Radiator Leak - Time to go?
 

Hey fellow riders!

Last week I noticed a leak from the rad, it leaked slowly between the upper tank and core, right along the crimped seam. I replaced the rad on Friday with a used part - due to convenience and cost. It was a straight forward job that took me about 2 hours including clean up and getting the air out of the system...

While replacing it, I noticed that the battery will soon need to be replaced, I see acid leak on top of it. That would be another $100 to replace, plus there may be an small exhaust leak I'll need to patch up, and have some rust on the trunk lid - somewhat affordable repairs or DIYs...

Having been almost stranded at the airport due to this rad leak, it got me thinking if it is time to let ES go and replace it with something new. ES is at ~200K now. I've replaced both CV shafts recently, it has a second water pump in it and it feels ok, plugs were done at 120K and couple of coils, new(ish) brakes and tires, etc...

Whose ES is over 200K now and what problems have you encountered in the 200+ territory?

Just replace the radiator and have fun.

I did, thank you :) Replaced it last Friday, was fun(ish), and weather was nice...

Yeah, you have at least until 300k until you need to seriously contemplate reliable transportation. If you are simply looking for something new, well in that case dump it before you add a little money here and there.

i saw you said you replaced it already fixed the issues thats good
i was going to say just fix the car and keep it i don't think i would ever let something like a leaking radiator cause me to trade in the car now if it was a 1000-2000 dollar repair thats when i would start thinking look its time unless i had already been planningon replacing it in the next few months or withing a year if i had already been planing on a new car in the near future than i would go straigh to the dealership right way for a new car but not unelss already planing on a new car in the near future

Thanks guys :)

I am ok with a few $$ to repair time to time, almost falls into maintenance category. My concern is if there is something else (major) that I should look out for to fail in the post 200K range...

220K on ours and have replaced same things you have, plus an alternator and motor mounts. Also replaced driver side wheel bearing/ball joint/lower control arm, but that's cause wife drover over a curb - hard enough to blow out the tire.

You should be good if you've kept up your oil changes and ATF flushes or drain/refills.

Thanks! I've replaced the active engine mount when I was diagnosing the shake that was actually the CV shafts, and rear sway bar bushings due to rattle... Oil changes I am good with, have been reluctant to touch the AT oil, if I keep it I will look at that this summer perhaps :)

I, too, changed the mounts when I had engine vibration and it, also, turned out to be the passenger side CV shaft. But, it turned out I did need the front motor mount - the rubber inside the housing had split in two pieces! That was the expensive of the two, could only find OEM, about $120. The outside mounts are aftermarket - about $40 each.

I've done three ATF flushes, at 105K, 158K (replaced ATF filter here), and 219K. I've always been a proponent of ATF flushes, but waiting too long to do one can cause the tranny to slip because the fluid may have so much floating material that the clutch packs rely on the contaminated fluid to help engage them. ATF fluid should be changed based on it's level of contamination. The best way to determine this is to apply a little sample on a white towel to view the color. Pink is good. Brown, its time to change it. Black, don't change it if it smells burnt and see metal particles in the fluid.
Here is a very good video on the subject by Chris Fix. He says to check it at 100K; I say every 50K, especially if you tow or drive through extreme conditions.

I recently took in my wife's 2010 ES to the dealership for the passenger airbag recall. I asked the service advisor for a quote for a transmission fluid flush. He told me that our car never needs to have it's transmission fluid flushed/replaced and that they don't recommend it. Took me by surprise as they didn't try to sell me anything else and gave me a loaner for a day while they did the recall work. All at no charge.

Some dealers will do the transmission fluid exchange, as it is not a flush at all, but a machine that measures the fluid that is pumped out by the running car and then monitors and measures the amount put back in to replace it allowing for extra fluid to "flush" more of the old fluid out. Then there are those dealers, both Toyota and Lexus who say it is sealed and will not touch it. I think those dealers are just too cheap to invest in a transmission fluid exchange machine and or have a very different old school philosophy about maintenance and are thus missing out on a nice additional revenue stream for the service department. After all lifetime to a car manufacturer is only until the warranty runs out and or the loan is paid off.

I think most dealers don't see a lot of 100K mile cars and if they do not many if any fail for transmission issues. If they do then they would recommend installing a new or rebuilt transmission. Then there are dealers who tell the customer that the fluid change will cost several hundred dollars to do and scare them off. My fun car requires a transmission change at 60K miles and the dealer cost to do it is $950 while some dealers say it doesn't need to be changed until 100K.

I My regular mechanic which I trust and I’ve known since I was a kid and he was the errand boy at the shop told me he hates to do transmission fluids. He works on everything from new to old beatup beaters at his really busy shop in a big city. He told me ppl almost never do ATF work as preventative work but once they feel a small slip they think I must need new ATF but once you feel a slip it’s probably too late your better of to just let it be as new fluids will just wash away the sludge that’s holding everything together. People always want to come back to him with the you broke my transmission it was fine before and now it’s trashed fix it for free!!

Even though the dealers deals with newer cars there susceptible to the same ignorant customers which might make the $200 service not worth it to them instead they much rather put in a new transmission for you when it blows up on you.

It was model year 2009 or 2010 that Lexus said to replace ATF at 60K if car is operated under Special Conditions - towing, off-roading, long idling, etc... So, dealer should have at least asked you if your car operates under those conditions.

Has the car ever had the suspension replaced? It's bound to need it if it hasn't been.