things up long before my new Makita cordless vacuum gets here, but it has been hard to find the time to haul out a larger vac, corded or cordless, and my box of loose Ridgid hose accessories.
Is anyone else ordering Makita’s new car-cleaning cordless vac?
Can you see any potential uses for it outside of cleaning the inside of a car? I’m hoping the brush is well-suited for air vents and fan ports.
