Hi guys long time Toyota/Lexus owner looking hard at the IS 500. Last Lexus was an LS 430 and loved the V8 rwd. That is what has me so interested in the IS 500. Can you guys help set my expectations on reliability and maintenance costs? I have never owned a performance motor and not interested in turbo/sc. The IS I think meets all my expectations for being reliable following maintenance schedule or better. I don't buy into things like lifetime fluids and choose to replace early for piece of mind with quality synthetics.

Any help would be appreciated. Love the car but wanting to make sure it will be Lexus reliability and trouble free miles lasting 200 or 300k. Any additional cost of ownership I should be aware of? Not planning on tracking it just some spirited driving like it was built for.

 

From my own experience just change the oil every 5k using 5W-30 (Full-Synthetic). Immediately swap out the OEM Potenza's for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. Depending on your driving style rotors & pads around 25k-30k mark. I have had 0 issues on my Launch Edition I had almost 20k on that car other than oil changes nothing was needed.Also the 2UR-GSE is super reliable plenty of folks in other Lexus cars with the engine over 200k miles.

 

Welcome.

If you are thinking about going 200k with the car - which, respect to you, my friend! - then you may want to be aware of the valley plate coolant leak issue that is pretty well-known on other 2UR-GSE models, such as the IS F and RC F. The valley plate is sealed in an identical manner as it always has been, so the issue will probably come up on our cars, too. See this thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ley-plate.html Or just Google it - tons of discussion on this issue.

Brakes and tires will probably wear faster than your average car, but nothing too crazy. Lots of owners have had inner tire wear issues at the front of the vehicle, though on the 500 in particular, I don't think this has been observed yet. That is probably because we just don't have that many miles on the cars yet.

Otherwise, these cars are extremely reliable. Just keep up on oil changes - maybe change the transmission fluid every 30,000-50,000 miles even though Lexus does not specify an interval for it. Especially if you're not tracking it, I think it'll hold up great if the IS F and RC F are anything to go on.

 

Thanks. If I will keep it for 200k who knows. Expecting this willl be my last opportunity for a NA V8 Lexus. Any feedback on the Lexus extended warranty and what is common years/mileage on valley plate coolant leak? Seems like an old known problem surprised Lexus didn't switch to using a gasket.

Tires and brakes depending on usage is expected. A transmission cooler also makes sense to me even if not tracking it.

 

I had my 08 IS F for 146k miles and most everything was pretty reasonable. Maintenance is mostly oil and filter changes. The spark plugs/coolant/diff fluid are at 60k intervals which is sooner than other Toyotas (100-120k), but not unreasonable. The expensive items with my F were tires and brakes. The brakes lasted 30-40k, whereas tires were usually 20-30k. I used to change the brakes with OEM pads and rotors and that was pricey. I switched to Brembo pads and rotors later in life and had less issues (premature squealing) and it cost a lot less.


Edit: I did have the valley plate issue mentioned above.
I think it was at 120k

 

The IS500 will be reliable, just don't expect it to be as well-built as your LS430. Rattles abound in the modern Toyota/Lexus era.

 

Did not know about the valley plate issue. Something to keep an eye on as we age these cars.

 

Watch this to help you make your decision:

 

it's common issue with later Toyota/Lexus V8, just keep an eye out, they didn't design that seal good first time, some say if you use regular Toyota coolant instead of the super long life it helps keep the issue away for longer

 

This. This. 100% This!

I thought the valley plate issue was resolved for the 2020 GS F and RC F. Oh well, I’ll just start a VP Fund just in case. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be at 200K miles next week! 😂

 

Supposedly the valley plate and sealing method used have not changed at all since the IS F was introduced.

However, I believe the repairs would be covered under the powertrain warranty if they happened early enough.