Paulinho11

Hi guys. I'm getting ready to order the 60k service kit for my 2007 is350 and was wonder what the CL discount code is. Thanks in advance. Also, does this car have the carbon microfilter or the regular one. Thanks again.

MBTC

Guess I got unlucky, when I bought new, someone tore the page out of my owners manual that said I get free brake pads, rotors and tires for life

Just goofing. But seriously, curious when everyone is changing their brake pads on average? Broken down by front and rear not including rotor work, preferably. Might not be listed as "maintenance" but the the fact that it's not doesn't justify semantic sillyness.

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Your quibble is totally irrelevant to the discussion at hand, which is what the Lexus Maintenance Guide recommends for each service interval and specifically what the 60k service entails. Pads, rotors, and tires of course are also maintenance items, but they are not linked to service intervals and Lexus doesn't make explicit recommendations on at what service intervals to change them because the need varies by person and driving style.

There's no "semantic silliness" here. All I laid out is what the Lexus Scheduled Maintenance Guide explicitly states, which was in response to a question about what the 60k service entails. Neither involves pads, rotors, and tires as those will and should be changed according to need.

The main point of my post was pointing out a tip that was very helpful to me when I got started, and that was to not ask for the "__k service" and instead ask for the services individually.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Replace when they're worn out, which is all the items you mention, is quite different from scheduled service intervals, which is what Calvins post was about

Some folks go 60,000 miles or more on a set of pads... some folks have to replace theirs at 20k.

Some folks are on their original rotors at 60k... some are on their 3rd set.

It depends on a number of factors including the type of driving you do (ie how much stopping is involved- city vs highway, etc), how you drive the car (do you the brakes a ton, and how hard, or do you let gravity/friction do a lot of your slowing down, etc).

MBTC

First, I apologize if my comment bothered or offended you.

Second, much of what you wrote above is not correct and I need to correct it here in the spirit of accurate information according to the Warranty and Services Guide, not to **** you off. Starting on page 48 for the 2010 model, there are checklist items under each service interval which clearly includes items such as brakes and tires, to the extent of specifying the difference between visually inspecting the items and measuring the pads, calipers and rotors.

These items are given no less attention in the official Lexus documentation than the items you mentioned, therefore there is absolutely nothing about this discussion that makes it any more correct for them to excluded than to be included.

I do understand that and generally agree with you. As I said my jesting was not really meant to badger you other than to gently make a point that listing the items you did, then saying "That's really about it. So for 60k, you need an oil change, brake fluid flush, spark plug change, and filters change." is really not completely correct. Lexus recommends the items you mentioned, plus much more, including replacing the rear differential oil, measured inspection of brakes, and attention to tires when applicable, with additional recommendations for those who drive on dirt roads.

Someone who is looking for the real list of service items should refer to that booklet for this information rather than off-the-cuff forum posts, and if they've bought used and don't have maintenance records for their car, they should take into consideration that some of these items may have been neglected in the past.

MBTC

Addressed this in my response to Calvin.

Thanks for the post, its good to know a "general" ballpark range.

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

You're exactly right that the Scheduled Maintenance Guide lists more things. To be specific, here is the exact listing:



I'll first point out that this is for the 2007 IS350. I used 2007 because that's what I have and that's what the OP has. You mention Lexus recommends replacing the rear differential oil. That must be for 2010 models, or at least newer ones than 2007, because "Replace rear differential oil" is not listed above. It says to inspect the rear differential oil, but it also says to inspect that every 15k miles.

You're exactly right that what I listed above is not exactly what Lexus lists in their Scheduled Maintenance Guide. But that's the whole point of the advice I gave - don't ask for all the extra stuff Lexus lists because it's either 1) easy to do yourself, or 2) they'll do it for free for you anyway. Every time I bring my car in for anything, be it warranty work or an oil change or an alignment, my dealer will measure my brakes and tires automatically. They'll also visually inspect the car - which encompasses doing most everything listed under "Inspect the following". They charge nothing for this. So that knocks off "Measure brake pad thickness and rotor runout", "Measure thickness of brake rotors", and much of what's listed under "Inspect the following".

Then what are you left with? The items that require part replacements or actions performed on your vehicle - replace oil, rotate tires, replace filters, replace brake fluid, replace spark plugs. That's what I listed above. That's what I recommend people ask for (I left out tire rotation because I have a 350 with staggered tires so it's not relevant, it's my mistake for not clarifying). If you ask for the above things, the dealer will almost assuredly measure your brakes and tires and visually inspect the vehicle anyway. Every dealer I've used does, as do the independent shops I periodically use for maintenance.

So what's the difference? Well, experience shows that if you schedule just the services I listed above, and get the measurements and inspections thrown in as part of stopping by anyway, the price you pay will be far less than if you call and say "I want the 60k service please". One reason is that dealers unfortunately often try and take advantage of the uneducated. Another is that inexplicably, many dealers don't know or consciously ignore Lexus's recommendations and come up with their own.

I'll conclude by reiterating what should be obvious to anyone on any forum - everything I'm stating here is my own personal opinion and advice. If others don't want to follow it, please feel free not to. I'm merely trying to help out others in ways that many CL members have helped me with their own advice. However, I approach this advice on CL the way anyone else should - cautiously and not blindly.

MBTC

Good points and thanks for the clarification. I quoted this part only, because I wanted to point out that this is what I do as well (at least so far in my ownership of this car), just call in and schedule an oil change and do things like change the keyfob battery or whatever on my own. However, I am only at ~20k miles and appear to be not even close to needing new tires or brakes. I do consider the intervals of 30k,60k, etc to be a different story and I may deviate from my normal strategy there. I'm not saying everyone needs to get the standard service at those intervals, but at a very minimum they need to go through the service guide and be very sure they are addressing those items (even if it is simple inspection of an area) rather than treating these milestones as just another oil change. Then there is also of issue of time vs. mileage, some items like brake fluid might require consideration based on calendar date of change rather than mileage. Even if I do end up just paying their (no doubt) exhorbant rates for the 30k & 60k service, its not really a loss when I think of all the pro-bono stuff like free inspections, car washes, etc they've done for me so far, not to mention the great price I got on the car at the time I bought.

As you pointed out there are also differences in year model service recommendations apparently, so the main thing is to not let things on the list for each individuals' model and driving conditions go neglected.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

I'm unaware of any US ISx50 that calls for changing the rear diff fluid... ever.

If yours does please post up a copy


I know the Canadian manual recommends several fluid changes that the US one not only doesn't, but in one case explicitly tells you is not needed... .possibly Canadian dealers got that stuff added to make more $

MBTC

Looking at the 2010 booklet again it would appear you're correct. I was visually scanning before, and didn't notice that the intervals with unconditional rear diff oil replacement applies to IS-F only - inspecting rear differential oil is listed for GS, IS, LS, SC and front differential oil for AWD versions of same, at varying intervals.

Although, I didn't mean for differential oil to be a focus point of my post, I was just putting an example of the Lexus recommendation beyond what had been listed, apparently that was not the best example for most here who are in x50s.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, but pretty much all the "extra" things are just "inspect"

and most of those are either things you don't really ever need to inspect (axle flange bolts) or are things they'll ALREADY notice are a problem during the much cheaper oil change you should be asking for (ie leaks from anything under the car).


So you can either say 'I want these couple of specific services" for $50-150... or you can say "I want the 25k or 30k" service and you'll be paying 2-3 times as much for exactly the same actual service

So Calvins list really is what you need.


The one exception might be checking the brakes- but at least at my dealer if you ask them to check them when just taking it in for an oil change they do that free anyway... (or if you have a light and any sort of camera you can easily check em yourself, free, with the tires still on)

Tires you can check yourself with a coin, free, in about 30 seconds... and should be doing so every time you check/fill the tire pressure anyway.... so yet another thing it's silly to be giving a dealer $ for.

MBTC

Well you might have noticed that brake related parts made up 2/3 of the items I mentioned in my original post, that's why I chose them.

Calvin has already stated that his opinion is just that and is not meant to supplant manufacturers recommendations. I'm pretty sure neither he nor you want a bunch of guys pulling up to your driveway expecting you to fix their car if something goes wrong, they will take their car to big daddy Lexus for that in most cases.

My point in this thread has never been that folks should pay full price for Lexus service in all cases- as I said, I typically don't do that myself. I'm just highlighting the importance of understanding manufacturer specs and recommendations, understanding the consequences of straying outside of them.

By all means, let the buyer get the best possible price on car maintenance however they can do it (that's legal), as long as it doesn't become a save now pay later scenario due to things that went unnoticed or neglected.

neomedic

iTrader: (5)

would you guys recommend changing out the coil assembly at 60K as well?

Thanks.

ChumpusRex

At $80 each coil, I wouldn't replace routinely.

The design of the stock plugs (iridium/platinum dual needle) places a very low stress on the coils; much lower stress than a regular plug due to the very low ignition voltage for this type of plug.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

no, waste of money