I have owned Lexus Rx's for 14 years. I have changed my oil and all the filters that entire time. The only thing I have ever used the dealers for is brake work, transmission fluid changes and coolant flushes. Then I have used the Toyota dealer because they are closer to me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing simple maintenance work on your own if you are capable and if you wish to save a lot of money.

I recently bought a new Rx350 at my local Lexus dealer. I intended to sell my old one on Craigslist. Just for the fun of it, I asked the Lexus dealer what they would give me for trade in. I then immediately handed them my own handwritten service records where I detailed all of my maintenance work and oil changes. When he saw that I had changed my oil every 5000 miles religiously and had maintained the vehicle perfectly, he bought it from me on the spot at a good price after a 5 min test drive around their parking lot. He was giddy when he saw my compulsive maintenance records and couldn't have cared less that I did the work on my own.

 

I highly recommend doing your own service. You will save a ton of $ and I actually enjoy doing the work.

I don't know what you might have for equipment/tools, but the money you save in just one year will pay for most of what you need. A good floor jack and 4 jack stands, the Toyota/Lexus oil tool or kit, and a few hand tools (sockets, breaker bar, etc) are all you need. The first thing I did when I bought my RX was go onto TIS and download the basic maintenance files. Thinking about getting TechStream too.

As far as records, I set up a spreadsheet in Excel for dates and mileage for everything, and then I keep all of my receipts.

I have a 2007 Acura TL with over 300,000 miles and kept it out of my dealers shop for the last 175,000 miles after they wanted $1600 for a minor leak. They wanted over $1000 for a new radiator so I replaced with OEM for about $175. Most dealers will charge well over $500 for a front or rear brake job and you can do for about $150 with all new parts vs resurfaced rotors. I just got sick of paying a ton of money for basic work that I enjoy doing myself. BTW, almost everything is on YouTube for the exact same model, so if you can turn a wrench then you are all set. Good luck and enjoy!

 

In case of a dispute, if under warranty, how are you going to demonstrate that the job was performed by a Qualified Person unless you happen to be a certified mechanic.

 

I (usually) put on about 30,000 miles per year so I am done with warranty pretty quickly on most cars. So I usually let the dealer handle car up until warranty expires. In fact I always bring car in just before warranty expiresjust in case all hell breaks loose just after. I did that with a previous Acura when they extended the transmission warranty to 100k. Brought it in at 99k and sure enough, it was slipping. They replaced at no cost to me.

As I said, I quit taking car to dealership for work after they priced jobs through the roof. They also "recommend" a ton of service that is not on their own schedule of maintenance. These are huge money makers for the dealerships. Usually you are in for an oil change and car is on lift and then they recommend a throttle body and fuel injection system cleaning for "just a bit more". Just got sick of all of that. I asked where in the service manual these items were listed.....silence.

So for my mileage the work that is required before warranty expires is a couple of oil changes, couple cabin and engine filters, some tire rotations and brake fluid. All of these require only basic skills and I would not at all be worried about a dispute on a Lexus involving any of these items. So even if I did this work before warranty I can not imagine a dispute related to these items. Now if I owned a Jeep maybe so, but this is WHY I bought a Lexus....so I don't have to worry about maintenance. I guess we can let the lawyers determine who is qualified to change oil in a car. Lexus does not require any particular certification for that qualification....just says that they should be qualified. I would guess that 40 years of changing oil in a car might be enough but who knows. Is the 17 year old kid working at the Quik-Lube down the street Qualified because of his extensive training and experience? Lexus makes the point several times that work can be done by someone other than Lexus. If people are uncomfortable doing their own work then let Lexus do it at least until the warranty runs out....then you can let the kid do the oil since he is qualified.

 

Transmission fluid changes -- really? At some point before my 2015 RX was wrecked, I indicated on the little service appointment request form that I wanted a transmission fluid change, and the service manager actually giggled at that. He told me the RX-350 F-Sport transmission was a "module" -- they don't ever change the fluid. Which sounded strange, but that was my first new car in 10 years, and my first Lexus, so ... I accepted it.

Now I'm wondering -- and checking my owner's manual.

 

Toyota and Lexus refer to the transmission as sealed and the fluid as "lifetime" which I am not comfortable with. If it is truly lifetime then the warranty on the transmission should be lifetime of the owner, not the transmission. When you have 150,000 miles and the transmission fluid is junk and transmission fails, T/L says....yup...lifetime is up....you need a new transmission. Many manufacturers have done away with transmission dipstick which makes working on them more difficult. They will do a fluid change, but you practically have to beg them. They do however list replacement of fluid at 60,000 miles if you tow or similar high load on vehicle. I plan on doing my transmission fluid at 60,000 miles, and then every 30,000 after that. Tons of videos online on how to perform correctly.

 

It seems to vary from dealer to dealer. My Dealer's Service Manager recommended a Tranny fluid xchange around 60K Km and every 50K Km thereafter, he also said that Lexus recommends dealers buy a machine to do this service, apparently Lexus/Toyota have a deal with MOC as it seems to be the machine of choice for them. I don't believe in lifetime fluids anyway.

 

Thats pretty good if you have a dealer that will do it. We had to beg the local Toyota place to do the change on my wife's 4Runner. I don't do a flush, but rather a 3 x 3....change 3 quarts 3 times on my Acura with a little driving in between. Not sure of the capacity on the RX but the Lexus TIS Document shows the same procedure.....drain and fill 3 times with a run through all of the gears between each change. Easier on the 4Gen since you don't have to drop the pan and replace filter and gasket.

 

Well I bought a 2020 RX450H around last Xmas and it's sitting at 3750 mile right now. Due to the stay-at-home order I haven't been driving it much for the past 6 weeks. Now the maintenance light is on - should I schedule the first maintenance now? Or I can wait a bit more? Seems a bit early.

 

My experience is that the "Maintenance" light is only a reminder. I'd wait until at least the 6 month anniversary or 5000 miles. The 5000 service is complimentary and more of a check over.

 

Last week I picked up a 2017 Lexus RX350 with 22k miles. I am wondering if I should be looking at replacing the transfer case, differential, and brake fluid soon? It has relatively low mileage but in service date is from Nov 2016, so it's been on the road for about 3.5 years. I think the time based maintenance schedule for brake fluid replacement is every 3 years and the diff and transfer case is every 4 years?

 

I would. Especially brake fluid which can absorb moisture, and especially if you do the work yourself (you can easily do these at 1/3 of what a dealer will charge you).

I posted this in another thread but here it is again. This is the service schedule from Lexus. Brake fluid is 3 years or 30,000 miles.

https://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/d...MS-20RX350.pdf

First thing I do with any car I buy is set up Excel spreadsheet for maintenance schedule based upon Lexus guidelines (not the dealership). Then I log date and mileage that work is done. I like to do my own work so I stay on top of time/mileage.

 

Are you following the maintenance schedule in the owners manual or the dealers maintenance schedule?

 

Marqevans, I plan to follow the maintenance schedule from the owners manual, looks like it calls for brake fluid to be replaced every 24 months.
Quantum501, the excel spreadsheet is a great idea, thank you for the advice.

 

My 2017 RX350 calls for a brake fluid exchange every 36 months, my MB was every 24 months. Better re-check the brake fluid exchange schedule.