Time To Service Again

[HoodRich]

Hi,

Its almost a year since I last serviced my car. When I bought it, it had 84000kms on the odometer. I took it to the Lexus dealer for a major service + new cambelt. I've only done 7000kms since then, but a year has passed.

Am I right by saying it needs at least an oil-change after a year? So, all it needs is a "minor" service? Do they need to change the gearbox oil as well?

Any advice would be great

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Is yours an auto or manual? Manual I wouldn't change... Auto when was the last change/flush or has it ever been changed/flushed. With autos it's advised not to flush the box when they get to a certain age. Just drain and replace a little at a time. Draining out all the old ATF which has got thicker over the years and collected millions of minuscule metal shavings can shock the box and lead to failure when you put all nice new fresh ATF in there, so a little every few thousand miles is the way to do it.

Did they do the diff oil at last service?

I'd only be doing the oil and oil filter if that was my car and diff if it hadn't been done. Actually 7000k's.. Truth be told I'd be doing nothing. I change my oil and filter every 10,000 miles and a major service every 20,000 miles as per handbook.

[HoodRich]

Hey Chris - thank you so much for the advice - appreciated.

My car is a manual - Lexus says they changed the gearbox oil last year, but I cannot be sure if they really did. It was part of the service schedule so I assume its been done.

I was always that one should always change the oil + oil filter every 15000kms or 12 months, whichever comes first.

When do you recommend I do another oil change then? Only when it reaches 99000kms? (15000kms after the last major service)

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Ahh right, I've never done less than 10k miles a year lol... In that case yeah change the oil and oil filter. If you're able to do this yourself it's cheap and easy. Not sure about your prices in SA but a genuine oil filter from the dealer is only £10 and about £40 in oil. We use 5w-30 over here in the 200. It's also considered amongst most that the OEM oil filter is the best (and in UK cheapest) on the market. Forget HKS etc... Pointless!

I'd leave the gearbox alone then if it's been done, if Lexus say they did it then they did it. To be sure it should be on the service report. Again here in the UK they list everything they've done so it's in black and white for you to see.

Differential oil? Can't stress that enough, everybody forgets it but it should be done every 20k. The ride and gear changes can get a little bumpy on old diff oil.

[HoodRich]

Chris - once again , thanks for sharing all that mechanical knowledge you have! Appreciate it.

I will call lexus tomorrow to get a price. If it's too costly, I'll probably just buy the oil and filters and shop around for someone to do it for me. Thanks again.

[North west beast]

Just get a couple of car ramps and do it yourself .get to know your car mate it's easy.

[HoodRich]

You have a point there, NWB - I should seriously consider doing it myself. Unfortunately for me, I'm not very mechanically-minded and usually break something when I try to be!

[The Transporter]

Even if you don't do anything else to the car, change your engine oil and filter....Engine oil is the hardest working component in your car.....Especially if you make lots of short trips.

[HoodRich]

Thanks man - I will definitely get it changed. It will be 12 months since it was last changed at the end April 2013.