What to maintain after buying a high mileage used LS460
06-05-17, 04:50 PM
#32
Great buy, enjoy the new ride.
Looking at the pictures, looks like car is well maintained. If I were you, I would take it to Toyota / Lexus and have them replace all fluids (brake fluid, transmission, coolant etc). Remember not always Toyota is less expensive than Lexus service!. If you plan on keeping the car for a while, I would switch to high mileage oil. I am having good luck with Mobile 1 HW oil with my ES and GX. Not a single drop leak or oil consumption.
On a 'sealed' transmission, they (Toy/Lex) wouldn't do flush, just drain and fill. If the car came from Southern States, I would look into hoses to see if needs to be replaced due to heat. Since there is no service history, hard to judge on spark plugs and possibly ignition coils. If you are not handy, you could save some $ by buying parts online and bring it to mechanic.
Good luck.
Looking at the pictures, looks like car is well maintained. If I were you, I would take it to Toyota / Lexus and have them replace all fluids (brake fluid, transmission, coolant etc). Remember not always Toyota is less expensive than Lexus service!. If you plan on keeping the car for a while, I would switch to high mileage oil. I am having good luck with Mobile 1 HW oil with my ES and GX. Not a single drop leak or oil consumption.
On a 'sealed' transmission, they (Toy/Lex) wouldn't do flush, just drain and fill. If the car came from Southern States, I would look into hoses to see if needs to be replaced due to heat. Since there is no service history, hard to judge on spark plugs and possibly ignition coils. If you are not handy, you could save some $ by buying parts online and bring it to mechanic.
Good luck.
06-10-17, 07:44 AM
#33
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Great buy, enjoy the new ride.
Looking at the pictures, looks like car is well maintained. If I were you, I would take it to Toyota / Lexus and have them replace all fluids (brake fluid, transmission, coolant etc). Remember not always Toyota is less expensive than Lexus service!. If you plan on keeping the car for a while, I would switch to high mileage oil. I am having good luck with Mobile 1 HW oil with my ES and GX. Not a single drop leak or oil consumption.
On a 'sealed' transmission, they (Toy/Lex) wouldn't do flush, just drain and fill. If the car came from Southern States, I would look into hoses to see if needs to be replaced due to heat. Since there is no service history, hard to judge on spark plugs and possibly ignition coils. If you are not handy, you could save some $ by buying parts online and bring it to mechanic.
Good luck.
Looking at the pictures, looks like car is well maintained. If I were you, I would take it to Toyota / Lexus and have them replace all fluids (brake fluid, transmission, coolant etc). Remember not always Toyota is less expensive than Lexus service!. If you plan on keeping the car for a while, I would switch to high mileage oil. I am having good luck with Mobile 1 HW oil with my ES and GX. Not a single drop leak or oil consumption.
On a 'sealed' transmission, they (Toy/Lex) wouldn't do flush, just drain and fill. If the car came from Southern States, I would look into hoses to see if needs to be replaced due to heat. Since there is no service history, hard to judge on spark plugs and possibly ignition coils. If you are not handy, you could save some $ by buying parts online and bring it to mechanic.
Good luck.
Last edited by veronchu; 06-10-17 at 07:55 AM.
06-10-17, 09:09 AM
#34
You purchase the LS for steal of a deal. I would do some maintenance and get it up to par.
06-10-17, 09:28 AM
#35
Pole Position
And the oil filter gasket for $150?? No I wouldn't do that, a simple oil change would require replacement of that gasket...you should be able to get an oil change for far less than that.
06-10-17, 10:56 AM
#36
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
That's interesting, I think the tranny pan gasket wouldn't have been a bad price if they hadn't already charged you for the drain and fill. They should have notified you of that first and then you could have done the whole thing for $240, which wouldn't have been terrible. A tranny gasket kit is somewhere around $50 bucks for this car, with fluid and labor it's not a terrible price, but they had better be able to fill and check that fluid level right...this is different than a simple drain and fill.
And the oil filter gasket for $150?? No I wouldn't do that, a simple oil change would require replacement of that gasket...you should be able to get an oil change for far less than that.
And the oil filter gasket for $150?? No I wouldn't do that, a simple oil change would require replacement of that gasket...you should be able to get an oil change for far less than that.
06-10-17, 11:25 AM
#37
Agree with the above poster - they should have called you and told you the transmission pan gasket was leaking before doing the drain and fill. Also, the cabin filter (A/C) change is a 2 minute job (literally) - $15 on line for the filter - just remember to put it into recirculate mode first. Get a second opinion on the radiator.
06-10-17, 12:50 PM
#38
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Agree with the above poster - they should have called you and told you the transmission pan gasket was leaking before doing the drain and fill. Also, the cabin filter (A/C) change is a 2 minute job (literally) - $15 on line for the filter - just remember to put it into recirculate mode first. Get a second opinion on the radiator.
06-10-17, 01:05 PM
#39
Pole Position
Ok. So the radiator top tank is discolored and needs replacement for $605? That's a new one on me...never heard of replacing a radiator unless it was leaking...see no reason to do that repair unless I'm missing something. And that radiator is a $150 dollar part, and probably an hour and a half labor, tops. I think you could get that done for a lot less...maybe $400 at another shop (not that it needs it).
I still don't understand what they're talking about regarding the o rings on the oil filter housing...they must be talking about the piece that's attached to the engine. I'd get a second opinion on that, because it may not be leaking much, if at all, who knows?
I still don't understand what they're talking about regarding the o rings on the oil filter housing...they must be talking about the piece that's attached to the engine. I'd get a second opinion on that, because it may not be leaking much, if at all, who knows?
06-10-17, 01:51 PM
#40
Lexus Fanatic
I would learn to do this stuff on your own and source parts on your own. You are going to pay way too much at dealerships and they are going to start finding things that need to be replaced costing you a fortune that you can likely do on your own if you even need it for not too much money. Leaks happen on older cars and even ones that are not that old, if they are not bad and don't seem to be getting worse it may not be worth trying to fix them or seeing if a leak stopper/gasket solvent like ATP 205 will work first, it mostly stopped a valve cover leak on my GS that was not very bad in the first place.
06-10-17, 02:26 PM
#41
Pole Position
I would learn to do this stuff on your own and source parts on your own. You are going to pay way too much at dealerships and they are going to start finding things that need to be replaced costing you a fortune that you can likely do on your own if you even need it for not too much money. Leaks happen on older cars and even ones that are not that old, if they are not bad and don't seem to be getting worse it may not be worth trying to fix them or seeing if a leak stopper/gasket solvent like ATP 205 will work first, it mostly stopped a valve cover leak on my GS that was not very bad in the first place.
Right now now I have a slight leak on one of my rear axle seals on my LS, I highly doubt I'll ever replace it. It's been two years, I check the fluid once in while...it's never low, plus I change it every 40,000 miles.
So it depends on how bad something is leaking, and where it is leaking. If it's a valve cover gasket that's leaking not seeping...and it's leaking into the exhaust manifolds?? Yeah get it fixed. Or if the transmission pan is leaking so bad that you'll need to worry about the tranny running low on fluid? Sure replace it. You have to be realistic with these things.
06-10-17, 04:52 PM
#42
I think they screwed you pretty bad draining and filling the 2 1/2 qts of tranny fluid, charging you and then telling you you need a pan gasket. That's a big red flag these guys are idiots.
06-11-17, 10:53 AM
#43
Lexus Fanatic
You can get a radiator online for 50-60 dollars with a lifetime warranty. I did this 3 years ago and have never had an issue. When they say "discolored", they're referring to the plastic/resin top of the rad. Discoloration is likely due to the plastic becoming weak and deteriorating (UV, heat, etc). An indy shop can do this job for a couple hours labor tops. I did mine in about 90 minutes and it was very simple to do. I even replaced my hoses, clamps etc.
06-13-17, 10:28 PM
#44
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
You can get a radiator online for 50-60 dollars with a lifetime warranty. I did this 3 years ago and have never had an issue. When they say "discolored", they're referring to the plastic/resin top of the rad. Discoloration is likely due to the plastic becoming weak and deteriorating (UV, heat, etc). An indy shop can do this job for a couple hours labor tops. I did mine in about 90 minutes and it was very simple to do. I even replaced my hoses, clamps etc.
06-13-17, 10:32 PM
#45
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter