Maintanence Ideas: Nine Years Old- 36,000 Miles

[howardwaz]

I bought my '95 LS400 last August from a little old lady in Florida who had driven it a total of 300 miles the previous year and a total of 29,000 miles in eight years. And it lived in a garage. I bought it site unseen through her daughter who sent pictures and it looked good... . It is! The car is essentially new and as far as I'm concerned I got a deal paying $18,000. :D

The car is in immaculate condition, and after I had it shipped out here to Tucson I had the dealer do an oil change and inspect. It needed new rear brakes which I reluctantly had the dealer do ( I know it cost me an extra $80, but I wanted to establish a relationship.) :(

The car runs magnificantly and now that I have 36,000 miles on it I'm wondering whether I should be doing anything special because of its age?

Any thoughts?

[SRK]

Sounds like you got an excellent car. Congratulations!

There is a school of thought, and the dealer subscribes to this, that timing belts are replaced by mileage and or age, and I think the age Lexus goes by is seven years. So although the engine has done far less miles, the thinking is the belt should be changed because of age.

All of the fluids should be changed of course.

[HRP]

Sounds like a sweet deal!! Congrats. Changing all the fluid includes cooling system, transmission, and brake fluid. I'd also detail it completely including a good protectant on all the "rubber", door and trunk, seals. As well as a good cleaning and treatment of the interior, especially the leather. (I like Zaino products www.zainostore.com) BTW I concur with changing the timing belt. You might be OK, but it will probably break at the worst possible time in the worse possible location. And why worry about it.

[monarch]

wow, you're lucky as little old lady cars typically have hardly any wear and tear either mechanically or cosmetically, except sometimes the exhaust systems are beginning to rust out if the car was used for alot of short trip driving.

Fluid replacements should be your top priority. Factory original fluids and lubes provide the most peace of mind:

engine oil: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/ls430a.jpg

http://www.saber.net/~monarch/ls430b.jpg

transmission oil: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/typetb.jpg

brake fluid: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/brakefluid1.jpg

power steering fluid: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/gtatf2.jpg

antifreeze: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/89thermohouse.JPG

rear axle oil: Any major brand 80W-90 API GL-5 rated gear oil

I'd wait until 15 years of 90,000 miles on the timing belt and serpintine drive belt because I have seen genuine Toyota fan, air conditioning and power steering belts last up to 30 years on low mileage Toyotas and the timing belt is even more durable than those belts.

The cooling system thermostat and thermostat gasket should be replaced.

Wouldn't hurt to change the radiator cap as well.

The radiator and heater hoses are good for at least 20 years or 400,000 miles because Toyota/Lexus uses such high quality grades of rubber.

[VBdenny]

I had no idea that the radiator and heater hoses would last so long. I was wondering about that. I believe mine are the original and they still look (and feel) perfect.

[TexasLS]

Congrats on the car. I too was wondering the same thing. I just bought a 1994 LS400 with 47,000 miles and I'm going through usual maintenance.

I would suggest:

1) Go to a Lexus dealership and get a list of previous repairs and services that have been done to the car. That will let you know what has already been done.

2) Change the air filter.

That's as far as I have gone with my maintenance.

Good luck!

-Reid

[wwest]

Within my family and fellow employees we have almost 10 Lexus LS400s, from 91 up to 1998. One with 153k miles all the others at, nearing, or over 100k miles.

The 153k miles car just got timing belt and water pump. A 92 got an oxygen sensor awhile back and recntly replaced the factory anti-freeze on that one.

Otherwise NONE of these cars have been back to the shop for anything but oil and filter, oil, air, pollen, changes and they all continue to run and look as if new.

Now, on the subject of rear brake pads at 36k miles.

Should NEVER happen!

Front brake pads should wear first at nothing less than 25k to 45k, and rear pads......anyone out there want to argue 50k minimum. The only exceptions I can think of is over-reliance on Trac or a siezed brake caliper.

But I'm betting your car has 136k, not 36k.