Hey All,
Just bought my dads purplish 03 SC430 w 152,000 miles on it. Drove it from vegas back to Arizona and already want to change the runflats!

My other car is an 03 4runner w 163,000 miles and its been great. Oil change every 5k since i bought it new. Feel lucky with all the recalls over the past year of other models

Dad went LONG between services so im crossing fingers. Went immediately to Las Vegas Lexus and asked for for oil change, air filter change, cabin filter change and ac filter change. They said belts, hoses and everything else looks very good.

Crossing fingers for now.

BTW he went with the new merc 350 conv, but he LOVED this car

 

Welcome to the forum and enjoy the car. I suspect that you will love it also. It should have a lot of miles left in it still. It is a pretty solid car. If he used synthetic oil, then you probably don't have anything to worry about.

If he didn't, it depends on what you mean by going "LONG between services", but you are probably still okay. You can usually check your dipstick for crud and particles, also look at how quickly the oil turns color after changing it. Those items should be pretty good indicators as to whether you have some sludge build up.

 

15k and 20k sometimes

thx for the welcome

 

Wow! Really? 15 to 20kmi? Yes that would make me real nervous also. However, if it doesn't smoke on startup or under load and if it doesn't leak/burn oil, then you are probably okay. (Burn or leak oil = needing to add oil before the next oil change or getting very close to needing to add oil.)

 

Welcome. You'll find this forum a wealth of information. Did he do the 90k mile timing belt change? If he skipped the maintenances and has 152k miles on original belt, then I'd be worried.

 

Forum is already a wealth of info after only a day of perusing!

Thats something i need to find out. I asked the lexus dealer when the timing belt change is recommended and he did say 90k. Not sure if it was done. But the report came back that belts look very good. May just replace in the next 10-20k to be safe.

My dad also had a 93 sc400 that he drove 250,000 miles on! with irregular maintenance....so im cautiously optimistic with this one now that i can get it serviced properly.

That said, is there much risk in having a toyota dealership service it rather than a lexus dealer? I'm on the fence about this. But i do have a toyota and a toyota dealership im pleased with

 

Welcome and congratulation on the "new" SC... it's a wonderful car and a great driving experience.

First having Toyota dealer service your Lexus? Well I suppose the answer is "it depends." You really need to talk with them first. Some Toyota dealer won't touch Lexus cars even though both cars are built by Toyota. Next expect some delays on service as many Lexus parts will not be on-hand as there are little if any need to stock them. Third some special service tools used may or may not be available and of course familiarity with routine issues will not be present unless they service Lexus cars on a regular basis.

On the brighter side access to the information on your SC is available from the same database they use to work on their models and usually at a reduced charge. Toyota/Lexus maintain the same Internet based data files to service the cars. So they don't need to anything extra to access the data.

Regarding the maintenance records on the SC. You can sign up for, then login to your own "My Lexus" account here: https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/home and if your father took the car in for service at a Lexus dealer, you can see the service history here. If maintenance was done at other sites like a Toyota dealership or independent shop the records will only show if he, or you in the future, enter them manually.

 

i would avoid lexus of las vegas like the plague. i had multiple problems with them. i posted about them here and it turns out several lexus owners in vegas had problems with them as well. i no longer live in vegas, but there was a good toyota dealer there. desert toyota if i remember right. they're great for regular maintenance. i would seriously trust them over lexus in vegas.

 

thanks for the lexus/toyota dealer info. I think the closest lexus dealer to me is over 100 miles though. Damn

The las vegas lexus dealer was just a one time thing. Dad lives in so cal, im in AZ and we met for fathers day in vegas. Bought it off him there. Saw Penn and teller, ate at Lawrys prime rib. Good ol time. I just didnt wanna drive the 350 miles back w/o a dealer checking it over and LVL was closest.

Already getting compliments on car and color here.