Hello all,

I bought a one-owner 2010 Lexus GS 350 (RWD) in August of 2021 with ~82k miles. It’s been about a year and the car now has 91k miles. I’d appreciate any advice about these items:

1) I had the transmission fluid changed (drain and fill, not a complete flush) when I bought it. To the best of my knowledge, the fluid had not been touched before this. At what interval should I continue to change the fluid?

2) How frequently should the differential fluid be changed? I can see from the service history that the fluid has been checked in the past but I don’t think it’s been changed.

3) Any other items to check that should be serviced or checked given the mileage? The spark plugs were replaced at 58k miles under the previous owner and I had the coolant flushed at 90k miles. The brake fluid has also been flushed at about 75k miles under the previous owner.

Thank you to anyone who can help! I’ve read some conflicting things online, hence my questions. I love the car and plan to keep it as long as it keeps going!

 

I would replace the diff fluid as that fluid is almost 12 years old. Diff fluid does last a good while so no need to replace it for another 80k miles

I would do another drain and fill for the transmission, and then leave it for another 50k miles then you can drop the pan and replace the filter inside.

If its possible to contact the previous owner and tell him where did he purchase the spark plugs? Theres many counterfit spark plugs floating around ebay and amazon and many people buy because there cheap. When you find plug set for $24.99 know that most likely its a knockoff oem or denso. The real denso plugs sell for $11-12 each

Most important thing to replace imo, is the water pump. If you have a bad water pump and many do go bad at 90k miles, you take the risk of cooking overheating the engine and these engines are very sensitive to over heating so they bend the heads and you lose your head gasket. There less then $90 on rockauto for an aisan brand (which is oem rebrand) while you are at it I would replace the radiator cap, idler pulley, surpentine belt, thermostat. Its a 2-3 hour job, and its not too dificult as there are videos on youtube to show how to replace it

 

Thanks for the advice! The previous owner had all services performed at the Lexus dealer so I assume they replaced the spark plugs with the OEM part.

 

I'd add PCV valve. Its cheap and important to engine longevity. Also other maintenance items like engine / cabin air filter, putting a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank, oil change with full synthetic like Mobil 1 Extended Performance of Penzoil Ultra Platinum.

 

Honestly you’re good to go. Just always keep an eye on your gauges and check oil level regularly (every weekend).

you can do diff fluid you want, spray clean the MAF. Make sure cabin and air intake filters are clean, replace if needed. Rotate tires every 10k miles. Simple stuff man.

I have 166k miles on my factory water pump and will NOT be replacing until I have a legitimate reason to.

good luck and enjoy your nice car!

 

I have a 2001 rx300 with 168000 miles. The suv started smoking and discovered the transmission fluid was leaking. I getting the seals replaced and fluid changed. How do I know if the transmission is ruined? I’m planning a 1200 mile trip and don’t want to get stranded. What should I look out for?

and is it worth getting the transmission replaced on a 21 year old car. It has been riding great.