Just Purchased 09 Gx470....any Issues I Should Look For?

[GXCajun]

I just purchased a very clean, one owner 2009 GX 470 with 60,000 miles on it. CarFax was good, but wondering if there was any thing specific I should look out for or anything I should have looked at to make sure I'm not headed for a big service.

Appreciate any input...

[eugene.s]

GXCajun, your car's warranty (3 years or 100,000 mileage, whatever comes first) must have expired in 2012 but if the truck continued to be serviced by a Lexus dealer (the service is due every 5k miles), you may be reasonably confident that all is fine. You may still face some isolated issues (like you described in a separate post), but you truck overall should be fine. So, check the dealer's maintenance records first. Note that the prescribed 60k miles service is one of the most comprehensive in the truck’s history.

If the truck has not been recently serviced by a dealer, you may still opt for a check by some trusted mechanic, as many people seem to prefer to do. I am sure if you ask friends/neighbors, they'd say that a garage service was just enough and they had no issues thereafter.

Well, I can only offer you my own opinion on this. Lexus cars are very reliable and proved to me and my friends to be able to withstand even the poorest maintenance I could ever think of. But their prescribed regular maintenance procedures are for a reason. That reason, in layman terms, is the peace of mind. I live in a remote place in Russia and I don't have any official Toyota/Lexus dealers here. But I cannot afford any accident involving my family simply because I was not careful enough to make sure my car was in a good shape. So, I always try to comply with Lexus requirements as much as possible – and I encourage all to do the same (yes, I have to pay a fortune for this in my place though I am not a luxury-type of person at all - but you guys in the US have much better and cheaper opportunities to do that).

As said, the 60k service is one of the most comprehensive by Lexus requirements, so don't ignore it. Unless you have positively performed the 60k checklist (e.g. having a Lexus dealer's record on this), you cannot be sure that this has been done, and done properly. To illustrate: by a visual check, no one can confirm the real condition of the mechanical liquids (from memory, there are at least 5 critical liquids to be replaced at around 50-60k); if the proper parts have been properly lubricated; if the appropriate nuts have been re-tightened, etc.

Apparently, it’s the Lexus dealers who have the best knowledge on “how to” properly do the maintenance on Lexus cars. So, if you are not positive that the 60k service has been performed, I would encourage you to go to a Lexus dealer and ask to do it (and put this on a record).

Yes, this may cost you some extra money (comparing to the garage mechanic option) but consider it's worth the peace of mind as I explained above.

Enough of lyrics. To check the Lexus dealership maintenance performed on your particular car (and get a more knowledge):

Register here and input your truck's VIN into the system (VIN is the unique identifier of your truck, you can find it on the plate in the arch of the driver's door = embedded on your windshield). Then go to My Lexus > Service History and see if there is a service record there for the 60k miles maintenance for your truck. If there's none, I explained my opinion on what to do above.

To see the Lexus-recommended maintenance schedule and requirements, go on that site to My Lexus > Manuals & Resources > select to show "All" and browse for "maintenance (pdf)" or alike.