Time to change spark plugs
 

70k on my ES. The dealership wants quite a bit of peanuts to do it ($$).

Anyone change the plugs their selves? Too difficult?

Lots of YouTube videos on changing plugs on the 3.5 engine in Toyota and Lexus. Regardless of how easy it might be, I don't think there are many who changed the plugs as early as 70k miles.

The plug change is a bit premature; the dealer recommends it because there’s some technicality about emissions warranty dictating it at 60kmiles (I’ve been told; haven’t seen the fine print meself). I’m told it’s purely a legal cya, not an actual mechanical need. My GS had the same BS and everyone ignores it without any issue.

I would wait until 125k, and in fact I will on ours.

Modern iridium spark plugs last well beyond 100,000, mi. I have a Toyota solara and they replaced the spark plugs at 110,000, mi. They still look nearly new. If you have a well-running engine I have a feeling it could even last 150 to 200,000, mi.

I haven't changed the spark plugs on an es. But I changed the spark plug on my wives RX 3030. I will tell you that it was a major pain in the neck. I will tell you that it was a major pain in the neck. So many things had to be removed even the intake manifold. I'm guessing the es isn't that difficult. I looked at the engine bay of my ES350 and it seems like in the near future I will be able to change the plugs without removing the intake manifold. But my car having only 5,000 mi. I have a long ways to even think of that.

Good luck

The fine print is in the 202x LEXUS ES250, ES350 WARRANTY AND SERVICES GUIDE under the "6 Years or 60,000 Miles" and "12 Years or 120,000 Miles" SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE LOG entries:
and:
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Right, and thanks for posting that. But I don’t follow how dealers then say that dictates a 60k change. Something seems lost in translation (not from you, just overall).

The Car Care Nut has a good tutorial:

Oh, that's an easy one!:D It is just a simple "because the WARRANTY AND SERVICES GUIDE dictates it ..." (from the MAINTENANCE AND LEXUS WARRANTY COVERAGE section):

... is required to ensure that your warranty coverage remains intact.


Agreed. I think in order to really figure out what the ground truth is one would need to know all the details obscured by "*Warranted until first required maintenance under the terms of applicable regulations." Exact what are the applicable regulations? What are the relevant terms? What do all those dictate for "first required maintenance" compliance?

I would only like to recommend, that whenever you change the spark plugs, make sure you use genuine OEM plugs. Buy from a dealer or reputable source. There are lots of bad actors online selling counterfeit Lexus/Toyota spark plugs and they will cause a problem for you.

Thanks for all the input!
I will wait till 120k.

I had 110k on a 2015 Camry XLE V6 and the plugs were very clean at that mileage. I do try to use top tier fuel (regular) whenever possible, which probably helps them burn cleanly.

Direct injection and turbo engine accumulate a greater degree of deposits on spark plugs compared to older 2GR engines.
I have seen NX200/300t engine with misfires because of deferred spark plug replacement (40,000 miles).

I haven't seen misfires on ES or RX with 2GR-FKS engine, so you are probably not at great risk.
However, as stated in the warranty guide, spark plugs must be replaced on schedule to maintain the warranty on the catalytic convertors and other parts that could be damaged by misfires.

I thought 60K was crazy, too, but then I watched the Car Care Nut video linked above. He called out the 2gr-fks specifically, saying 60K miles for plugs...and mentioned the old version was not like that.

I assumed it was something to do with DI and deposits, so I will be changing ours at 60K(ish) as specified. Only 59,990 miles left to go lol

The engine in the Gen 7 is a combined direct injection and port injection and as such does not suffer the same degree of deposits as a solely direct injection engine; and of course, it is not turbo.

From my observations, the spark plugs from direct injection engines are dirtier than from 2GR-FE engines. Both 2GR -FSE and 2GR-FKS (DI engines) have a service life of 60,000 for spark plugs.
I included turbo engines as an example of iridium spark plugs with a short service life (40,000 miles), IS 200t and NX vehicles have been known to have misfire issues.