Been thinking about picking this up for the wife. I own a 20 year old BMW and surprisingly wasn’t that bad. Was easy to fix whatever broke and parts were cheap.

However I am getting old and don’t want to mess around with cars anymore. So want to get something that won’t be a headache.

I am getting mixed reviews with the newer Lexus models. Some say they are reliable that they never change the oil on them and they run forever. Others are saying that they are problematic like other vehicles and certain parts are hard and expensive to get.

With this engine what are the common issues? I heard about the oil cooler line rupturing. What years does this affect? Any timing chain issues? Oil burning? Etc?

Does this car have a closed transmission? Is there a dipstick? How often should the fluids be changed? We’re atf fluid changes part of the Lexus maintainance schedule?

Is high mileage worth the price savings? Or should I only consider low mileage models?

Last question? I opened the engine bay and can’t see anything. How do you remove all this covers? Pry them up or do you need to underscrew them? Seems like only way to check for leaks is with a PPI. Don’t think the previous owner will let me take apart all those covers.

 

Not sure where you are in your purchase process. Private or through the a dealer? Usually Lexus owners let Lexus service their vehicles [more so for first few years] and Lexus should have the service history traced through the vin-number.

I would highly suggest read through at least the first page posts in this forum, get carfax and get the vehicle inspected.

Taking the top cover iff is easy as most of the stuff if clipped in. Push the center of the clip down and pull up the clip. To reinstall hold the clip from the outer shell and push up the spike in the middle till it pops up by 1/4". Then drop it down the hole and push down the top to its first stop. [the second stop, below the surface level will let you lift the clip out ... that is how you remove them].

Although the top is more easy to uncover and look but you will only find glaring issues and evidence of latest work. More telling is removing the bottom shield and inspecting from below. Leaks and stuff all end up at the bottom.

Final word is the used machine goodness is wholly dependent on care. The engine is well proven but maintenance is the key. Lack or regular service, skimping on quality replacement parts will defiantly impact the status of the vehicle.

Share with us your journey.

Salim

PS: BMWs ..specially the 3 series are excellent vehicles. Drive dynamics are hard to beat. The only issue is they get or try to get the max out of the power plant while Lexus/Toyotas get 70-80% and not stress out things. Things got horribly wrong with BMW [sweeping statement here] when they tried to reduce weight and switched to plastics and thin insulated wires. Under designed/ overstressed made them unreliable. Rubber quality in bushings was poor and the life was little. The owners, thinking that they have real sports cars, pushed them over the brink. If you chose to own and drive responsibly [another sweeping statement ... most BMW owners do not] your honest individual experience would have been positive. In Lexus world you have a work horse. Designed-tuned to perform for a long time. Change fluids, replace tires, brakes and battery. That's about all.

 

I agree with Salim's advice. You can also do some searching on this forum for your key issues to learn more.
The oil cooler line is only on vehicles with the tow package. Only 2010-2012 have the rubber line that can rupture. You should keep your search to 2013 - 2015 as they did a mild refresh and update in 2013. They took care of the earlier issues and updated the infotainment system and added some more safety stuff.

There are no timing chain issues. There is a very minor timing chain cover oil leak (more like a minor seep) on some vehicles, but you have to remove the front passenger tire and look inside the wheel area at the lower front engine to see it. It never leaks enough to add oil, only just enough to make a small mess. They have to remove the motor to fix it.
It is uncommon and not worth fixing unless under warranty.

The transmission does not have a dipstick and setting the fluid level is complicated and temperature-dependent as they use an overflow tube. Some dealers will say it is sealed and needs no service and some will do a fluid exchange. I recommend changing the fluid every 50,000 miles. The owner's manual severe service interval to change the ATF is 60,000 miles. Toyota dealers can also work on it as the engine and transmission, brakes etc at identical to a Toyota Highlander. Cost to do this is under $300 US.

Not sure if this also works in Canada (although a prior thread indicated it did work for Canada), but in the US you can log into the Lexus drivers site and enter the VIN of any vehicle you are interested in and view the dealer service history, the build options etc. Joining is free. Toyota has a similar site. I always use it when car shopping.
https://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers

 

The 13s and up are usually a fair bit more expensive. It might be better to go with a 10-12 depending on budget.

These cars are generally pretty bulletproof if they were maintained well. Look for an example that has been maintained well, or at least had its ATF changed every 60k.