So I am 17 and have a 04' RX330 and it just hit 100,000 miles. My maint required light is on and I could take it to the dealer but I was thinking about maybe getting some minor experience with working on cars. After all it is summer and i have nothing but time. Anyone have any tips for doing the service? I believe the 100k is the oil change and oil filter, engine coolant flush, and fluid top off... Should i try to learn how to do it myself or just take it to the dealer? Also if i do it myself does anyone have a site or video on instructions?

 

Work on your car yourself for the light maintenance. With that said given you have not worked on yor vehicle before, i suggest spending a significant amount of time researcheing exactly what needs to be done and how to do it. I would even suggest finding a friend or family member that is knowledgeable that can help you. Use he search function on this site as there are several threads about the various service intervals. Good luck

 

Oil change and fluid top off is easy to learn.

Go to a reputable independent shop or Toyota dealer for coolant flush. It can get messy and you want to make sure it is done properly. They have machines that can do this efficiently and remove all old fluid.

 

Better start early and learn. Will save you tons of cash. And the biggest reward is that after you know how to do it, then you are confident that it was done right. Even the Lexus dealership can fail on a simple oil change. Let alone other BM oil change places which makes me cringe.

 

Hahahahaha,eeeehehahahaha!!!!....you said BM! EEEEEhhhhhhhhh,hahahahaha

 

Now I meant Brick and Mortar...BM.....LOL!

Not Beeeemmmmeeeerrr.

 

Give it a shot, most things are very simple.

Here's a link to some DIY's: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...400h-diys.html

 

Thanks I appreciate the help, sad thing is no one in my family knows how to work on cars haha this is a problem, Thanks for the links though will look through them tonight

 

If you are not comfortable doing work on cars then find a good Toyota dealer ,much less expensive.Just had the timing belt/water pump done on our 04 330 (100000 miles) $530vs $995 at Lexus dealer. I do my own oil changes as I enjoy doing it (Mobil 1 & TM filters) and like to be sure its done right,other then that (brakes,Rad,tires/rotation) it goes to a dealer.

 

I think it's a great idea for a 17 year old to do simple maintenance to familiarize yourself with the car and how it works. Look around under the hood and learn what each component does. But doing it yourself comes with a responsibility to dispose of the fluids responsibly. If you don't know how to properly dispose of the fluids, then you should let a shop do the work.

 

Part shops such as pepboys, autozone, etc will take used motor oil as well as many auto shops (my local guy takes it).

Take your drained oil, place a funnel in empty oil container (you should have some since you just did oil change), pour, cap. Bring it into Pepboys, wave at the pretty cashier girl that I brought in used oil, drop off.

In and out of the store in 10 seconds.

 

A lot of the garages around here have waste oil furnaces so they are more then happy to take it.

How things have changed,back when I was 17 ( in the 70's) we used to just pour it down the storm drain !