Brake Fluid & Coolant

[Latte1]

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Hi, I'm new and don't have much car knowledge. I have a 2016 ES 350 and recently took it to a new place for an oil change. It's the first time it's been out of warranty for service, before this I was taking it to the dealer for it. I did buy it used.

They told me I should change the brake fluid and the coolant and I told them I'd let them know. They also told me that about the tires. They also brought out a cabin and engine filter and told me they needed replacing and would give me a quote.

My tires were checked at a couple of other places and in order to start a claim, I needed to bring it to the dealer to give me a report. I only have 30,000 miles on the car. I'm close for them needing to be changed and will probably wait until Fall so I can submit the claim for them wearing too soon.

I came home and called Lexus because I don't remember them ever having told me they changed the filters and they said they haven't needed to be changed.

A friend told me about O'Reilly's and they were the only auto parts store that had a few different ones so I went there and bought the best ones and replaced them myself after watching a couple of YouTube videos.

They told me they did change the brake fluid when I had it in at 24,000 miles so they got it done before the warranty wouldn't cover it anymore.

They told me the coolant gets done at 100,000 miles.

I'm a 72-year old widow. I talked to a friend of ours who's into cars as my husband was and he said he changes his coolant at 3-4 year intervals regardless of mileage.

The business that did the oil change asked for a review and I told them I didn't have trust in them because of things that transpired and he wrote me back saying he was trying to gain my trust. He said he didn't have prior knowledge of what had been done on my car, (they didn't ask either), and said he believes the coolant should be changed more often and his mechanic said the brake fluid was dirty.

When my car was done after the oil change, they told me to go on my phone to read the written report instead of just talking to me. Then it said 75% of things were good and listed these things to be done including a couple of scratches. I read it and asked him, what scratches and he took me outside to show me. It was a joke, I couldn't see anything and told him I was planning on taking it to have it detailed so it would look like new.

I take very good care of my car, have an unlimited car wash and keep towels in the trunk to dry it well after every wash.

How do I knowwho to believe? Did Lexus really change the oil? Is it really dirty? How do I know when to have it changed? How do you feel about the coolant?

I don't want to skimp on anything, I want to take good care of the car. I love it and hope it's the last car I ever have. I go out a lot, but still don't put a lot of miles on the car so it should with the mileage cars get now.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this. I appreciate all of the info you can give me in trying to find a mechanic I can trust for the car.

 

[NXracer]

Dont take this as advice.

My suggestions is open up the factory service interval manual on the Lexus Owners Website/Portal. If you enter in your vehicle information, it gives you a breakdown of what needs to be changed at what interval as per the mfg. If you create an account there, and input your Cars/ Vehicle Number (VIN) it will give you a complete service history.

To save on costs, I'd advise asking dealerships and independent mechanics how much each line item in each service is, and compare costs.

In regards to brake fluid and coolant. Toyota/Lexus Coolant is Long Life, has a pink hue and will last 10 years/100k miles, whichever comes first. In regards to brake fluid, the manual will tell you when.

The only thing that you might want to circumvent outside factory recommendations is the Automatic Transmission Fluid. That ideally should be replaced every 30k-50k miles. The factory mentions "lifetime" but never really gives a time frame of what that means.

 

[Latte1]

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it.

I didn't know about the Lexus Portal, I will check that out.

While I don't want to pay more for something than I need to, more importantly, I want to find someone that is honest and that I can trust.

I'm not sure what to believe about the brake fluid now. If Lexus did replace it as they said 6,000 miles ago, could it really be dirty now and need changing or was the place I took it to for the oil change that intially told me me to change it because of the age of the car just covering for themselves telling me it was dirty after I told them it was changed at 24,000 miles?

I wish I could just trust Lexus but they told me a plastic bag had melted on the muffler and wanted to charge me $75 to remove it. I asked them what would happen if I leave it and they said nothing.

 

[NXracer]

Finding a trusted shop is going to be a little tricky. I'd start with something simple, you mentioned you recently changed your air filter. Take it to a couple shops, i assume most will charge you a diagnosis fee of sorts, and ask them to if the air filter needs to be changed. If they're honest thats a good sign.

The other thing is to ask around family, friends, neighbors etc. Alot of times you can track down a good mechanic through word of mouth. You could also use social media, reviews etc and do the same test.

In regards to shops, the $75 bag removal, its unfortunate, but their method of operating their business.


Now some anecdotes. If you survey many non-enthusiasts brake fluid replacement is never in their vocabulary. The only fluid change is usually just oil changes. So dont obsess too much over the brake fluid.

You can do a visual check under the hood.

 

[Latte1]

Finding a trusted shop is going to be a little tricky. I'd start with something simple, you mentioned you recently changed your air filter. Take it to a couple shops, i assume most will charge you a diagnosis fee of sorts, and ask them to if the air filter needs to be changed. If they're honest thats a good sign.

The other thing is to ask around family, friends, neighbors etc. Alot of times you can track down a good mechanic through word of mouth. You could also use social media, reviews etc and do the same test.

In regards to shops, the $75 bag removal, its unfortunate, but their method of operating their business.


Now some anecdotes. If you survey many non-enthusiasts brake fluid replacement is never in their vocabulary. The only fluid change is usually just oil changes. So dont obsess too much over the brake fluid.

You can do a visual check under the hood.

Thanks, I appreciate it. How do I check my brake oil myself?

 

[NXracer]

Thanks, I appreciate it. How do I check my brake oil myself?

Youtube "16 ES350 brake fluid check." You should be able to find a good video.

 

[Latte1]

On my way to look, thanks!