IS300h service query

[jackdublin]

Bought 2016 IS300h recently with 70,000 km on it in Ireland.

Car got first service in Lexus UK, then subsequent 2 services in Toyota dealership(second one at 46,000km in 2020) and the last one was local mechanic (??? km).  

I booked it now for 75,000km / 5 Years service which is a minor service and will include change of engine oil & filter and cabin filter.

Should I also change the below?

- gearbox oil & filter (have no clue whether it was changed at all, afaik at 64,000km (40,000 miles) it should have been replaced)

- rear differential oil (have no clue whether it was changed at all, it should have been replaced at 60,000km / 4 Years service 

- brake fluid (last time it was changed was at 46,000km in 2020)

Any view on the above? Do I need to change anything else?

Car drives perfect, so not sure if need anything of the above especially considering dealership prices.

[wharfhouse]

5 minutes ago, jackdublin said:

Bought 2016 IS300h recently with 70,000 km on it in Ireland.

Car got first service in Lexus UK, then subsequent 2 services in Toyota dealership(second one at 46,000km in 2020) and the last one was local mechanic (??? km).  

I booked it now for 75,000km / 5 Years service which is a minor service and will include change of engine oil & filter and cabin filter.

Should I also change the below?

- gearbox oil & filter (have no clue whether it was changed at all, afaik at 64,000km (40,000 miles) it should have been replaced)

- rear differential oil (have no clue whether it was changed at all, it should have been replaced at 60,000km / 4 Years service 

- brake fluid (last time it was changed was at 46,000km in 2020)

Any view on the above? Do I need to change anything else?

Car drives perfect, so not sure if need anything of the above especially considering dealership prices.

If it's only had 3x services in 7 years then although the mileage is below the 10k per year it should still have had a service every year if doing less than 10k miles per year. That aside if it's only had 3 services then the next service should be a major service as they alternate starting with a minor service.

At your mileage / age though there is no additional items that are needed. First major addition is spark plugs at 60k miles (whatever that is in km). Brake fluid should be done every two years (not by milage). The ecvt transmission is lifetime fill so officially no need to change it. Some have persuaded Lexus to change it (they are reluctant) but others including me haven't touched it (my car is currently at 142k miles and all is as smooth as ever). Rear differential oil does need changing - IIRC it's supposed to be every 20k miles. As your car was serviced by Toyota (rather then Lexus) depends whether they followed the Lexus service schedule or not.

Next additional item after spark plugs is coolant at 100k miles (though Lexus tested mine at 100k miles and declared it still in good condition and said didn't need changing (and I had offered to pay for it to be changed) so I will ask them to change it at 150k miles along with the inverter coolant as my car will be 10 years old then. 

Not sure whether it's the same in Ireland, but if the car is serviced by Lexus on schedule (10k miles or 12 months whichever comes first) you get the extended (Relax) warranty following the service until the next scheduled service - so if Lexus does yours this time that should then kick in. So long as the car is then serviced on schedule from there on the extended warranty can be maintained until the car is 10 years old (or 100k miles if that comes first). Also the hybrid healthcheck is done at each service which warranties the hybrid Battery for another 12 months / 10k miles (whichever comes first) - this can also be done by Lexus for a separate fee if you have the car serviced by an independent. Doing the hybrid healthcheck on time (every 12 months or 10k miles whichever comes first) either by having the car serviced by Lexus or paying separately means the hybrid Battery warranty can be continued for 15 years (with no upper limit on mileage). 

Apologies for quoting everything in miles but converting to km will show roughly what is needed when. 

[jackdublin]

18 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

If it's only had 3x services in 7 years then although the mileage is below the 10k per year it should still have had a service every year if doing less than 10k miles per year. That aside if it's only had 3 services then the next service should be a major service as they alternate starting with a minor service.

At your mileage / age though there is no additional items that are needed. First major addition is spark plugs at 60k miles (whatever that is in km). Brake fluid should be done every two years (not by milage). The ecvt transmission is lifetime fill so officially no need to change it. Some have persuaded Lexus to change it (they are reluctant) but others including me haven't touched it (my car is currently at 142k miles and all is as smooth as ever). Rear differential oil does need changing - IIRC it's supposed to be every 20k miles. As your car was serviced by Toyota (rather then Lexus) depends whether they followed the Lexus service schedule or not.

Next additional item after spark plugs is coolant at 100k miles (though Lexus tested mine at 100k miles and declared it still in good condition and said didn't need changing (and I had offered to pay for it to be changed) so I will ask them to change it at 150k miles along with the inverter coolant as my car will be 10 years old then. 

Not sure whether it's the same in Ireland, but if the car is serviced by Lexus on schedule (10k miles or 12 months whichever comes first) you get the extended (Relax) warranty following the service until the next scheduled service - so if Lexus does yours this time that should then kick in. So long as the car is then serviced on schedule from there on the extended warranty can be maintained until the car is 10 years old (or 100k miles if that comes first). Also the hybrid healthcheck is done at each service which warranties the hybrid battery for another 12 months / 10k miles (whichever comes first) - this can also be done by Lexus for a separate fee if you have the car serviced by an independent. Doing the hybrid healthcheck on time (every 12 months or 10k miles whichever comes first) either by having the car serviced by Lexus or paying separately means the hybrid battery warranty can be continued for 15 years (with no upper limit on mileage). 

Apologies for quoting everything in miles but converting to km will show roughly what is needed when. 

Thanks a lot for such a detailed response. That's much appreciated. Seems like brake fluid and rear differential oil are must. Any idea on prices for them? Also, in which type of issues this late change in rear differential oil may result? 

I also saw in various topics on this forum that ecvt oil is lifelong, but the manual says it should be replaced at 40,000 miles (unless I am looking at wrong page here). Any idea if I can find about it not being needed to be replaced?

Also if replacement is needed, is there filter too? Had Honda with CVT previously and would have replaced gearbox oil and filter there each 20k miles, so 40k miles in case of Lexus was such a relief (and seems like it is not needed at all?!). 

[wharfhouse]

2 minutes ago, jackdublin said:

Thanks a lot for such a detailed response. That's much appreciated. Seems like brake fluid and rear differential oil are must. Any idea on prices for them? Also, in which type of issues this late change in rear differential oil may result? 

I also saw in various topics on this forum that ecvt oil is lifelong, but the manual says it should be replaced at 40,000 miles (unless I am looking at wrong page here). Any idea if I can find about it not being needed to be replaced?

Also if replacement is needed, is there filter too? Had Honda with CVT previously and would have replaced gearbox oil and filter there each 20k miles, so 40k miles in case of Lexus was such a relief (and seems like it is not needed at all?!). 

I don't know prices in Ireland - in the UK there is fixed price servicing (listed on the Lexus website) for interim and main services that include everything that needs doing at each service according to the schedule - other jobs outside of that would be priced by the dealer - I think you'd have to check with your dealer in Ireland how they operate. There are others in the forum from Ireland so they will hopefully let you know. 

The 40k miles evct oil change is only for extreme use - normal road use in our part of the world (although towing eg a caravan regularly would also qualify as extreme I think) is classed as lifetime fill. Concensus about changing oil (if you disagree with Lexus about lifetime fill) is that it's best to start changing it from around 60k miles. If you don't do that then changing it after a high number of miles (like 150k miles) may actually cause problems when all was fine beforehand (unless you were experiencing problems anyway, then worth a try). Although that advice tends to apply to traditional b auto boxes with lifetime fill - the ecvt is very different to a traditional auto box and so no one really knows whether Lexus is right or wrong - if an ecvt fails at eg 300k miles is it lack of an oil change or would it have failed anyway due to other reasons? There have been some threads on here from those who have changed the oil though and it seemed reasonably straightforward. 

[jackdublin]

20 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

I don't know prices in Ireland - in the UK there is fixed price servicing (listed on the Lexus website) for interim and main services that include everything that needs doing at each service according to the schedule - other jobs outside of that would be priced by the dealer - I think you'd have to check with your dealer in Ireland how they operate. There are others in the forum from Ireland so they will hopefully let you know. 

The 40k miles evct oil change is only for extreme use - normal road use in our part of the world (although towing eg a caravan regularly would also qualify as extreme I think) is classed as lifetime fill. Concensus about changing oil (if you disagree with Lexus about lifetime fill) is that it's best to start changing it from around 60k miles. If you don't do that then changing it after a high number of miles (like 150k miles) may actually cause problems when all was fine beforehand (unless you were experiencing problems anyway, then worth a try). Although that advice tends to apply to traditional b auto boxes with lifetime fill - the ecvt is very different to a traditional auto box and so no one really knows whether Lexus is right or wrong - if an ecvt fails at eg 300k miles is it lack of an oil change or would it have failed anyway due to other reasons? There have been some threads on here from those who have changed the oil though and it seemed reasonably straightforward. 

Thanks, I think I realised now that 40k miles gearbox oil replacement is actually related to business use.

Any idea what are the consequences of changing rear differential oil this late in my case?

[ColinBarber]

1 hour ago, jackdublin said:

Any idea what are the consequences of changing rear differential oil this late in my case?

I’ve always felt the 20k interval for the diff oil was at odds with the schedule for other fluids (too frequent). I don’t think there would be an issue if it wasn’t changed for 40k miles provided the level hadn’t dropped.

[Notamech]

My limited understanding is that the e-cvt box is very simple and the fluid is primarily meant to lubricate and cool unlike traditional auto boxes where the fluid also flows through narrow channels in the valve body and dirty oil can clog these narrow pathways leading to poor shifting. Not the case in the ecvt so the fluid should last longer. Lexus says its sealed for life but personally I don't buy that as all fluid that goes through heat cycles will deteriorate eventually and not perform as intended. The car care nut a famous youtube toyota technician thinks its ok to change it even at around 90k miles for an e-cvt if you go by that you should be fine at 75k if you want to prioritise other jobs and push this out by a few years. 

Also the manual says it needs to be inspected at 40k miles, not changed. If you go to lexus some dealerships might kick up a fuss about doing it. When i bought my car a year ago Lexus Twickenham told me not to do it because its a "delicate balance" of chemicals that must not be tampered with. I obviously didn't buy that because the workshop manual clearly has a procedure in place to change the ecvt oil and even specifies which fluid to use. So I went to lexus Hayes and got it done for £130.

 

[jackdublin]

52 minutes ago, Notamech said:

My limited understanding is that the e-cvt box is very simple and the fluid is primarily meant to lubricate and cool unlike traditional auto boxes where the fluid also flows through narrow channels in the valve body and dirty oil can clog these narrow pathways leading to poor shifting. Not the case in the ecvt so the fluid should last longer. Lexus says its sealed for life but personally I don't buy that as all fluid that goes through heat cycles will deteriorate eventually and not perform as intended. The car care nut a famous youtube toyota technician thinks its ok to change it even at around 90k miles for an e-cvt if you go by that you should be fine at 75k if you want to prioritise other jobs and push this out by a few years. 

Also the manual says it needs to be inspected at 40k miles, not changed. If you go to lexus some dealerships might kick up a fuss about doing it. When i bought my car a year ago Lexus Twickenham told me not to do it because its a "delicate balance" of chemicals that must not be tampered with. I obviously didn't buy that because the workshop manual clearly has a procedure in place to change the ecvt oil and even specifies which fluid to use. So I went to lexus Hayes and got it done for £130.

 

Thanks. What was the mileage when you changed it?

I have currently 70k km which is around 45k miles, so at least another 45k miles until it needs to change.

[jackdublin]

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

I’ve always felt the 20k interval for the diff oil was at odds with the schedule for other fluids (too frequent). I don’t think there would be an issue if it wasn’t changed for 40k miles provided the level hadn’t dropped.

Any idea if rear differential oil can be changed at any local garage? Is there any specific procedure? For example, gearbox oil change I'd only do at dealership due to complexity of it. But rear diff oil change looks something quite simple. 

[Notamech]

11 minutes ago, jackdublin said:

Thanks. What was the mileage when you changed it?

I have currently 70k km which is around 45k miles, so at least another 45k miles until it needs to change.

I did mine at 90k miles. Any competent mechanic should be able to change both the cvt as well as differential oils. The procedure to drain and refill is pretty much the same as on most other cars. As far as I recall there is no replaceable filter on the ecvt box so its a simple drain and refill and same for the differential. If getting it done independently please only use original fluids - especially on the gearbox as the gearbox contains the electric motors as well - use only Toyota WS oil.  Preferably buy them online or over the phone from a dealer. Some dealers offer a shipping service for parts e.g lexus Swindon in the UK. 

[ganzoom]

Our IS300H is coming up to 9 years old now. I've gone to doing an oil service every two years (still doesn't use a drop of oil), on original brake pads+discs, and I've never owned any car thats needed differential or gear box oil changes and that includes cars with nearly three times BHP of the Is, so I'm not going to start doing that. 

For this year I might even move to 3 yearly engine oil/filter changes!!

[Notamech]

1 hour ago, ganzoom said:

Our IS300H is coming up to 9 years old now. I've gone to doing an oil service every two years (still doesn't use a drop of oil), on original brake pads+discs, and I've never owned any car thats needed differential or gear box oil changes and that includes cars with nearly three times BHP of the Is, so I'm not going to start doing that. 

For this year I might even move to 3 yearly engine oil/filter changes!!

Glad that it worked out well for you. But most people with lexus cars under 10 years probably want to retain their lexus relax warranty in which case they have no opinion but to service it annually at the dealer. 

[ColinBarber]

16 hours ago, jackdublin said:

Any idea if rear differential oil can be changed at any local garage? Is there any specific procedure? For example, gearbox oil change I'd only do at dealership due to complexity of it. But rear diff oil change looks something quite simple. 

No special procedure. Easy for any competent mechanic to do.