Need Some Maintenance Advice

[philg]

I recently purchased a 1998 LS400 with 125k miles. The car had a full maintenance history going to 110k when it was sold to the previous owner. He had the car for only 7 months and was using it as a long distance commuter (55 miles each way) and racked up 16k miles in the 7 months. He did not do any scheduled maintenance other than oil changes at a local shop. Since purchasing the car I have replaced the air filter and flushed the brakes. I know that the maintenance book calls for a complete fluid flush and for a spark plug replacement at 120k miles. I am wonderng if this is entirely necessary, particularly the spark plugs, as getting the transmition fluid flushed is fairly cheap. What are people's thoughts? I did not spend a lot of money on the car and am looking to do diligent but minimally expensive maintenance as I am only looking to keep the car for 3 to 4 years and around 180k total miles (don't want to do the major 90k mile service on what will than be an 11 year old car.) Also please let me know if you guys feel that there is any other critical maintenance which I am not mentioning and which should be done.

Thanks,

Phil

[SKperformance]

lots of info on buying a 98 and its maintenance which is mainly bushings.

[vacation]

I recently purchased a 1998 LS400 with 125k miles. The car had a full maintenance history going to 110k when it was sold to the previous owner. He had the car for only 7 months and was using it as a long distance commuter (55 miles each way) and racked up 16k miles in the 7 months. He did not do any scheduled maintenance other than oil changes at a local shop. Since purchasing the car I have replaced the air filter and flushed the brakes. I know that the maintenance book calls for a complete fluid flush and for a spark plug replacement at 120k miles. I am wonderng if this is entirely necessary, particularly the spark plugs, as getting the transmition fluid flushed is fairly cheap. What are people's thoughts? I did not spend a lot of money on the car and am looking to do diligent but minimally expensive maintenance as I am only looking to keep the car for 3 to 4 years and around 180k total miles (don't want to do the major 90k mile service on what will than be an 11 year old car.) Also please let me know if you guys feel that there is any other critical maintenance which I am not mentioning and which should be done.

Thanks,

Phil

I recently changed the plugs on my '96 LS400 at 123,000 miles and they looked to be in nearly perfect shape. They were also changed back at 60,000 miles at a Lexus dealer by the first owner. Both replacement sets were the OEM Denso platinums. The car has always run perfectly, both before and after the plug change.

Anyway, based on my experience, I would not feel rushed to change the plugs at exactly 60,000 miles. I'm pretty sure they could go much further.