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Car Forum / Lexus Cars / August 2004Schedule service based on time or mileage?
I drive less than average -- about 10K miles/year. I recently moved to a new office that is even closer to my home, so I will probably put even fewer miles on the car. The LS400 manual recommends an A service every 4 months/5K miles. That seems based on averaging 15K miles/year. I average much less than that. In 4 months, I probably put only 3K miles on the car. It would probably take me closer to 6 months to put 5K miles on it. What's my best strategy for both the A level services and also for the more B, C, and D? I'm thinking that I will do the B/C/D services at the mileage marks, regardless of time, and just do an extra A service in between based on time. For example: 4 mo 3700 mi A service 8 mo 7500 mi A service 12 mo 11300 mi A service (extra) 16 mo 15000 mi B service etc... So that instead of two A services in between the more major services, I will have 3 most times. Is that a good strategy? -- Owner of a 1999 LS400, purchased certified in 2002 and a 2001 RX 300, purchased certified in 2003 For email, use Usenet-20031220 at spamex.com If it were my car, I'd use mileage exclusively, except I'd be sure to change the oil at least once/year, and the brake fluid and coolant once/two years, regardless of mileage. If your doing a 5K oil change interval, you're going to be changing the oil every eight months or so, which should be fine. Spark plugs, air filters, etc, don't deteroriate sitting in your driveway, but fluids do and corrosion is a calendar thing more than a mileage thing. Basically, while you're driving less than average, it's not radically less, so you can basically service on mileage alone, but I'd want that brake/coolant done every two years even if the mileage is only 15K or so. Cheers, - Mark Mark's advice is excellent, like you, I drive about 9,000 miles a year and have a 2000 RX-300. I would like to add one item, install a quality battery every 48-50 months. Old batteries die suddenly, at the least convenient times. Bob in Atlanta I do not have a Lexus so this my not apply to you, but, you did not mention how far you live from work and what kind of climate you live in. markjen probably has the right answer, but, I would consider whether or not you car reaches full operating temperature on a daily basis. If it does then I would see no problem, however if it does not I would consider changing the oil more often than 8 months. Basically, if your car does not reach full operating temperature you might not be getting hot enough to boil the moisture out of your oil. This can lead to corrosive conditions that will need to be addressed with more frequent oil changes. It will also severly limit the lifetime of your muffler as well. >I do not have a Lexus so this my not apply to you, but, you did not mention >how far you live from work and what kind of climate you live in. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >will need to be addressed with more frequent oil changes. It will also >severly limit the lifetime of your muffler as well. That definitely could be a factor. My old office was about 1 miles away -- all freeway. My new office is about a mile away on city streets. But I am self-employed. I only go to the office to see clients. About 60% of my work is paper work which I do in my home office. So, clearly my car does not get a good warm up on a daily basis. It never even leaves the garage at least 2-3 days each week. However, we do occasionally go for longer trips -- drives of 1-3 hours on the freeway. These are probably about once a month or so. However, I doubt that I would ever go 8 months between oil changes. I think the longest would be 7 months with the average being 5-6. -- Owner of a 1999 LS400, purchased certified in 2002 and a 2001 RX 300, purchased certified in 2003 For email, use Usenet-20031220 at spamex.com |
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