Johnhw2

Lexus has built a super reliable car, that is one of the top reasons I bought it over Audi. A8L, Mercedes and BMW.

What are the car actions an owner can take to get 200k miles of trouble free service from this vehicle? Mine is a 2014 LS460 L Awd.

To start, I plan to change oil every 4-5 k miles,rather than the 10k mile interval recommended after two changes by the first 10k miles. I plan to use synthetic oil and change the filter every other change of,oil.

Others?

Devh

I don't think there is any need to be overly excessive about your car unless there are known idiosyncrasies.
The guys that get incredible millage are most likely those that keep up with the minimum service requirments and keep on going.
Changing your oil out early sounds like a good proposition but it has been shown on oil analysis for other cars and fleet vehicles that there is a sweet spot for the oil change where you will get the least amount of wear. It is not to say that changing your oil out early will cause any harm but it can also be argued that it will not be of any benefit. If you want to throw money at your car then I would invest in frequent oil analysis, record keeping and quality interior and exterior products, not the cheap stuff at auto parts stores.

Johnhw2

Thanks what oil and filter change frequency is thw sweet spot in your view?

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

I like 7000-7500 mile or one year synthetic oil and filter changes.

Devh

Most synthetic would be just fine but I would stick with the Toyota synthetic oil because it has been formulated specifically for your engine and will prove it's benefits to offering the least amount of corrosion. As far as filters go it has been shown that the OEM Denso filters are some of the industrys best and it's also cheaper in cost which is a bonus. In general Toyota's fluids and filters are generally better in some cases then the boutique stuff that is twice the cost.
I would change the oil with the filter on the recommended oil change interval of 10k miles. If you have a doubt then I would send a used oil sample to Blackstone to see how well the oil has held up for conformation.

There is a lot of speculation and a feel good approach when it comes to oil change intervals but not enough facts to back up the rational or even personal experience to validate tossed around arbitrary numbers. An oil analysis is the best way to give you factual guide.
Also don't trust what a service advisers or mechanics tell you as advice written in stone. Even though they are more knowledgeable then you, they are not engineers and have a lack of depth to the understanding.

Johnny Rad

Simple, IMHO. Follow the prescribed maintenance in your manual and build a long-term relationship with a shop who employs trustworthy, knowledgeable techs. I lean to the stealership, but I've had fair success with independents who are Toyota / Lexus-trained. I want people working on my cars who are expert with the brand and model, as I expect to benefit from their experience and insight. Love your car and it'll love you back. Ignore its needs at your peril.

Devh

You don't need to go to the dealership. If you find a good independent they can be just as good if not better then the dealership. As far as reaching your goal of 200k it should not be very hard at all if you do the bare minimum and if something were to go catastrophically wrong it's not going to be because you chose one oil over another. Longevity of cars are never certain because you will either have a total loss or just get tired and move on to something else.

If you were buying a car that is destine to be future vintage masterpiece then that would be different but then again you wouldn't be driving it either. Cars are meant to be driven, let it age gracefully.

GXAlan

I had a rough idle which I diagnosed as a cylinder misfire and confirmed with techstream. No check engine light. The car just shook and rattled a bit at a stop light. The dealer couldn't confirm the misfires but saw the techstream errors and determined that the battery was worn out. They replaced the barrery and the misfires (rough idle) went away.

I believe the 1UR-FSE to be a super reliable engine. Since a weak battery appears to affect the ECU, I would imagine that a weak battery could put more strain to the engine. So in addition to quality engine oil, replacing the battery before you have starting problems (but after you have minor engine problems) might be important.

Johnhw2

At what age did your battery become weak? Was it OEM or the battery the manufacturer put in it?

Valley101

The worst thing you can do is to only change the oil filter at every other oil change. The filter is just as important as the oil change, if not more important. The filter if bought in bulk is only about the cost of one quart of synthetic oil, sometimes cheaper.

GXAlan

Battery was dealer replaced x 2. First time, the battery failed a load test (35k miles). I was not the owner of the car at the time. Second battery "failed" at 55k miles detected only by occasional misfire and then a formal charging test.

Car entered service 1/2011
35k miles at 3/2013 (2 years)
55k miles at 8/2014 (1.5 years)

Devh

It depends and there is a little more depth to it but I will do my best to explain it based on my own pool of research that I have gathered over many years of discovery.

Most people for the longest time have always changed out the oil and the filter at the same time.
I never heard of someone just changing the oil. On the other hand I have heard of people that change out the filter midway though an extended oil service with good proven results with mileages upwards of 25 thousand miles.

Oil flow is more important then oil filtration. Oil filtration efficiency can actually go up as the filter get used, same with an air filter but up to a certain point. When that point is reached then the oil will be bypassed to prevent resistance to flow. The filtration only occurs during idle and low load driving and the rest of the time it is bypassed.

What we need to know is that the oil filter has more then enough capacity for a 10k oil change interval and it probably starts working best at around 5k where it becomes more efficient.
Changing the oil or filter prematurely is probably not the best thing if you want to get your car into that sweet spot and the best thing about it, it saves you money.

Doublebase

I know there's a lot of talk about the "sweet spot" on oil changes, but I just dump mine between 5-6k. To me there are too many factors that can ruin a sweet spot...weather, traffic, etc.

I don't really think there is a specific oil one should use, as long as it's synthetic. Right now I have car quest synthetic 0w20, mixed with a couple of quarts of mobile 1 5w20. It doesn't matter, I'll be changing it at 5k anyway.

I am a firm believer of doing the tranny service at 60k on these things - that's just my belief - I know others don't feel the same way.

And I do recommend changing the antifreeze before 100k. And one thing for certain - avoid adding tap water to any of these cars!

Johnhw2

Thanks for the insights.

robert1408

I suggest avoiding doing full throttle off the line starts too often. Your car has a load of cv axles, several u-joints and flex couplings, engine and trans mounts plus diff mounts and isolators. If ANY ONE of them is overly abused the power train will loose some smoothness. Certainly all these components are designed to take a certain amount of abuse, but overdoing it will shorten their life. Plus, proper diagnosis of a problem relating to these parts is very difficult and the parts and labor very expensive.