General Car Conversation 2025 - Part 1
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 68,624
Likes: 4,044
From: Maryland
I remember joining this site and I started out in the LS and LX forums and read all the stories about expensive annual repairs from former German brand owners. Your car, imo, is too new and too expensive to have these minuscule issues. If this were the X7, I would start looking for its replacement. Again this is coming from someone who’s not used to visiting the dealership for repairs.
I have had CELs on Toyota and Lexus cars too. It’s not a big deal at all.
You should probably just trade the X7 now lol
Last edited by SW17LS; May 1, 2025 at 08:59 PM.
Lead Lap
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 3,958
Likes: 409
Get rid of the car because of one check engine light that wound up being an errant sensor? That would be insane lol. It’s under warranty…the cost was $0.
I have had CELs on Toyota and Lexus cars too. It’s not a big deal at all.
You should probably just trade the X7 now lol
I have had CELs on Toyota and Lexus cars too. It’s not a big deal at all.
You should probably just trade the X7 now lol
Trust me it’s on a short lease!! 🦮 cause the expectations are high
My cousin has over 100k (as of Jan. ‘25) on their X7 with B58. Hoping to have some of that same luck.
161k mile Prius has a 200 mile turnaround roadtrip today. 11k miles since Prius last oil change, I will change oil and rotate tires before hitting the road. Then ole 3URFE is scheduled for 700+ mile 8k lbs tow to the track following day. Gas is $2.37 for 87. $3.07 for 93. $21 give or take difference if I pump what I estimate to be around 30 gallons 😲 hard to justify @Striker223
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,001
Likes: 525
From: Maryland
“I heard” if a FWD car has a handbrake you can have a little fun with it.
I once witnessed a valet driver pull off some sick donuts in a customer’s 350Z. 🫣
Drove a lot of cool cars from Vipers to Rolls to Bentleys, Vettes, and everything else. One that stood out performance wise was E55 AMG. After airing it out in the parking lot, I circled back around to pick up my supervisor so he could experience how quick this car felt. Him yelling “OKAY OKAY OKAY!! confirmed it was quick. 🤣 Remember coworker taking pics with customer’s camera left inside their car. 🤣 Then he helped himself to some of their fruit loops.
What a fun job. Hopefully this doesn’t discourage anyone from valet. 🤣
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 18,191
Likes: 1,763
From: Ohio
😲What are you and striker doing to these reliable vehicles?!?!?
Trust me it’s on a short lease!! 🦮 cause the expectations are high
My cousin has over 100k (as of Jan. ‘25) on their X7 with B58. Hoping to have some of that same luck.
161k mile Prius has a 200 mile turnaround roadtrip today. 11k miles since Prius last oil change, I will change oil and rotate tires before hitting the road. Then ole 3URFE is scheduled for 700+ mile 8k lbs tow to the track following day. Gas is $2.37 for 87. $3.07 for 93. $21 give or take difference if I pump what I estimate to be around 30 gallons 😲 hard to justify @Striker223
Trust me it’s on a short lease!! 🦮 cause the expectations are high
My cousin has over 100k (as of Jan. ‘25) on their X7 with B58. Hoping to have some of that same luck.
161k mile Prius has a 200 mile turnaround roadtrip today. 11k miles since Prius last oil change, I will change oil and rotate tires before hitting the road. Then ole 3URFE is scheduled for 700+ mile 8k lbs tow to the track following day. Gas is $2.37 for 87. $3.07 for 93. $21 give or take difference if I pump what I estimate to be around 30 gallons 😲 hard to justify @Striker223
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 6,246
Likes: 472
From: Long Island
Drove a lot of cool cars from Vipers to Rolls to Bentleys, Vettes, and everything else. One that stood out performance wise was E55 AMG. After airing it out in the parking lot, I circled back around to pick up my supervisor so he could experience how quick this car felt. Him yelling “OKAY OKAY OKAY!! confirmed it was quick. 🤣 Remember coworker taking pics with customer’s camera left inside their car. 🤣 Then he helped himself to some of their fruit loops.
there were corvettes and vipers at the time which were just as fast, but those are supposed to be fast... you're not expecting this unassuming sedan that has been so quiet and comfy and soft riding to suddenly pin you back into the seat like that haha
treating them like $#!+ like you doing 11+k oil changes?
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 68,624
Likes: 4,044
From: Maryland
One of my LS460s had a CEL and it was fixed under warranty, I can't remember which one. The LS400 also had a CEL but that was many years ago. They were all minor sensors etc.
My old Explorer had a weird quirk where whenever I was traveling in the mountains like going to WV or something the CEL would come on and stay on until you restarted then it would come back on if you were still in elevation changes. Once you got to level ground it would never come on and there was never a stored code. It was like clockwork on 64 once you started going up in elevation it would come on. In the 8 years I had that car I never figured out what caused it.
So suffice it to say I don't consider a CEL a big deal on any level. You know the only car that has ever left me stranded somewhere and needed to be towed? It was my wife's 04 Prius and it had less than 50k miles on it.
treating them like $#!+ like you doing 11+k oil changes?
Yeah I would never treat a car like that, and especially not expect total perfection out of it.
And thats something you cannot do to a German car. You have got to stay on top of the maintenance or even over-maintain them. Like with my S560, I did all the maintenance on time and yet I still had those clogged oil separators that caused that valve cover leak. The recommendation from my mechanic? Maintain it MORE lol. Thats really the secret to keeping them running well over time if meticulous maintenance.
Last edited by SW17LS; May 2, 2025 at 07:09 AM.
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 6,246
Likes: 472
From: Long Island
meticulous maintenance, and i'd also add good driving practices like allowing the oil to get fully warmed up on a regular basis and driving extra gently until it does
something like the E60 M5 uses 10W-60 oil! trying to push oil that heavy when cold through such tight tolerances, no wonder the rod bearings don't last on that engine even when following the recommended maintenance schedule
something like the E60 M5 uses 10W-60 oil! trying to push oil that heavy when cold through such tight tolerances, no wonder the rod bearings don't last on that engine even when following the recommended maintenance schedule
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 18,191
Likes: 1,763
From: Ohio
meticulous maintenance, and i'd also add good driving practices like allowing the oil to get fully warmed up on a regular basis and driving extra gently until it does
something like the E60 M5 uses 10W-60 oil! trying to push oil that heavy when cold through such tight tolerances, no wonder the rod bearings don't last on that engine even when following the recommended maintenance schedule
something like the E60 M5 uses 10W-60 oil! trying to push oil that heavy when cold through such tight tolerances, no wonder the rod bearings don't last on that engine even when following the recommended maintenance schedule
Lead Lap
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 3,958
Likes: 409
🤣🤣🤣 For the right price, a customer’s car would be parked up front, won’t be moved/touched.
I don’t have anything to log it with It’s not going to die🤣
Like 💩??? 😆 Its a Toyota. Never had a CEL. Multiple million mile Tundra owner said he routinely did 10k OCIs sometimes over 10k
Yeah I know the X7 will require white glove treatment. I prefer zero repairs bills per year.
I change oil in my Honda about 5x per year and it sees maybe 3k-4k miles per year. Sees the track though.
OMG you killed a Prius? How?
It’s not going to die🤣Its a machine, no machine is perfect. It will absolutely last 100k...but its not going to be perfect in that time there will be things that need to be done. My expectation when I went from Lexus to Mercedes was 1-2 repair visits a year...and my experience has been better than I expected.
My 03 ES300 has one on right now. Its an 02 sensor, not worth fixing. Thats been done a couple times to that car, but of course its old.
One of my LS460s had a CEL and it was fixed under warranty, I can't remember which one. The LS400 also had a CEL but that was many years ago. They were all minor sensors etc.
My old Explorer had a weird quirk where whenever I was traveling in the mountains like going to WV or something the CEL would come on and stay on until you restarted then it would come back on if you were still in elevation changes. Once you got to level ground it would never come on and there was never a stored code. It was like clockwork on 64 once you started going up in elevation it would come on. In the 8 years I had that car I never figured out what caused it.
So suffice it to say I don't consider a CEL a big deal on any level. You know the only car that has ever left me stranded somewhere and needed to be towed? It was my wife's 04 Prius and it had less than 50k miles on it.
Yeah I would never treat a car like that, and especially not expect total perfection out of it.
And thats something you cannot do to a German car. You have got to stay on top of the maintenance or even over-maintain them. Like with my S560, I did all the maintenance on time and yet I still had those clogged oil separators that caused that valve cover leak. The recommendation from my mechanic? Maintain it MORE lol. Thats really the secret to keeping them running well over time if meticulous maintenance.
My 03 ES300 has one on right now. Its an 02 sensor, not worth fixing. Thats been done a couple times to that car, but of course its old.
One of my LS460s had a CEL and it was fixed under warranty, I can't remember which one. The LS400 also had a CEL but that was many years ago. They were all minor sensors etc.
My old Explorer had a weird quirk where whenever I was traveling in the mountains like going to WV or something the CEL would come on and stay on until you restarted then it would come back on if you were still in elevation changes. Once you got to level ground it would never come on and there was never a stored code. It was like clockwork on 64 once you started going up in elevation it would come on. In the 8 years I had that car I never figured out what caused it.
So suffice it to say I don't consider a CEL a big deal on any level. You know the only car that has ever left me stranded somewhere and needed to be towed? It was my wife's 04 Prius and it had less than 50k miles on it.
Yeah I would never treat a car like that, and especially not expect total perfection out of it.
And thats something you cannot do to a German car. You have got to stay on top of the maintenance or even over-maintain them. Like with my S560, I did all the maintenance on time and yet I still had those clogged oil separators that caused that valve cover leak. The recommendation from my mechanic? Maintain it MORE lol. Thats really the secret to keeping them running well over time if meticulous maintenance.
I change oil in my Honda about 5x per year and it sees maybe 3k-4k miles per year. Sees the track though.
OMG you killed a Prius? How?
Lead Lap
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4,585
Likes: 91
From: CA, Mid OC
My GS300 had a CEL for a sensor and it was less than $40 to fix it. The car was 18 years only and had north of 150k on the clock, so it wasn’t a huge surprise. The ISs never had any CELs but I didn’t have either one for very long. The Civic has not thrown any CELs but the tire pressure monitoring system throws false “low tire pressures” warnings. The system is really not good.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 68,624
Likes: 4,044
From: Maryland
The Prius had a failed inverter. It was a common issue in that gen Prius and eventually wound up being a recall after it happened to us.
Last edited by SW17LS; May 2, 2025 at 08:36 AM.
Pole Position
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,386
Likes: 538
From: PA
My IS 500 just had the throttle body replaced at 14k miles. It's an issue on these cars. Not a big deal, it was replaced under warranty.
I don't seem to have the "chirp" noise from my HPFP. Hopefully that's ok but if it happens they'll replace that too.
Point is, even with a car that's been in production for a while riding on an old platform you can still have problems.
Btw @link13 don't let the above scare you from getting an IS 500 if you're still in the market for one.
I don't seem to have the "chirp" noise from my HPFP. Hopefully that's ok but if it happens they'll replace that too.
Point is, even with a car that's been in production for a while riding on an old platform you can still have problems.
Btw @link13 don't let the above scare you from getting an IS 500 if you're still in the market for one.
Last edited by LH1; May 2, 2025 at 09:18 AM.
Pit Crew
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 224
Likes: 181
My IS 500 just had the throttle body replaced at 14k miles. It's an issue on these cars. Not a big deal, it was replaced under warranty.
I don't seem to have the "chirp" noise from my HPFP. Hopefully that's ok but if it happens they'll replace that too.
Point is, even with a car that's been in production for a while riding on an old platform you can still have problems.
Btw @link13 don't let the above scare you from getting an IS 500 if you're still in the market for one.
I don't seem to have the "chirp" noise from my HPFP. Hopefully that's ok but if it happens they'll replace that too.
Point is, even with a car that's been in production for a while riding on an old platform you can still have problems.
Btw @link13 don't let the above scare you from getting an IS 500 if you're still in the market for one.
