Suggest hide ur spare key under the car, just in case u loose your
key on your trip or anytime.
I have door key hidden outside & ignition fob hidden inside - with
it's battery cartridge pulled back
(not making contact).
Enjoy all the trips !

 

***Update***

Just got the bill of health from Lexus! Work performed as well as recommended listed work below

Work Performed:
-Oil change
-Spark plug replacement

Work recommended:

1-Timing belt replacement (although mine was done by the original owner at 90k miles, along with the water pump back in July 2012 according to Lexus Drivers)
2-Front brake replacement (front brakes are at 3mm and was told rotors were beyond resurfacing)
3-Battey( It failed the load test)
4-RR shock leaking ( known that but have been putting that off since I bought it)
5-Cabin Filter (I call BS because I just installed a new cabin filter myself 3 months.

Here's my "Will Do Before" list:

1) I'm iffy on the TB as the car has 119k miles and it was done at 90k. Seems like I'll be wasting money if I did it now as I believe it would be prematurely. I know 9 years is recommended but I would like to think I could at least get 40k miles out of the belt before needing replacing.

2) Front brakes are a must I'm going to buy parts online from another dealer that usually gives discount for ebay buyers.

3)Battery is a must as you've all stressed above

4)Shocks can wait

5)Ignore cabin filter

It hurts to just think about the amount of money I'll spend. However, as they say..it's cheaper to keep her. Well, at least when it comes to new car payments lol

 

Front brakes you can easily do yourself for $150 or so for QUALITY parts or even OEM. Battery is $85 from Costco, they have the best deal and best warranty. Don't worry about the TB until 180k or July 2022.

 

Brakes are not difficult at all. Lots of good videos demonstrating the process. I used Lexus OE pads, my front ones (also Lexus OE) lasted a long time (well over 60,000 miles, can't remember exactly). I also agree with Romanova that a TB replacement now is absurd.

 

Do you have AAA? You may be able to get a battery cheaper however I will say that with AAA, batteries come with a 6 year warranty. 3 years free replacement and 3 years prorated. However, the best part is that AAA is all around the country. So anywhere you are with a dead battery be it on the side of the highway or stuck in a parking lot you call AAA they come out and replace it on the spot if it needs to be replaced. To me that peace of mind is worth the extra bucks on the actual battery.

I've done 3 sets of brakes on the LS430. Among the easiest of cars to replace. As I say if I can do it anyone can do it. I'm handy but not very involved when it come to car maintenance mechanics.

 

For my 2002 LS430 UL, I just finished prepping for a 2000km roadtrip. Here is my prep list:
* Old timing belt, water pump, tensioner had 12yrs/112,000km on it, official interval 6yrs/144,000km, replaced with AISIN TKT-021 kit from RockAuto, labor done by Toyota and they returned the old belt, waterpump, idler, tensioner, tensioner bearing. Old belt visually looked perfectly fine but I am aware micro-tears are practically invisible and can cause catastrophic belt failure in a split second.
* Old accessory drive (serpentine) v-rib belt (90916-02586) had 10yrs/87,000km on it, no squeaking, no cracked ribs on inside, outside looks fine but brown - don't recall if original outside color was brown or black. The new Toyota 90916-02586 has a black exterior and has both Toyota and Mitsuboshi markings. No official replacement interval so I recommend replacing every 6yrs/144,000km (same as timing belt) or whenever it starts squeaking on startup or whenever there are chunks missing from the ribs. Service manual states cracks on the rib side are acceptable.
* Old tires Michelin Primacy MXV4 had 10 years/60,000km (warranty 6yrs/100,000km), replaced with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 225/55/17 101Y non-runflats (6yr/30,000km warranty), ranked 1st of 16 tires in the 2020 ADAC 18 Inch Summer Tyre Test, 2nd of 11 tires in the 2020 AMS 18 Inch Summer Tyre Test, and 3rd of 20 tires in the 2020 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test. I use dedicated winter tires, and drive less than 6000km/summer, so I don't need the tires with 100,000km warranties - would rather 30,000km warranty and maximum wet&dry safety.
* Wheels: during tire install, had the tire shop sand off corrosion on bead of factory chrome wheels and coat with bare-metal primer (Krylon 91317 Ruddy Brown Sandable Primer, POR-15, Rust-Oleum Enamel, or similar). This corrosion causes slow leaks of 2-4psi/month. See https://www.clublexus.com/forums/the...with-pics.html
* Inflate tires to pressure indicated on sticker inside of glovebox (for US/Canada, this is 32psi for H-rated tires; for W/Y/Z-rated tires and/or 5 passengers and/or heavy car load and/or >180km/h driving, inflate to 35psi.)
* Brake fluid: last replaced 9 years, 76,489km ago, official interval every 3yrs/48000km. I went to Lexus to replace it and requested Techstream ABS actuator bleed, but pretty sure they didn't do it (requires IG=on, which would have turned on my dashcam). After my roadtrip, I'm going to buy a SpeediBleed K800 and bleed the actuator using the bleeder screw on the back of it. Will consider using it to do the complicated Techstream process if I have spare time. And will never pay for a brake fluid change again since they didn't do what I asked them to do.
* Inspect brake lines and hoses, brake pads, and to avoid premature pad changes, change pads only when the sensors have been tripped or when you see the pad start to cut into the sensor block but hasn't cut through the wire loop yet. Front and rear RH side sensors 47770-50050 and 47770-50060, full set on eBay for CAD$8.38 after shipping! Lexus brand are outrageously expensive at USD$73-110 each - it's just a simple loop of copper wire encased in a piece of plastic/epoxy and when the loop is broken, that causes the pad wear warning on the dash.
* Differential oil: last replaced 3 years, 20,000km ago, official interval every 2yrs/24,000km. Starting in 2004, the spec is Synthetic 75W-90 regardless if operating temps are below -18C/0F or not. Factory 2002 below -18C spec is 80W/80W-90. Crush washers on both plugs are 12157-10010.
* Inspect exhaust system: Removed shields at front O2 sensors due to being loose and squeaking. Suggest you crawl underneath, remove the clamp-on heat shields and corresponding clamps completely if you drive on salted roads in winter to prevent P0420/P0430 caused by very small exhaust pipe leaks (contrary to error code, problem is not a bad catalyst), and fix other loose sheet shields with high-temp JB weld putty.
* Inspect radiator supports, upper (16505-50090) and lower (16535-74030). If your radiator moves whatsoever when you try to wiggle it, you need new supports.
* Coolant: top up the reservoir to the MAX line using Toyota SLLC premixed pink coolant. Direct from Toyota's Press Release: "Toyota Genuine Super Long Life Coolant requires changing for the first time only after the vehicle has travelled 160,000 kilometres - or 150,000km for Avalon and Camry. This is four times the recommended 40,000 kilometre replacement interval for Toyota’s previous long life coolant. Subsequent Super Long Life Coolant changes need only occur once every 80,000 kilometres - or 75,000 kms for Camry and Avalon."
* Fill washer fluid reservoir full with plain tap water, as recommended by the Owner's Manual "You may use plain water as washer fluid. However, in cold areas where temperatures range below the freezing point, use washer fluid containing antifreeze."
* Front seat filters: vacuum thoroughly. These little things (88921-50010) are fairly expensive outside the US.
* Lubricate locks/latches: hood latch, trunk latch, gas filler cap hinge, door hinges, ball joints of hood and trunk support lifts, sunroof rails.
* Ensure battery box clamp is holding the battery down tightly, and terminals are cleaned and coated with dielectric grease.
* Paint protection: claybar exterior paint, then Zaino Z-AIO base layer, then 2 layers of Z5, then 1 layer of Z2, then 1 layer of Z-CS
* Speaker surrounds, repair as needed, can't go on long drives with busted speakers. I did my subwoofer 7 years ago with a SimplySpeakers kit and just had to redo them a few weeks ago, kit FS-8M-Toyota 8 FOAM SURROUND 7.875 OD 5.563 ID GRAY ANGLE ATTACH, with Foam Guard-Speaker Cone Edge Sealer White PVA MI-1291FG option. I did my both of my front door speakers 2 years ago using the TL-FSK-6bt (PAIR) kit. Both of my rear door speaker surrounds are original at 18+ years old.
* Engine air filter: turn upside down and tap lightly on a hard surface to knock out large debris. Vacuum inside of air filter box. See below on why not to replace the engine air filter prematurely.

The regular maintenance I already do are:
* Oil and filter: every 8000km per official interval, which also states every 6 months, but oil degradation over time doesn't worry me, so I go by distance only. Use any synthetic 5W-30 that has the lowest cost per litre, and only use Toyota V8 filters (90915-20004 is an extremely well-built/over-engineered filter, the other 2 Toyota V8 filters 90915-YZZD3 and 90915-YZZD4 will work just fine too).
* ATF: every 1-2 oil changes, drain 1.6-1.8L of T-IV out the pan, pour 2x1L bottles very slowly through the dipstick port. When car is hot, check dipstick level for overfilling after a few of these 200mL overfills and adjust accordingly next time. Official ATF interval is a full change every 8yrs/96,000km, which requires much more work (either pulling the cooling lines while the engine is on, or using a shop machine). The 2001-2003 5-speed ATF is extremely easy to do the quick 1.8L drain&refill, and no danger of messing up your transmission as the shop machines sometimes do.
* Coolant: factory LLC (not SLLC) interval is a full replacement every 2yrs/24,000km. However, at every oil change, I drain the radiator only (not the engine block, too hard to get under there without a lift) and refill with Toyota SLLC (premixed pink, good for 80,000km).
* Spark plugs: haven't done yet, official interval is every 192,000km, no age, and I'm currently at 173,000km.
* Power steering fluid: No official service recommendation in owner's manual, service manual, or from dealership service advisors. Dealership says do not touch unless there is a leak in the system. You may opt to do incremental fluid changes by drawing out of the reservoir with a syringe/turkey baster, and adding back T-IV, then once fluid has circulated sufficiently from driving around or sitting in your driveway turning your steering wheel end to end, repeat until it's relatively clean.
* Inspect parking brake at every spring and fall tire change and adjust star wheel on both rear wheels as needed to tighten the parking brake. Grease the parts that are not the inside of the parking brake shoes to stop the creaking whenever you enter/exit the vehicle.
* Smog sensor: no official interval, I recommend cleaning it every 2yrs/24,000km.
* Inspect PCV valve (shake and make sure the ball inside moves freely) and all related hoses and clamps. It's also dirt cheap to buy a new one (12204-50020, for 01-03 at least). No official interval, I recommend replacing valve and grommet (90480-18001, 01-03 only) every 6yrs/144,000km if not sooner
* Vacuum switching valve (25860-50100), no official interval, I recommend every 6yrs/144,000km
* Engine coolant temperature sensor (89422-30030), no official interval, I recommend every 6yrs/144,000km
* Mass airflow sensor (22204-22010, or Denso 197-6030), no official interval, I recommend every 6yrs/144,000km
* Stabilizer bar bushings, no official interval, replace whenever they start squeaking
* AC system: if it blows cold, it's fine, no need to pay for inspection/recharge. Just fix system whenever there is a leak (ULs with rear AC will likely have a rear high pressure line leak sometime after 11 years), see https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...sure-line.html

* Engine air filter: replace every 48,000km per official interval. Many people believe that air filters protect your engine better when brand new, but this is incorrect. The dirtier the air filter, the better the engine protection, up until the airflow is so restricted that the engine cannot breathe properly.
Source: Toma, M., & Fileru, I. (2016). Research on the Air Filters’ Maintenance for Diesel Engines. Procedia Technology, 22, 969–975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2016.01.119)

* Front cabin AC filter: change only when dash prompts CHANGE A/C FILTER. The flow-rate clog sensor is programmed to detect when airflow rate drops below a certain limit. Owner's Manual states "After the replacement, push and hold the “OFF” button for the front air conditioning for more than 4 seconds to reset the air filter clogging data. The “A/C FILTER RESET” appears on the multi−information display and a tone sounds to inform you that the data has been reset.
* Rear cabin AC filter: It is very large and I have likely changed several of these way too soon. Change ~every 2yrs or every 48,000km or whenever you sniff the filter and it smells funny. Part numbers 042-2109, PC5518, 88508-30110, and 88508-50080 all fit interchangeably.