NBMES350

Just got a free 2103 ES 350, has 178,000 miles. Smooth ride. I know the oil has been changed regularly, has new brakes, new tires. Not sure about other maintenance cycles though.

What are some of the things to have serviced? I was thinking spark plugs and transmission service. Anything else major on these that I need to have checked?

Hope to get another 178000 out of it.

Kijug

I bought a 2014 ES/UL and I just crossed 110,000 miles. Only standard maintenance. Haven't replaced brakes yet. Tires, obviously (by the way I drive!) No spark plugs or transmission service.

Go here https://www.lexus.com/maintenance and scroll down a little. You'll see the recommended maintenance schedule. Repeats every 60K. Nothing really significant. Nice car.

Tootsall

You would be smart to go to the website Lexus.com and click the link for "Owners". Create an account there and log in and search out and download the manuals for your car. Then you'll find a place to enter the VIN to see what options/features your car was built with. (You can double-check that at https://www.clublexus.com/forums/vindecoder.php ) You can also pull up your car's maintenance history in that same area I believe (I can't because they don't release any info for Canadian cars and Lexus Canada won't neither...some silly "privacy thing" I think is their excuse). I bought a 2014 ES 350 2-1/2 years ago with 72,000 miles on the ODO and it's now at 88000 miles. Changed engine oil once, transmission fluid once (lots and lots of "discussions" here on that last one), and front brake pads once (when I bought it they were at 50%...the car was a leased unit used for a lot of "in and around town" use by a salesman. I got the car from the same dealer that originally leased it so I was able to see the service work order that they put it through when the lease expired. Pay particular attention to the maintenance schedule in those manuals you download. If you got the car for free it might be worth having a trusted mechanic (not a dealer's service shop!) go over it for you so you have a baseline to work from. You will find that Toyota dealers will generally have a better price for service work since the ES is essentially a clone of the Avalon. Good luck and enjoy.

NBMES350

Thanks for these links. Look forward to being in the forum. I'll get pics up ASAP. Original sticker says is has 'Luxury Package'. That sounds fancy!

st1800

You can read all about it here.

https://pressroom.lexus.com/2013-lex...product-specs/

Lexmart

Cool. How did you get a free one?

I bought a 2013 es350 about 2 years ago with 160k miles. I'm up to 172k now. If you don't know the maintenance record, the things you need to look into are coolant, plugs, and transmission fluid. There is a great YouTuber called the car care nut who is a master Toyota tech who shares a lot of great Toyota Lexus advice.

The plugs are more work than normal to replace due to the packaging of the 2GRFE engine in this car. Lots of opinions about transmission fluid, especially if it has never been changed and is shifting ok. You take a risk of messing with something that is working fine for now. The most you should do is a drain and fill. No flush. Don't try to replace all the fluid. Just what comes out. There is a procedure for checking the level, so don't assume that replacing what came out is good enough. Who knows if it was right in the first place.

And at this mileage, change the oil every 5,000. Don't go to 10,000 miles. Especially if you don't know the history.

Enjoy!

Littleguy

Just to add to some controversy here, I am at 178,000 miles and agree with the spark plugs....although I have never touched my transmission fluid...

Lexmart

You could also have the MAF sensor checked/cleaned, the throttle body cleaned, and maybe even replace the PCV as a preventative measure. But really, unless it's running rough or getting poor gas mileage those are secondary things to consider.

One thing to have someone check is for any large oil leaks around the cylinder head cam tower gaskets and the timing cover. I'm told "weeping" is normal for these engines and as long as it's not dripping and creating a mess overnight and you don't notice a large oil loss between oil changes, it's ok. I have weeping but no major oil loss. I plan to clean up the oil and just periodically check to see how it progresses while keeping an eye on the oil consumption by checking oil level periodically in between oil changes. Mine doesn't seem to consume any oil between changes so I think I'm ok.

Lastly, have someone check the water pump for leaks. Should be some pink crusty residue near the pump if it is going bad (dried red coolant) and perhaps a noise from the pump. Oh, and sometimes a noise in the serpentine belt area is a worn idler pulley. I think that's it.

Poppa

I have a friend who is a master tech at a large lexus shop in Texas. Not too long ago I was considering getting the transmission flush on my 4 Runner which has about 90K miles on it. The opinions on whether or not you should do a complete transmission flush vary greatly with no definitive answer.. So I called my master tech buddy and asked his opinion. He told me that the dealership he works at had just stopped doing tranny flushes because of all the issues people were having with their transmissions afterwards. Think I'm going to hold off on it for now.

Freds430

Roland my $.02 no Lexus and my local Service Manager's $.02 on changing the transmission fluid. Before I even post the comment those that believe in changing the fluid even though Lexus states for the life of the vehicle it never needs to be changed change your fluid. Change it once a year once a month. Members with zero experience are commenting "you have to change it nothing last forever". Again let's avoid the pissing contest and change yours.

My local Lexus Service manager who has 25 years experience working on Lexus vehicles and has been trained by Lexus said it never needs to be changed. He went to Detroit where the transmissions are made for training and asked what is the #1 cause of Lexus transmission failing. Their reply was the wrong level of fluid and the wrong fluid. Both of these are factors in one changing the fluid. I will save my money and never change the fluid and listen to the experts. Never changed the transmission fluid and never had one problem.

Lexmart

Never do a flush. Too many variables and unknowns. I don't trust shops to keep equipment clean and no one knows what is really going on inside the transmission. Drain and fill only is benign. Only a fraction of the fluid is changed which helps refresh things a bit without risking damage. And only to relatively young transmissions. You take a risk if you do it after 150k miles and it's never been done. Every 60k miles. There is no lifetime fluid. Nonsense.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Drain and fill is the way to go. Funny that just a few years ago Lexus also said to do this, then suddenly by saying its lifetime Fluid and saving Millions by declaring it lifetime instead and a fluid that is declaring to be disposed of. Lexus all of a sudden decided that there was no longer a need to change the fluid? To me a lifetime Trans and fluid would have a lifetime warranty. Which it does not.

Agree with all above. Posted before but just for any who have not seen this. This is who Lexus get the Transmissions from. Its your choice just some additional info. I have never heard anybody occur a problem because they did a drain and fill correctly. It boils down to how long you are going to keep the car.

tstewart77

Not even brake *pads* at 110k? That’s incredible. Did I read that right??

NBMES350

Thanks all. Here are a few pictures. Has a little road rah, but overall not bad. What are those sticker looking things around the back door? Looks like they have some grime and maybe rust around them. Is this something that replaces easy? Also the front bumper needs to be snapped back on. Going to hit up local body shop for that though. You can see bottom of grill has a gap.

mcomer

The thick plastic film "spats" in front of the rear wheels are to protect
the mildly flared out body panels from chips. A bit of bug and tar remover
will clean up the edges but probably not the deeper blister.