MattB

I am currently looking at 2000-01 ES300s, and am concerned about the sludge buildup problem in the engines since I am looking at cars with 60-80K on them. If I have the car checked out by a Lexus/Toyota dealer before buying can they easily check for sludge buildup that could cause engine failure? I don't want to spend $13-15K on a car and then have the engine blow up just after the Toyota extended warranty they put on the engine because of the sludge issue.

Tammy

The sludge occurs when the oil is not changed.

If you have good timely maintenance records with you new purchase; showing 5K oil changes, no concern.

Otherwise, the proceedure is to remove the forward valve cover and inspect for buildup.

Pheonix

Take the valve covers & oil pan off.
Or flush it & see what comes out.

99es300

My 1999 that I finally just got today had the entire engine replaced at 46k bc of this sludge problem (the seller informed me of this). The odometer reads 113k but with the new engine (replaced under warranty by Lexus) (and it is a 2000-01 engine which is nice) it only has about 70k on it. My only question is, is could this reoccur- or is it ok as long as the oil is changed, etc.

amf1932

It's very unlikely that you should have a reoccurring sludge problem as long as you follow the Lexus oil change intervals.