quixotic

What is the recommended maintenance & the maintenance intervals for the UCF20/21 (95-00) LS400?

I've searched through the forum but all I was able to find was this old post that is still left unanswered.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-ls-400-a.html

I would like to know what Lexus recommended as far as maintenance & at what mileage points.

It would be a good resource to correlate it to maintenance records of the cars people have that are missing manuals & for people buying used cars that need to check service history.

If anyone has the original manual & maintenance schedule, either scans or full resolution pictures of the pages would be a great addition to CL's info archive.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

This is for the LS430 but you can get an idea of the schedule, click the "full schedule" tab to see what is performed:
https://xws.xtime.com/xmmmenu/?varia...&inframe=false

The 15, 30, 60 and 90K intervals are the big ones.

quixotic

Thanks. One thing I noticed is they never mentioned the water pump. Isn't that supposed to be changed at the same time as the timing belt? & the cam & crank seals, valve cover gasket, etc..?

I'm looking at a lot of california, nevada, arizona & texas cars; so I'm wondering what the heat could do to the rubber.

I guess that would also effect bushings & mounts.

Do the dashes in the LS400 tend to shrink from heat like the ES300/330s? (which usually makes the passenger airbag cover have a big gap around it)

drs23

I'm not sure about all LSs but we've had my wife's daily driver for 14 years baking in the SE Texas sun and it looks like the day we got it.

Kansas

I wouldn't call the 15, 30 and 60K maintenance services all that big. The maintenance schedules are not the same for all years. For example, the spark plug replacement interval was increased from 90K to 120K starting with the 1999 model year.

Yes, normally the water pump, idlers and tensioner are replaced when the timing belt is replaced every 90,000 miles or 6 years - whichever comes first. I've never needed a valve cover gasket replace - either on the 90 LS I drove from new to 183,500 or the 00 LS I've driven from 38K to 165K. I don't think I've ever had a cam seal replaced. The only crank shaft seal I've ever had replaced was done under warranty at low mileage on my 90 LS400.

Heat seems to make a difference. Southern cars seem to require engine and transmission mount replacement by 150,000 miles but I found that the original transmission mount on my Kansas City metro driven 2000 LS400 was like new when I had it replaced at 150,000 miles. I think I've noticed that southern cars have more speedometer problems.

I haven't noticed people reporting dash shrinkage like on the ES300 and Camry. The quality of materials used in the LS seems better although any dash will fade if exposed to bright sun over and over. I use a windshield sun shade when parking outside - summer and winter - and the dash on my 00 LS is still like new.

quixotic

Thanks drs,

That's good to hear. One less thing to worry about. It's hard shopping for a car if it's so far away.

Thanks Kansas,

I was looking through craigslist ads and happened upon this one. (backup JPG of ad in case it goes down)

He claims Over $13,000 worth of maintenance/service between 90k miles at 150k miles!

Is this normal? It seems excessive to me.

Around how much did you spend on maintenance & upkeep on your LSes?

Most I've been able to find have between 80-100k (seems to be on the low end these days).

Many have just a couple thousand under 90k. I think they're probably trying to sell it before the 90k mile service is due, & I've been wondering if I should mention that to them in price negotiations.

However I was expecting a maximum of $2,000 for the 90k mile service. This guy is claiming over $13 Grand in the last 55k miles, and he isn't even at 145k miles.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

that's easy....
He was lying.

quixotic

But in the ad it says "I purchased this car in 2005, kept in garage always, and have taken care of it since then, and spent over $13,000 servicing the car, and kept records."

Since he mentions the records I'm assuming he's expecting people to ask for them. Unless he forged them, or had a buddy that works at a shop/dealership forge them for him.

So you're saying it's very out of the norm to have that much maintenance done? & that if it was done (assuming the records aren't forged) it was because he was HUGELY Unlucky or that he abused his car?

The most expensive service he lists is "- 2 New control arms, transmission service, whole inspection, tune-ups, new valve cover gasket, door actuator, alignment (done on 11/2011 with 139K paid $4411)"

Is that overly expensive for that service? Could he be trying to pass off tranny rebuild as tranny service?

YoshiMan

I wouldn't be surprised if there were Lexus dealers that would actually charge him that much for that kind of work, some of the OEM control arms are $500ish a piece through a discounted parts website, and that combined with the labor would be significant in itself. The Lexus dealer i worked at has a 100% markup on most of their parts, even to this day, so anybody who gets their car worked on there is getting demolished in the bank account.

quixotic

If somebody bought OEM parts online and brought them in to the dealer for their service, would the dealer accept that and only charge them labor? Or would they refuse to do it? Or do it, but still add in the extra cost as if they had supplied the parts w/ the markup?

Kansas

In my book, about the tackiest thing a person can do is to expect a repair shop to install parts purchased elsewhere. Repair shops have to pay their employees and rely on making a profit on parts. Some indie repair shops will install parts you purchased elsewhere but those that do probably are often so awful they will do anything to get business.

No, don't expect or even ask a Lexus dealer to install parts you purchased somewhere else -- you'll come off as a rube.

These cars can be fairly expensive to maintain if you have a professional do the work and keep the car in tip top condition. I certainly know that having listened to my wife complaining about the cost for the last 23 years and 310,000 miles of driving Lexus LS cars. After these cars hit about 150,000 miles, I can count on spending an average of $1,000 per year on repairs and maintenance ... but I may be different because I don't let anything slide.

That's the bad news. The good news is that they are substantially less expensive to maintain than German cars like the Mercedes vehicles I was addicted to for the 20 years prior to 1990.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

it's pretty standard for any reputable indy shop in socal to accept parts you self-purchase provided they trust the quality of the parts... (ie-one of the LexToy mechanics I use will 99% of the time insist on OEM parts only)