About 130k miles. Then it will hit the back of a Range Rover and need to be fixed. At least that was my experience. :P

 

Before changing engine oil, get a quart of engine oil flush, put it in a warm engine, idle (not drive!) for 5 minutes then change the oil. I do it at least every other oil change, because my previous ES300 was one of the infamous clogged oil passageway models.

 

I just had 392,632 on my 95 ES 300, when the oil pump failed. It wasn't burning oil, and passed emissions with flying colors. Leaked some oil, and had some dash lights burning out, but other than that, it was running great! Now, I have to figure out what to do with it. I now have an '08 ES 350. I sure hope it lasts as long.

 

Sell it to a junk yard for parts.

 

Selling it to the junkyard SHOULD be the most logical solution, but all of the recyclers around Albuquerque will "buy" the car for $125. They will then charge me $125 to take it away. GREAT...I was hoping to get at least something, as I had JUST replaced all 4 discs, rotors, and worse, all 4 calipers. There is a lot of potential money sitting there, and I just feel like I'm being ripped off, and perpetuating this unfair practice. Hopefully, this is only a New Mexico thing, and not the "standard" in other areas too. I would probably be happy with $500, so I guess it is more about the principle than the money.

 

Bought my ES300 about a year ago with 273k and today it has 291,282 and runs great. Just put struts at all 4 corners and just put new p/s fluid in last week. The previous owners had great documentation but as far as I can tell the coolant has not been changed in a while so that's next. I have no qualms about taking this car on any long trip. Smooth, quiet, comfortable, and just a tick under 30 mpg on the highway. Who could ask for anything more?

 

I am confident that your car will last a long time, especially with some TLC. I commute 160 miles a day, so I wasn't able to be as meticulous on maintenance as I would have liked. I did use Z max additive, but only a couple of times over 250,000 miles. Zinc used to be in all motor oil, now only in some brands of racing oil. With five relatives who race sprint cars, ALL of them use zinc additives in ALL of their cars...street cars as well. After talking to them, I regularly use it too. The EPA considered the used oil a pollutant, and it was removed from regular oil, as well as gasoline racing oil. I am sure it helped my car run as long as it did, and expected more since it was running so well. Hope this info helps!

 

My computer tried to read my mind...it should read Valvoline racing oil.

 

List it up on craigslist (or your local equivalent classified) as a parts car. You should make more than $125.

Or if you have some time on your hands, part it out on eBay.

 

mine has 255,000 miles

 

This thread really makes me appreciate the engineering that goes into Lexus cars. My other vehicle is a Mercedes and we won't discuss what I have to pay to keep it running. I have a 2005 ES300 with 152,000 miles. I bought it Lexus Certified Preowned with 14,000 miles back in 2006. I'm thinking about buying a pre-owned Lexus LX 570 or new RX (I love the new design) as I need the cargo space. It's going to be a hard decision because the ES is already paid for and running so well and I know it's got another 150K left in it as I have babied it so much.

 

I know exactly what you mean. I just purchased a 2008 LS460 Obsidian on cashmere for my retirement car. The dealer also had a 2009 BMW 750 Li black on cashmere for $5k more and same mileage. The dealer warned me that if you are retiring, then choose the Lexus for long term reliability and lower ownership cost. He said from his 20 years of experience, the MB and BMW autos become money pits and require increasingly higher maintenance fees. I also appreciate the lexus engineering for the long term future.

 

I have a 05 es330 with a little over 300k an still driving smooth

 

I was browsing the rx forums and a lady bought her rx330 at 220k miles and drove it to 460k miles, until her transfer case started to go out. I only have 87k on my 05 so I apparently have barely got broken in.

 

Wow 87k for 05 that still a baby, you got a long ways to go!