Mark: Hi, it's Mark from Top Local. I'm here with Bernie Pawlik, Pawlik automotive in Vancouver. Vancouver's best auto service experience. 22 time winners of Best Auto Repair in Vancouver as voted by their customers. And we're talking cars. How are you doing Bernie?
Bernie: Doing very well.
Mark: So, today's victim is a 2013 Lexus RX, three 50 that had, was in for service. What was going on with this vehicle?
Bernie: Yeah, so this vehicle came to our shop for a B service. The B service is an oil and filter change and then a full vehicle inspection. So we go over the vehicle from front to back, a visual inspection. Look at the brakes, remove the wheels, rotate tires as necessary.
Few little things like lube door locks, hinges and latches. When we test the battery and charging system, look at all the lights, the wipers, underneath the vehicle for fluid leaks, inspecting the fluids, steering suspension, a thorough inspection of that area.
So a really good thorough look over the car. And that's basically the B service. So that's what this car came in for.
Mark: So when you guys are doing this, you're just not just willy nilly going oh, well, let's have a quick look see, what's going on. You follow a process.
Bernie: We have a very regimented routine, a digital inspection that we send out to our clients. And, I know you and I have talked about that in our previous podcasts. There's information out there on our channel that shows what's involved in the inspection. But yeah, no, it's not willy nilly. I can't say, there's a it's 150 point inspection because it varies from car to car, what we look at. But I kind of went over the main things.
But what you'll get out of doing this inspection is a really full snapshot of what your vehicle needs, you know, at this moment in time, services that are due now, services that are going to be needed in the future. You know, at least into the one year future of the vehicle and whether it's safe, you know, if there's any major safety concerns, we can deal with them now. If they're a, you know, something that can be deferred, like say the brakes fr are four millimetres. Now we can do them today or you can, you get a couple more months of driving out of them. So it really depends on what you need.
Mark: And so what kind of concerns, if any, did you find on this Lexus?
Bernie: You know, surprisingly very little, well maybe not surprising because it's a Toyota product, but very little, actually, other than a couple of dirty filters and some slightly worn control arm bushings and some fluids that were dirty. But what was really interesting about this vehicle is this vehicle has 408,000 kilometres on it. And I'm going to just share the pictures because I think this is just so amazing. If you look at this, that vehicle 408,000 kilometres, in miles, I guess that's probably a 250,000 miles.
I mean, a lot of people start getting squeamish when their vehicle hits a hundred thousand kilometres. And, this has got four times that much. I'll say that it does drive still like a brand new car. It is only seven years old. So it's not that old, but it drives like a brand new car. The only issue with it is the engine has a slight bit of a clacky sound to it that kind of develops in Toyota's as they start to get older. But it's subtle. It's not really worth doing anything about, you'd probably have to replace the engine to get rid of it and it wouldn't really be worth it because it still runs perfectly well otherwise. That is the vehicle.
Just to verify it's true, yeah there's the odometer for 408,756 KMS. So pretty shocking really when you get into it, and to me, this is like, you know, the product of good maintenance and, and a well-built car to start.
So looking at a couple of issues. This is the only sort of repair item that I recommended and not even a strong recommendation. I mean, this is still something that'll last at least in another year or more.
The control arm bushings are starting to tear, you know, the rubber starting to wear out. But, really, even then, this is not that bad. It's still got lots of life, you can see it's, you know, the vehicle has a bit of rust. It's been driven a lot, you know, 408 Ks it's seen some places, it's been driven a lot.
This is the other thing that just absolutely blows my mind. So this is, basically lying on the ground, looking vehicles on the hoist looking up. This is the bottom of the engine compartment. So this is the engine oil pan over here. Transmission pan here. This is the differential and transfer case unit for the four wheel drive because it is an all wheel drive vehicle. There is not a drop of oil, fluid, not even a weep of oil coming out of this engine. There's no coolant, no fluid leaks. Again, 410,000 kilometres. It's just absolutely astounding engineering.
Mark: So that's what you found that was of interest and a bit of a surprise perhaps, but do you see any other vehicles with that kind of mileage that need no work?
Bernie: Very rarely. Very rarely. I keep thinking, you know, I own a BMW X3 with a quarter of the mileage, this vehicle has, I've already replaced the engine oil pan gasket, which is a horrific job. The water pumps failed and that's not just mine, I mean like every BMW is like that. Mercedes again, oil leaks. English car like Jags, Land Rovers, I mean, they'll all develop some sort of issues. It's amazing, you know, for this kind of mileage, really, really, not typical of most cars out there. I mean, you know, you'll get a few.
I mean, the one good thing this car does have going for it is that it isn't that old, you know, it was a 20 year old car with 408,000 k's that'd be a different, it would definitely be feeling its age a lot more, but because it's been driven so much, kept warm, it's obviously the engine has been warm and the whole drive train, it's definitely in better shape. So time is a good factor on this one, but still nonetheless, compared to a lot of other vehicles on the road, you just won't find this. And I've seen other Toyotas, you know, Corollas, you know, where I look underneath, again, 250,000 kilometres, not a drip of oil. It's pretty amazing.
Mark: So Lexus is the high end brand of Toyota. Lexus and Toyota, same company, essentially. So have they always been this sort of trouble free if maintained?
Bernie: You know what, they haven't always been. They've always been, I think on the more reliable edge of cars, but I think about, you know, there's been certain model years where they've had head gasket problems and other issues.
So, you know, one thing that is sort of, that we've seen over the last decade or more, a lot of Toyotas tend to have leaking water pumps. That's sort of one of their major failure items. It's not really that expensive to fix. But over the years, I mean, I've been working on Toyota's for a long time. There's certain models of head gasket problems, or certain other issues, but, they just keep getting more and more reliable. Like generally the whole automotive industry, engines are just way more reliable for the most part in the cars than they used to be. So I think you know, they're certainly, you can see why they're a notch above them.
And, you know, when I was thinking about comparing this BMW that I have, I mean, it's similar, an X3, is kind of a similar kind of car to Alexis RX 350, but the RX350's tend to be a lot more money than the BMWs. You know, for reasons that things, people know things don't go wrong. So they tend to hold their value a lot better.
So the BMW's tend to make a cheaper used car to buy, but I don't know, over the long run. I still sometimes weigh the math out as to which is a better way to go. But if you don't want to be in the shop, you know, fixing stuff, then the Toyota is the way to go.
So there you go. If you need some service for your Lexus or Toyota in Vancouver, the guys to see Pawlik Automotive. You can reach them at (604) 327-7112 to book your appointment, you have to call and book ahead. They're always busy. They're very popular. People like what they provide, they are reliable just like Lexus and Toyotas are. Or check out the website pawlikautomotive.com hundreds of articles, videos, all makes and models and types of repairs. Pawlik Auto Repair is the YouTube channel. Same thing, hundreds. Check it out or leave us a review of where are you picking up the podcast. Thank you for listening. And thanks Bernie.
Thank you, Mark. Thanks for watching.
