I had an argument with someone on alt.autos.lexus regarding maintenance. Here is my side of the story. What do YOU guys think?

I've driven luxury cars for years and have learned to carefully hone down the stuff done at "recommended service intervals" and to do, without exception, ONLY the stuff that is REAL. I've also learned to avoid the fluff. And you know what? None of my cars has been any the worse for not doing the fluff and the trade-in
value is the freakin' same anyway. They look at the book value of the car, period. And even a private sale won't bring much more than book value in today's open-information world. Yeah, a superclean, overly babied car MIGHT bring an extra $1000...but you'll spend an extra $2500-5000 get that extra grand...and getting that extra $1000 is only a "maybe". Never does babying bring ALOT more. I don't mean to say you should ABUSE your cars...maintain them and keep them clean. Perhaps I go overboard in THAT department...but only because I like driving a clean machine, not because it will really help
the car that much in the long run.

And as to the preventative maintenance value of overservicing...that's nebulous at best. My experience has been that if stuff is going to happen, it's going to happen. Most of the problems I've experienced were electrical and extra oil changes and more frequent tranny changes would not have mattered. Change the oil regularly, flush the tranny on a reasonable but not overly frequent timetable, change spark plugs and filters as required and the car will be just as fine as if you baby it.

Oh, one more thing. And Consumer's Reports backs me up on this....don't change the oil more frequently than required. The so-called "heavy service" interval is just that. But most dealers assume that schedule as "thee" schedule for everyone. My new LS430 calls for NORMAL oil changes at 7500 miles and that's what I'll do. And you know what? If I keep it forever, it will last just as long as you guys doing it at 3750 or 5000. And if I trade it in a few years, it won't be worth a penny less than yours either.

 

Everyone has a different belief on what is -the- best way to maintain a car. In same, there are many samples of car driving well into 200K with varying levels of care so whether it is minimal or more, it is academic. Regardless what I or others say, if you have found a scheduled method of caring for the car, what works for you and your wallet is all that matters.

When I sold my last car, I did the what if scenario...the only way would be to go back with two identical cars and go through the whole ordeal. But since cars are individuals the outcome could be unpredictable.

Bottom line, there will be no clear winner as to how or what works best. Do maintenance what is comfortable and let the others pour as much or as little they want into the car.

 

daryll, fwiw, I agree with you and so does Edmunds. My local dealer services every car as if it were under "Special Operating Conditions" plus!!! A few years ago he actually printed up a "Recommended Service" schedule and included it in the Owner's Manual folder with every new car; it went well beyond even SOC service. He has since stopped including these but continues with the excess service (presumably he discovered he didn't need to incur the cost of the schedule in order to do the service). For instance, the dealer recommended service interval for changing tranny and rear diff fluids is 15k miles!!!!!! The rear diff fluid interval is 15k miles if under SOC but the tranny fluid isn't till 60k!

The quality of dealer service there is excellent but as long as dealers operate their service departments as profit centers, this practice will continue. The techs are excellent (hats off to VVT-i and all) but since buying my first Lexus in 1991, I've seen my dealer's service practices change markedly. No competition in this state, so he has no reason not to..............

RA40 is somewhat correct in that it would require two (large) groups of cars to determine if there were, statistically, any advantage to the extra service. I have to think that the amount of engineering provided by the third largest car mfgr in the world would be able to supply proper service recommendations for the vehicles and systems they develop.

(60k service on wifey's RX was $252 with the services recommended by the owner's manual vs. ~$1400 for the "dealer recommended" service, as an aside.)

 

Daryll, I basically agree with you up to a point. I too will make sure that service on my vehicle follows the manufacturer's recommendations and not the dealer's.

I also believe though that, particularly with oil changes, there is likely long-term benefit to keeping oil changed with new filters at 5k intervals - particularly the way some folks drive at high rpms and today's hotter engines. Short term, maybe less than 100k this may not make much difference in engine reliability but for those, - few - that will keep a car 8 to 10 or more years I think there is definite benefit in terms of less oil used, therefore longer catalyst life, etc. My Honda is testament to that approach, even with dino. But, as I have discussed with some service people, since so few people keep cars for any length of time today, some don't seem to really care to do the service even at recommended intervals, and the sludge problem results.

But - over servicing trannys and tbelts probably won't help, and certainly isn't cost effective in my opinion either especially for normal drivers like me.

Changing oil a few miles sooner on cars worth $40-60k certainly has to be worth the minor effort and marginal expense in my opinion and based on my experience with this Honda and a couple other cars I will continue changing oil conservatively to help protect an engine that by all counts would cost thousands for major service repairs.

 

LEXUS MAINTENANCE RECOMMENDED SCHEDULE

Every 3,750 Miles:
Oil and Oil Filter Change

Every 30,000 Miles:
Radiator Coolant Flush/Change
Air Filter Change
Transmission Fluid and Differential Fluid Flush/Change
Brake Fluid Flush/Change

Every 60,000 Miles:
Spark Plugs Change/Tune-Up
Power Steering Fluid Flush/Change
Fuel Filter Change
Battery Check/Change

Every 90,000 Miles:
Timing Belt Change
Water Pump Check/Change

Every 1 Year:
Exterior Wax/Detail
Interior Leather/Wood Cleaning and Conditioning/Detail and Carpet Shampoo
Wiper Blade Inserts Change

 

Gekko: Is that list from Lexus/Toyota Corp. or just from your local Lexus dealer? My owners manual recommends very different intervals.

 

His post is exactly my point. It's the goosed-up "fluff" overkill maintenance schedule that the dealers try to sell as "required".

 

This subject is just the personal preference and the same thing go to the timing belt and water pump subject. If the minimal maintenance suit well for you, that's great. But some of members in CL who love their babies so much may go extra or overkill in your term. Right now Lexus dealerships go for 5K oil change in all condition and we've been discuss about this subject for many times in the past.
Some do it themself, some do it every 3 k miles, some change the transmission every 10 k miles due to the aftermarket TC, some use Mobile1 every 3K due to the turbo or supercharger. Some do all these maintenance on the stock car without mods and he's happy about it. Like RA40 said in his post..well said.

 

my list above is what I derived after taking consideration of my/others personal experiences, mfg. manuals, dealer info, internet info, and discussion from this forum. I sliced and diced it all into what I felt was the minimum needed. I am comfortable with my final list/intervals.

 

Gekko:

I think you left off tire rotation and A/C filter changes.

I'm not sure how you check the water pump at 90K-mi (I think I'd replace it when I did the timing belt ) and I'd replace the battery at 5 years (whether it tests OK or not).

Other than that, I think your list is reasonable (although a little more than I'd do). My only other comments are: (1) if car is kept in the shade, wiper replacement at 2-year intervals should be more than adequate and (2) as I recall, CL members who've checked the fuel filter have indicated it was clean and didn't need replacement.

 

I agree with bob2200 about fuel filter and all of them are life time filter anyway. FYI, since 98 most of the fuel filters on Lexus are located inside the gas tank.

 

bob2200, agree, at 90k or before I'll do the tbelt and water pump as well as all the belts and some other preventive maintenance items if we decide to keep her.