Advice for a new owner please

[Oonaghtwo]

Hi everyone, I have recently bought an immaculate 2009 RX400 which I am very pleased with. It only had one previous owner and has done 44,000. Apart from annual servicing, is there anything I should be aware of with a vehicle this old? How often do I need to be checking the oil for example?  I do a lot of motorway miles and expect to be adding a steady 18-20k to the clock every year. Many thanks

[Bluemarlin]

It depends on how thorough you want to be but, if it were me, I'd do the following:

1. Lift out all the coverings in the boot for the spare wheel and Battery, to make sure there's no sign of any water ingress.  Also feel the carpets under the mats, front and rear, for same. Older cars can sometimes suffer leaks, especially those with a sunroof or roof rails.

2. On a new (to me) car, I'd check oil level weekly, and lengthen that over time if I wasn't seeing any drop in level.  Also, at that kind of mileage I'd look at interim oil changes every 10k, my local garage charges me around £50 labour if I take in my own oil and filter.

3. I'd also check over the underside for any signs of corrosion, as well as the fuel filler line (behind lining in near side rear wheel well) and brake lines. Mine's a 2009 too (450h) and, after I cleaned off the accumulated mud, was like new behind the lining, but took the opportunity to give everything a spray with Bilt Hamber rust protection while the lining was off.  I also sprayed the underside and do that annually with ACF-50 to try and keep rust at bay, as it only takes 20 mins or so.

Apart from that, if you're servicing at a Lexus dealer, you might want to look into the 10 yr plus extended warranty, which is  available on cars up to 15 years old and 150k miles.  For an RX it's about £560 a year, and includes UK and European breakdown cover.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure others will be along with additional ideas, experience and knowledge.

[Spock66]

Check the tyres as they may be cracked due to ageing, the 12v Battery may also be due for a change.

Is the service history fully up to date, in particular have the coolant and spark plugs been changed.

Personally I check oil every 1,000 miles.