Maintenance for 2008 RX400H

[rkriley24]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and seeking some maintenance advice for an 2008 RX400H with 181,000 miles that I just purchased from my father. Car is in great condition and taken care of, but since the manual doesn't provide a maintenance schedule beyond 150k miles I'm wondering what should be done in terms of keeping it up. 

Outside of oil changes, cabin air filter replacement, tire balance/rotations that have been performed regularly, the last major service was completed at 120k miles. At that 120k service, the following was completed:

• Transmission flush/fill
• Rear differential flush/fill
• Replaced brake fluid 
• Replaced front brake pads/resurfaced rotors
• At 150k brake fluid was replaced again, and engine coolant and inverter coolant were replaced

Can someone kindly advise what items I should do right away, perhaps in order of priority since I may not be able to afford one huge service? I imagine major items like timing belt and spark plugs (which I'm nearly certain have not been touched) should be done immediately, but I'm not knowledgeable about cars and tend to simply follow the maintenance schedule. If there are little things like "drive shaft boots" (whatever that is!) or other items that need to be checked too, please advise. 

Thank you all so much in advance. 

[m4rkw]

Any time I see the word flush my brain prepends it with the word "wallet". Hopefully the transmission was serviced properly rather than just flushed, if the filter assembly wasn't replaced then I'd definitely get a proper service asap.

Power steering fluid is often overlooked and definitely worth changing if the car doesn't have electric steering. It sounds like it's been well cared for in general though if all that stuff has been done recently.

[ColinBarber]

After 100k miles the schedule is just repeated - there is nothing that is periodically changed, just as and when needed such as suspension mounts, ball joints etc that all should be inspected every major service (20k miles).

Standard schedule is:

Spark plugs every 60k miles

Brake fluid every 2 years

Engine coolant at 100k miles (and then every 60k miles?)

Inverter coolant 100k miles

Timing belt every 100k miles

Air filter every 40k miles/4 years

 

The main thing to do is verify if the timing belt was changed at 100k. They can last longer but 180k is pushing it and it will damage the engine if it fails. A Lexus dealer will normally put a sticker on the engine timing belt cover when it is changed.

[m4rkw]

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

Engine coolant at 100k miles (and then every 60k miles?)

That sounds long, and doesn't make much sense when stated in miles. I'd change it every 3 years regardless of mileage as it's mostly time that changes the pH.

[ColinBarber]

22 minutes ago, m4rkw said:

That sounds long, and doesn't make much sense when stated in miles. I'd change it every 3 years regardless of mileage as it's mostly time that changes the pH.

Factory fill SLLC is 100k miles or 10 years.

[m4rkw]

15 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Factory fill SLLC is 100k miles or 10 years.

I’m sure you’re right, but the person coming up with that schedule has a vested interest in selling you a new car. No way I’d leave coolant in a car for 10 years when it’s so cheap to change it.

[ColinBarber]

On 2/17/2020 at 12:34 PM, m4rkw said:

I’m sure you’re right, but the person coming up with that schedule has a vested interest in selling you a new car. No way I’d leave coolant in a car for 10 years when it’s so cheap to change it.

and some people change their oil every 3,000 miles but you would waste your money and harm the environment. Improvement have been made over the last 3 decades.

The schedule is a compromise between making the total cost of ownership of the vehicle cheaper than the competition but also selling servicing parts however if there was a problem with SLLC then we would know about it as every Toyota has used it for the last 15 years.

[m4rkw]

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

and some people change their oil every 3,000 miles but you would waste your money and harm the environment. Improvement have been made over the last 3 decades.

The schedule is a compromise between making the total cost of ownership of the vehicle cheaper than the competition but also selling servicing parts however if there was a problem with SLLC then we would know about it as every Toyota has used it for the last 15 years.

I remain skeptical. Toyota also have "sealed for life" transmissions which clearly should have fluid changes if you want to keep them a long time. Less maintenance looks good on paper which is a benefit for them at the point of sale, plus the opportunity to sell you a new car if it gets written off through lack of maintenance. They obviously care about their reputation for reliability, but only up to a point - I suspect they are pushing the maintenance out as far as they can while keeping their cars somewhat reliable, but not as reliable as they could be with more maintenance.