sford52

I was just in the Lexus dealership, and they recommended a 30,000 mile service for $580.00.
The vast majority was "we'll check" type stuff. But they said it was recommended to change the brake fluid, a $130.00 service, because it was probably dirt and worn out by 30,000 miles. Basic googling seems to back this up, but I still would like the input of other Lexus folks. Is it reasonable, and does $130 sound about right? I drive highway miles, not a lot of start/stop, dont ride the brakes or slam on them. BTW, I did search the site for "Brake Fluid" and got no hits. 2011 ES350 30,000 mi

Dawa

iTrader: (5)

your car is "ONLY" 2 years old/30k miles. im sure the majority of the world go 5-10 years or longer without getting their brake fluid flushed.

what color is the fluid? should be transparent/yellowish.
if its brown or black, it means its contaminated and should be flushed.

what are contaminants? dirt and water.

when the braking system gets hot, as it does, it heats up the water that is in the fluid, the water boils and turns to vapor. when there is vapor in the line, when you press on the brakes you are compressing the vapor rather than pressurizing the brake fluid and having it travel to the brakes.

how does water get in the fluid? brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning it naturally attracts water.

but again at 3 years, you are probably fine. no big/real risks here. especially for a dd/non tracked car.

also, you could easily perform this maintenance yourself if you wanted/had the means.

it would require you to safely elevate the car at all 4 corners of the car (for that you would need a jack and 4 jackstands (or access to a lift.)

tools/equipment would be: a set of metric flare nut wrenches (or just a 10/12mm)
as well as a clear hose that would go over the brake bleed nipples. you can get some at home depot for a few bucks. and some brake fluid, again a few bucks

the procedure is to bleed the 4 brakes. you start with the farthest brake from the brake master cylinder then work your way forward. the usual sequence is passenger rear, driver rear, passenger front, driver front.

you can do it yourself or grab a helper.

with a helper:
have your clear tube on the bleed nipple and have your helper pump the brakes (car off)
then, with helpers foot holding the brake pedal down, crack the bleed nipple with your wrench. you will see air /fluid come out. then close the nipple and have your helper take their foot off the pedal. continue this at each corner until no air escapes, ALL THE WHILE adding NEW fluid to the reservoir and not allowing it to go below the minimum level or else you will introduce air into the system

ThumperPup

from the lexus service history my car was always services at JM lexus from all the owners of it and its where i have it services also
its now 6 and half years old and it never had a brake fluid exchange or flush untill about 5 months ago and 55k
im sure your fine and its just a ploy to get money from you

jagtoes

Coming from the older Ferrari community we used to do brake fluid flushes every 2 years. This is the way I use to do it. First I replaced all of the bleeder nibbles with a product called "speedbleeders". I did this by pumping the brake until you lost all of the vacuum . Then just unscrew the old nipples and replace with the new ones. Then I would suck out the fluid in the reservoir using a turkey baster. Here is part of the trick. You buy a different color brake fluid and fill up the brake reservoir. Then you crack open the rear passenger speedbleeder nipple 1/4 turn. Put a piece of hose on it and into a bottle. Pump the brake a few times and check to see if the new fluid gets through the system. Keep pumping until it does. Note: the speedbleeder has a built in check valve that doesn't allow air to get into the system. Once the different color fluid is in close the nipple and go to the next brake caliper on the rear driver side. Check/fill the brake reservoir as necessary. Then got to front passenger side then front driver side. It;s a one man operation and takes about an hour.