Lukasteam

Hi guy's , now to many this might sound like a complete noob question , but I really want your opinion . I'm looking at the first gen GX470 and the owner says that he oil changes were every 5K miles with conventional oil . He says thats what the Lexus calls for .
This really bothers because IMO conventional oil change intervals should be 3K miles .
....so should I be worried about longevity of the vehicle that ran 5K between the changes with conventional bottom of the barrel oil ?

UDel

I would not really worry about it. There are other factors in oil change intervals then just miles. How many miles are on the GX and how long do you plan on keeping it? What "conventional" oil did the owner use, did they get it changed at the Lexus dealership and use what Lexus recommend or some quickie lube places with the cheapest oil, what is the climate like where it is being sold, really hot/really cold, was it driven in a lot of stop and go traffic in short intervals or were they mostly highway miles? If you plan on keeping it for over 200K miles then maybe you want one with the engine maintained as best as possible but I doubt it did any damage at all and Lexus engines are generally very good, the IS250 and 3L ES engines have some issues with carbon fouling and oil sludge.

Lukasteam

... and see that's what's bothering me . It wasn't serviced at Lexus dealership and the owner says , because dealership prices are expensive and I kinda understand that , but you spent all that money on a new GX and now being cheap on a regular maintenance , me personally I wouldn't do that .
It has 65K miles and owner says most of them are highway and for oil changes yes he went to Toyota dealership . What Toyota puts in theirs , Pensoil ?
Should I be worried ???

lexusrus

If the owner has documents to back up the services done at Toyo dealers, then ok.

3k mile oil change interval maybe overkill IMO. Unless you run the car on the track or go BaJa racing in 125 F degree weather in the hot desert OR treading sub zero freezing temperatures in 6 ft of snow in some extreme driving.......No real need to change the oil in 3k intervals (even in conventional oil). In normal everyday driving, I think 5k to 6k mile interval is good (if conventional oil). If synthetic oil, I may go to around 7.5 k to 10k, depending on circumstances.

Even if the owner did the oil change himself, I'm ok with it as long as he can document timely service and receipts and pictures on what was done, when, and mileage with pics.

You should get a professional inspection and you can have them run a videoscope down the spark plug hole (after taking out the spark plugs) to see cylinders condition. Plus other inspection the pros can do to further evaluate the vehicle.

bagwell

I would say if you're really concerned, get the videoscope done (or buy a cheap one and do it yourself).

Personally, as the others have said, 5K on dino oil wouldn't concern me - as long as he can prove they were done (5K miles or 1 year, whichever comes first).

When/if you buy it, change it yourself to Pennzoil Ultra synth oil (better than M1 in every way), drive it about 2500 miles then change it again. May be overkill but it's cheap insurance - Ultra oil is good at cleaning out sludge (again waay better than M1). I personally would stick to the OEM filter.

Lukasteam

Thank you for all the replies and tips guy's !!!

UDel

I can understand not going to the Lexus dealership for oil changes and many other things. I used to go to the Lexus dealership of and on and the Toyota dealership other times but after the prices went up to $100 for oil changes and getting really high quotes for other things I started taking my Lexus to the Toyota dealership exclusively and then doing my own oil changes with a better synthetic oil. Going to the Toyota dealership is not "being cheap", it is not wasting or spending extra money on higher service costs and I have read some Lexus dealerships cut corners and do some shady things too. Toyota dealerships I believe uses the same exact oils Lexus uses, normally a Toyota branded Mobil 1 5W 30 or 5W 20. I would not worry at all about the vehicle being serviced at a Toyota dealership, they are not going to skimp on oil like a local independent place may do, they will use quality Toyota recommended oil/fluids and have good experienced mechanics. Toyota and Lexus models share a lot of things with each other like basic engine blocks and especially fluids and I never had any issues getting my car serviced at a Toyota dealership for 10 years.

65K miles is not even a lot of miles for a relatively modern vehicle, there would not be any damage done with 5K dino changes or anything to worry about. Some European cars and owners do oil changes at 10,000+ intervals so 5000 is nothing compared to that.

geko29

I'll agree with the others here that going to the Toyota dealer, although cost conscious, is not "being cheap". Everything that makes service at a Lexus dealer more expensive than at a Toyota dealer occurs OUTSIDE of the service bay. The fancy service writer area, lavish waiting area with coffee/snacks/etc, loaner, carwash, etc. All those "free" things cost money, and none of them contribute to your vehicle receiving better service.

As for frequency of oil changes, 5k is fine, and with a good synthetic is definitely overkill. I've done my wife's RX at 10k for the past 11 years, with no engine issues other than unrelated coilpack and pulley failures. The oil I use is rated for 25k, so even this is more frequent than absolutely necessary. My previous BMW went roughly 18k (as called for by the CBS monitor) between changes, and at the ten-year mark the valvetrain was indistinguishable from new. Current one calls for a 13k interval (oil in a diesel collects soot/ash) so that's what it gets.

Your GX is a beast, and with proper care can easily take you to 300k.

Aron9000

I do my own oil changes on my SC300 with wal-mart 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 synthetic, its WAY cheaper there than any of the auto parts stores. I've read its the same oil in Wal-mart as at other places. For the filter, I go to the Toyota dealer and buy 3 or 4 of them at at time for about $5-6 a pop. I change the oil every 5-6k miles. Same thing on my Tacoma, Wal-Mart mobil 1 synthetic, Toyota oil filter, every 5-6k miles. I do drive a bit aggressively on occasion(especially in the SC300), both cars are 5 speed manual, so I feel like the 5k to 6k oil change is about right. I wouldn't worry about him using the Toyota dealer for oil changes, I'd actually look at that as a good thing, as they don't cut corners at the dealer, because they are the ones who will be responsible for warranty repairs. Just make sure he has documented proof of oil changes.

GiantsFan

iTrader: (9)

Factory oil change interval is 5k. Changing it every 3k is complete overkill.

Im running 10k intervals with castrol full synthetic on all my cars.

Aron9000

10k is okay if you have one of those 10-20-30 mile one way commutes that's mostly interstate. IE the oil warms up, the engine is low stressed just cruising on the interstate. I don't recommend that sort of oil change interval if you live up north and do trips of less than 10 miles at a time, ie all short trips, engine never warms up, that type of use is murder on your oil. People don't consider short trips in the winter to be "severe service" according to their owners manuals, but it is. If the engine never reaches operating temp and stays there for at least 15 minutes, you are abusing the crap out of your car with hot/cold cycles both on the metals in the engine and the oil. Most people don't know this though and think that driving 3 miles to the store and back while its 5 degrees outside isn't hard on their car.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i wouldn't worry about 5k changes on a lexus v8 driven mostly on the highway AT ALL! car is a tank.

Oldmanb777

"Back in the day" oil changes @ 3k miles were good. That was then, this is now. So oils are MUCH better than they were "Back in the day". But this is the BIG one. Cars are now fuel injected. So when you turn off the key, the fuel quits flowing to the cylinders by way of turning off the injectors. "Back in the day" cars were carbureted. when you turned off the key, you stopped the ignition, no more spark, HOWEVER the engine still would turn maybe a revolution or a little less. This sucked gas into the cylinder that was on the intake stroke. effectively washing down the cylinder walls with gas. That gas would sit in there, maybe seep down around the rings etc. Gas is a very good solvent. then when starting up, it would go into the oil and contaminate the oil. Remember those carbureted cars ran very rich by todays standards. I.E. they left lots of unburned contaminates in the engine. So the engines ran very dirty by comparison. Also "Back in the day" we used lead to keep detonation at a minimum, that was a big contaminate. Metals are better, engine tolerances are tighter, all that and more, making even 5K mile oil changes in normal conditions, overkill. Hope that helps

Lukasteam

Thank you guy's for all the replies . Turns out the owner wasn't cheap on the vehicle maintenance , he was straight out pathetic. Serviced it at Toyota dealership only twice , other oil changes were done at the tire shop that gave their customers that bought tires free oil changes and tire rotations . I can only imagine what kind of oil tire shop is using for free oil changes . No thanks ... Car reeked smoke , was dirty and full of crumbs inside , dog without a crate has been transported in it and next day I was contacted by a very nice fellow from this forum that checked the car next day after me , plugged in his Lexus scanner and it showed three codes all ABS related and really pricey to fix . Now we both knew why the owner refused to show the car if it was possibility of rain that day .ext day he called him and said that he plugged in his laptop with Lexus code scanner software and deleted the codes , so everything should be fine now . What a joke !!! He also claimed that he has never been off road , but the wheel wells were full of gravel road dirt , well , maybe he doesn't consider gravel off road . Told me there are two chips that he covered up with the pen , but I would never find them ... ok good to know .
In other words buyer be aware , hate the liar when I hear one . .

Toys4RJill

I have had two vehicles with the 4.7 that the OP has. 5K is fine. The OP could call the Toyota dealer where the original owner took the car and ask for the service records to back it up. Problem solved.