ritzar

salimshah

First you need not worry about being a newbie at all. We, Club Lexus, take pride in being very friendly and the atmosphere we strive for is a very congenial and help oriented forum.

I would suggest that you call the local service department and get the expected charge for upcoming regular maintenance. usually 10k multiples based on oil changes etc.

Now the unknown is going to be the repair charges. The labor rate is fairly steep for Lexus and the parts are not going to be cheap. The thing that we can not predict is what item will be worn down and what may experience breakdown.

I would suggest looking at a cheaper $/mile vehicle if you plan to do more than a 1000 miles/month.

Salim

Airbalance

Freds430

Even at 84,000 miles that is low mileage for a Lexus. J D Power just ranked Lexus #1 in dependability for seven years in a row. Unusual for you to have these two issues. Hopefully the rear issue is minor.

Every 10,000 miles an oil change and tire rotation is needed. At the Lexus dealership this should be less than $100. Every 30,000 miles the brake fluid needs to be changed and again about $100. Every 20,000 miles change the air and cabin filters. This combined takes five minutes and the air filter can be bought on line at Lexus Parts World for $18. The cabin air filter can be bought at Walmart for $18, It is the Fram Fresh Breeze #10285 with carbon and baking soda to filter the air. Wiper blade inserts again can be bought at Lexus Parts World for $20 for both refills and takes five minutes to replace. You are done until 100,000 miles. At 100,000 miles the coolant needs to be replaced. This should be about $100. At 120,000 miles the spark plugs need to be replaced at a cost around $250. Lexus Parts World use cl5 in the promo code for 10% discount. If you go in and ask for the 10,000, 20,000 30,000 maintenance you will be paying big bucks for a lot more items you do not need checked and inspected. Keep receipts for everything. I take my oil filter and 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 and one quart purchased at Walmart for $30 to my local Toyota dealer and they charge me $20 labor.

If you like the RX keep it. Even driving 18,000 miles a year of which 2/3 is highway you should average a combined 22 mpg. Mileage will improve with the warm weather. Gas is cheap in SC. Sell it lose money, pay for a new used vehicle that is not as reliable as a Lexus, pay sales tax it would take years to make this up with a different car with better gas mileage.

Rosscoe83

I agree that you shouldn't worry about the mileage. Lots of folks get 200K+ miles out of these things. Take care of it and it will take care of you. As for the rattling in the rear that you hear when stopped, it could be something with the exhaust system or even a heat shield around the catalytic converter. This is very common on other makes (like Honda's I've had) where the heat shield rusts and breaks loose and rattles at low rpms. I also agree that if you're worried about the costs for maintenance, check out the Toyota dealer or a reputable repair shop.

takeshi74

It's really just a matter of doing the research to find good/reputable local shops. In Houston there are even such shops that specialize in Lexus service. Our independent doesn't really specialize in Lexus but he was the lead tech at a Lexus dealer before starting his own shop and does excellent work on all makes and models. Ask others in your area for recommendations. Check out your regional subforum on this site and post there -- make sure you specify where you're located in SC as your profile doesn't have that info. Read reviews, look at the trends. You really should do this for any vehicle out of warranty. Some choose to do so even under warranty.

This is what your maintenance schedule is for. Talk to your service advisor about maintenance costs for each visit. We can't tell the future and we can't tell you what issues you might run into outside of regular maintenance. Different vehicles are going to see different results for any X miles for various reasons so you can't assume problems based solely on mileage. That said, you have it backwards. Generally speaking, the short trips, stop & go driving, etc of city driving tend to be harder on a vehicle than highway miles.

+1 to the comments the 84K isn't much for an RX and that your problems do seem to be unusual. This may or may not have helped in your specific case but since you say you're new to car ownership you should definitely have any used vehicle that you're considering buying inspected by a good/reputable inspector (use the same approach above to find one in your area). Do not rely on an inspection from whoever is selling the vehicle as they are trying to sell it to you. I wouldn't necessarily recommend relying on a dealership for such inspections either and would highly recommend an independent. This isn't relevant to your situation but do not rely on CPO status alone. Our 2015 was L/Certified and our inspector found some things that were not disclosed by the dealer. None were showstoppers but a good inspector will give you the information you need to help you in making such decisions from an educated perspective. Again, I'm not saying that an inspector would have definitely been able to see or foresee your problems but if there was any visible evidence of issues an inspection would have informed you fo these things.

ritzar

Clutchless

My 2 cents worth of comments: Go to the Car Talk (NPR radio show) site as they have a national list of shops recommended by listeners: https://www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files Any shop that does Toyota can do Lexus. This car is a Highlander with lipstick.

Second, change your transmission fluid as soon as possible, also the differential and transfer cases if AWD.

I too would never have service done at a dealer after the warranty was gone as you will pay twice as much.

Also you do not need to go every 5,000 miles, that number is just to keep their service department profitable. You only need a checkup every 10,000 when the oil is changed. You can rotate your tires at that time.

ritzar

@Clutchless thanks for letting me know, I really appreciate it. I've 2 questions:
A. My RX is an AWD version and I purchased it in New York State just months before I moved down to South Carolina. The car has pretty much spent all it's life (7+ years) in the (harsh) winters near Niagara Falls and upstate NY. Is this a significant factor in terms of anticipated service/repairs ?
B. You mentioned changing the differential and transfer case: is that due to the age of the car or something else ? I ask only because I'm guessing those repairs might be a little pricey..
Again, thanks for your time and interest, really appreciate it.

Clutchless

A. The fact that it was in NY means nothing with regard to vehicle life or repairs. It just had more road salt exposure. Wash it off, especially underneath. I bought my RX in Long Island, NY and drove it to VA because it was cheaper. Car was fine, and only 2 years old at the time.

B. Changing the transfer case and differential fluids is cheap and easy and is considered maintenance, not a repair. I do my own (I have AWD) in my home garage with floor jacks, but I have done this stuff since high school A shop will not blink when you ask for it. I mentioned it because of the mileage.

That is also why I recommended you get a transmission fluid change (which is also considered maintenance and is much talked about around here, there are a few long threads)
It needs either a fluid exchange which gets all the fluid and costs a couple hundred bucks, or a drain and fill (which only gets a couple of quarts) for less. You just need to do about 3 drain and fills for it to be effective. Make sure they use the Toyota WS ATF fluid or compatible low viscosity ATF.

Regarding independent shops, I bet you can find a Toyota specialty shop that can handle all your maintenance needs. Toyota and Lexus sells a lot of cars and they all share the same families of engines, transmissions, all wheel drive systems, brakes etc.

fastnoypi

Almost any competent shop that has serviced a 2006+ V6 Camry should be able to perform all the maintenance services on your RX. As Clutchless noted, Toyota and Lexus share alot of interchangeable systems. The 3MZFE engine and transmission in our RX's can be found in virtually identical configuration in the years 2006+ V6 was offered.