liuk3

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum. I just bought a 2008 Lexus RX AWD for my wife as her birthday present. I was wondering whether any of you do a first oil change on a new car prior to the 5000 mile one. On my BMW's I always did a first oil change after a break-in period of 1000-2000 miles.

Is there an engine break-in period for this vehicle or an engine break-in process? The sales guy told me not to worry about it.

Looking forward to learning about this car and working on it.

Thanks,
Ken

P.S. - Can you guys recommend a shop or service manual? Do you guys typically do your own work on cars or merely bring to the dealer?

mandyfig

Welcome, post a few pics if you can. Some of us do the oil changes just because we do not trust somebody else and it saves some $$. If you can not wait for the free oil change, then by all means, do it, use synthetic.

The G Man

The 5000 miles schedule maintenance is free, but you can bring it into the dealer before 5000 miles. The rule of thumb for new car break in is, vary your rpm and dont red line your car the 1st 1000 miles, no hard braking unless you have to the 1st 500 miles. In the old days, people usually do their 1st oil change at 1000 miles to get rid of all the metal shavings from the break in, but parts on new car now a days are built to higher tolarance. There are 2 schools of thoughts, 1st oil change at 5000 like the Lexus dealer recommanded or change it 1000 like the old days. I just splite the diff. and change it at 3000 miles, either way, it will not harm the engine.

salimshah

First a warm welcome from all of us.

Some of the questions you ask have been discussed in depth and can be found by using search.

like service manual,
which oil,
break-in

A good start is the user manual in the glove box. It can be good bathroom read material.

Surprisingly, there are quite a few technically savvy people who post answers here. Reason I say surprisingly is that RX has been dubbed as ladies car and Lexus a brand which is serviced by dealers. DIY is always the best way to go, provided you have the tools and know how.

Salim

liuk3

Thanks for the welcome. I am new to Lexus.

G Man's thinking is precisely where I am coming from. I figured that the car should go through a break-in period and then a quick oil change after 1000-2000 miles to get rid of the metal shavings and such. I've always worked on my own cars and motorcycles, so I figured I'd buy a service manual or shop manual if I know of a good one.

It is interesting that you mention the RX as a "ladies car" While I did buy the car for my wife as an early birthday present, I always thought of it as a pretty slick looking SUV (even though it is considered an SUV crossover vehicle). It never occurred to me looking at the car as an effeminate one. Interestingly enough, a friend of a friend was trying to sell their RX to me after having it for only 2 weeks because he felt like it "wasn't him". My wife mentioned to me that she thought he might have felt like it wasn't masculine enough for him. I love the car and the way it looks. My 2005 M3 just isn't as practical these days for the things I need to haul around particularly for my hobbies, and I love how luxurious the RX feels and how much more technologically sophisticated it seems like the navigation system is. I was frankly amazed at how well the voice recognition system understood commands.

My wife is elated over the car, and I gotta admit that I'm a little jealous of the new luxury vehicle she gets to drive. She has always been a Mercedes girl, but I rented an ML and just didn't like it. I think that I may converted her to Lexus.

Edit: I did try doing a search for threads regarding service manual suggestions, but I didn't find much in this forum.

Orzel

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to this somewhat august body, and congratulations on your purchase. I’ve gone through the same dilemma that you reference, to do or not to do an initial oil change, then do the 5k. I have always been of the old school and changed the oil at 1500/2000 on any new vehicle. This time, I decided to listen to Lexus and wait for 5k for the first change – doesn’t seemed to have hurt our RX one bit, it runs fine, and doesn’t use any oil to speak of between 5k changes (maybe a teacup full). We now have over 25k miles and will undoubtedly keep it for several more years without worries. I’d suggest that you save your money and just follow Lexus maintenance program.

mandyfig

There is the Haynes Manual for the Highlander/RX330. Not bad for $20 at your local Auto retailer. There are the Lexus Manuals, which you can get from ebay at $100 per volume or $250 for the set. Once in a while somebody will claim they sell the electronic manual, but they all suddenly disappear...probably illegal....or else there are electronic manuals for the Highlander, too. All in all, you can find the manuals...good luck! I have the Highlander Electronic Manual....and the Haynes...pretty much the same. But I would like to get hold of the Lexus manual so I can have the detailed step by step....

kingofire

I have seen a couple used oil analysis of break in oil from toyota recently and let me tell you it is a robust oil. It had nearly 800ppm of molybdenum, which is a friction modifier. Usually most oil nowadays dont use much of it at all and most spec it at 50-100ppm with a few exception being pennzoil, havoline and few others. The reasoning behind all that moly is to reduce friction so that the pistons, rockers, cams and so on dont get scored if it came into contact with an assembled part that maybe wasnt machined properly and left sharper than normal surface. Honda has been doing this with their oil for a long time and obviously had success with it. I exchanged my dad's ES350 oil early too, around 1000 miles but if I had seen those couple used oil analysis and their robust add pack, I just might have left it in there for the duration. Dont get caught up on tiny wear particles doing harm to your engine, that is precisely the job of an oil filter. If you can see it, it will get picked up by the filter. Either way you really cant go wrong. Go with what will make you sleep better at night, which I think I know the answer to!

TunedRX300

I agree with kingofire, Toyota factory filled oil is a break in oil with tons of Molybdenum. Honda has this moly filled break in oil for years and pretty much a known fact to any owner not to change oil earlier than manufacturer's recommendation.
The Lexus sales guy tells you not to worry because he does not know, not because it is the best for the car.

The G Man

A friend of mine just bought a Honda and the service department simply refuse to change his oil before 5000 miles.

johncdoyle

I have an Acura TL and an RX330. Honda emphatically states that you should not remove the factory fill oil until the full mileage has elapsed. Since it is a break in oil, I assumed it had properties that the new engine needs to break in properly. It sounds like the Toyota break in oil is doing the same thing. I did leave it in the Acura per their instructions for fear of somehow slowing or disturbing the break in process.

I also just changed from Mercedes to Lexus (E320) for my wife's car. This is the only car in this category she liked. Naturally I tried to get her to look at an MDX as an Acura guy, but she wasn't interested. The ML didn't appeal at all even though she's been driving Benz vehicles for 20 years.

I bought the factory manual for my mom's Camry and I wasn't overly thrilled with it, especially compared to the Honda manuals. I picked up the Haynes manual for the RX/Highlander and it looks like it will meet all my needs. Plus it's so much cheaper than the factory manual. If you're a casual user (filters, fluids, brake pads, etc), the Haynes manual should be all you need. Good luck with the new car!

liuk3

Thanks. I had no idea that what was in the new vehicle was break-in oil. Just to confirm, basically you guys are telling me that the engine oil filled in a brand new car is different than the regular engine oil used in the vehicle. Thus, I should leave the "break-in" engine oil in the new car as is for the duration of the inital 5000 miles in the life of the new RX350.

mandyfig

I think the car makers are making sure that the critical break in period is observed. Less worry for them.

harleydjce

My father was a mechanic and had one simple rule for oil changes "More frequent is better". There are endless debates about whether you should or shouldn't change oil etc with many valid points. The upshot is that as long as you can afford it (ie the $$ are not the issue), where is the harm in more frequent oil & filter changes (just my $0.02)

mandyfig

My mechanic says the golden rule, too. 3,000 miles. Filter and Oil change. Never followed it. I stick to 4~5 k miles. My filter is every other oil change. But with the RX, it will be synthetic and run every 8~9k and change filter too.