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Well my two year old 400h is finally a bit low on coolant. I have a partial jug of Prestone Extended Life on hand (AKA Dex-Cool for GM vehicles). It is silicate free and phosphate free. But the manual recommends (after the obvious Toyota brand), in addition the the above, "non-amine, non-nitrate, and non-borate, and with long-life organic acid technology." What is this crap? A means to sell OEM coolant, or is there something better than Prestone Extended Life?

Tom

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Tom, we recently put a water pump in a Toyota Prius in our shop. Yes, you have to put that OEM stuff back in. I have plenty of Dexcool sitting around but the dealer said no, Dont do it. So $20.00 my cost for a gallon we put in the recomended stuff

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I believe the antifreeze gets replaced at 90,000 miles, so I went and bought a jug at the Lexus dealership to hold me off until then. My Corvette uses Dex-Cool and it gets changed every 5 years. I may not wait longer than that to have the antifreeze in the RX changed; 90K seems to be a stretch.

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Thanks, guys. I suppose I can afford one jug of overpriced coolant. But it sure makes you wonder how many of our vehicles are getting a different coolant added at aftermarket oil change places.

If I had to guess, I suspect that topping off with DexCool will probably have no long-term effect on a vehicle that is otherwise well maintained.

But for $20 I won't be the guinea pig.

Tom

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I just called my local Lexus dealer and as mentioned my price is around $20.68, but it's pre-diluted, meaning 50/50. Is this the right stuff? That's more like $41/gallon in real terms.

Tom

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I just called my local Lexus dealer and as mentioned my price is around $20.68, but it's pre-diluted, meaning 50/50. Is this the right stuff? That's more like $41/gallon in real terms.

Tom

Yes and it should last a long time, so overall cost is minimal.

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Its no cheaper at Toyota I don't think...

But yes, you need the OEM pink long life coolant. Any issues with the cooling system and they find non-OEM coolant in there it will void the warranty. Not worth it.

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Final report:

Lexus - list - $47.88 gal

Lexus - my cost - $38.30 gal

Toyota - list $18.28 gal

Toyota - my cost - $14.62 gal - bought it last night

same identical stuff.

Yes it is a minor cost in the overall ownership of a Lexus. I just hate to get ripped off.

Tom

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Final report:

Lexus - list - $47.88 gal

Lexus - my cost - $38.30 gal

Toyota - list $18.28 gal

Toyota - my cost - $14.62 gal - bought it last night

same identical stuff.

Yes it is a minor cost in the overall ownership of a Lexus. I just hate to get ripped off.

Tom

Major league scam. It's like your buying it from Congress.

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  • 12 years later...

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