Bob99b5

Hi, my Lexus dealer tells me an RX 330 oil change is $58. Seems high to me given that the car takes 5.8 qts of what I assume is regular, not synthetic, oil. My other cars are in the $20-$30 range for an oil change. What are others paying for an oil change?

jfelbab

I take my 330 to a nearby Toyota dealership for the routine maintanance items. The Lexus dealership is about 25 miles away. Cost for oil & filter service is usually around $27.

HarrierAWD

It's a whopping $92 at my Lexus dealer.

To be fair, It includes oil and filter change, tire rotation, tire tread measurement, brake pad thickness measurement, various inspections, interior vaccum, hand car wash and dry, and a Lexus loaner car that's less than two years old.

Frankly, I can care less about all the extras. The free loaner is handy for getting to work, though. I might try the local Toyota dealer next time. It's $29 with just oil and filter change. No loaner car but they promise 30 minutes or free.

nccareer

Yes, my local dealer in Charlotte NC charges $159.00 every 5,000 to do the following:
Change Oil & Filter
Tire Rotation
Install BG Service Kit (believe is injector cleaner)
Inspect about 10 items
Wash, vacuum, Road Test
Oh yes, I do get a "free" loaner Lexus........

Now this is the cheap service interval.
Here are some of the other interval costs:
15,000 miles: $324.00
30,000 miles: $390.00
60,000 miles: $761.00
90,000 miles: $940.00
120,000 miles: $1048.00

Total Service Fees for 100,000 miles: $5,130.00

uthorns197

Do any of the prices quoted her include synthetic oil???
If you take your Lexus to an independent mechanic or DIY for service, do they start that "invalidated warranty" stuff??

uthorns197

"Do any of the prices quoted her..." should read "Do any of the prices quoted here..." Sorry.

joako

That would be illegal. As long as you get reciepts (and save them!) for every oil change done along with the milage of the car, you should not have a problem.

I pay somewhere between $27 - 29 to a local shop to do my oil changes.

mmahamm

I do it myself (RX 300)

Oil filter: $5.00 tops.
5 Qts Oil: $10.00 tops

...Satisfaction that I know it has been done correctly (i.e., the correct amount of the right oil, the right filter, tightened correctly, drain plug not stripped...)
...priceless.

uthorns197

mmahamm...I agree with you 100%. If you change your own oil, you know the filter is hand tight, etc. In years past, I always changed my own oil and filter and kept a detailed record of date and mileage in a little spiral notebook that I kept in the glove box. But, the vehicles weren't Lexus.
My concern with DIY is that you don't have a "receipt" from a mechanic or dealer. So, when you go to sell the car, you don't have "receipts" to show potential buyers that service was performed. Isn't that extremely important when you own a Lexus?? Isn't a potential buyer going to want to see service receipts before purchasing a pre-owned Lexus?? If you are trading the vehicle in on a new Lexus, isn't the Lexus dealer going to want to see service receipts??
I know I sound paranoid but I have never been involved with a Lexus before.

flatfoot

Hello to all,

I don't have 5k miles on our 400h yet, but the 5k mile srvice on our SC430 was $48.00. This included castrol semi-synthetic oil, tire rotaion, and a loaner. They also will pick up at the house and drop off a loaner free if I give them a weeks notice.

The car is returned washed and vacuumed.

This seems like very reasonable pricing.

Flatfoot

Lextranny

I do it myself. Lexus dealership is a rip off........

$3.25 Toyota oil filter
$4.45 5qt. 5w-30 motor oil (Valvoline)
Total = $7.70

Satisfaction guaranteed......It has been done correctly (i.e., the correct amount of the right oil, the right filter, tightened correctly, drain plug not stripped, no oil mess around the bottorm and top)
...priceless!!

NeverSatisfied

Same for me.

I also took into consideration that a loaner is included, but it doesn't add up; might as well rent a car for a day!?!

rxdriver

When I traded in my 1999 RX, this didn't even come up as an issue.

When I traded in my 2002 RX, they really wanted to screw me on the trade-in price, so the dealer made a big deal about "there is no history in the system, so we don't know what has been done." I went to another dealer.

It turns out that history in the system is BS. I learned that when I bought a used 2000 Toyota Tacoma, and I dealt with the Toyota side of the same Toyota/Lexus dealers in the area. Since I have been told so often about "the system", I figured I could go to any Toyota dealer and have them look for maintenance records before I bought the vehicle. Wrong. They told me that the only information in the national Toyota database is warranty work. Routine things like oil changes and other maintenance items are only tracked in the dealer's system. If the dealer is one of many owned by the same person, then those dealers might be able to share such data. Otherwise, the maintenance history doesn't go any farther than the dealer that performed the work.

In order to establish a used Lexus as Certified Pre-Owned, the dealer needs to know that the maintenance is current. There are three ways they can accomplish this:
1. Assuming you're a typical, loyal Lexus customer that doesn't care about price, then you kept bringing the car back to the same dealer you bought it from for service, and then you're going to trade it in at the same place. So, the dealer has the records because they did the work.
2. They collect whatever information they can from the original owner: a list of dates, mileages, and work done (like the little spiral notebook that was mentioned in another post). They don't ask for receipts at this point... the only time you absolutely have to have recepits is if you're arguing with the Service department about warranty coverage.
3. They assume the maintenance is not current, and then they do everything from all past 15K intervals as specified in the manual. (Or, if you have records, they'll do anything you didn't do.) Expect that to hurt your trade-in value - they'll silently deduct the cost of that work from what they're willing to give you for the trade.

The only way to avoid having the discussion in point # 3 is to have the car serviced at the same dealer where you're trading it in. So, if you shop around for the best service price, and then you shop around for the best price on your next Lexus, you may still get hassled about maintenance work even though you really did go to Lexus dealers. I suppose, though, you'll have a nice,. neat pile of Lexus receipts to throw back at them. Then they'll just tell you "it's a bad color" and still screw you on the trade-in.

uthorns197

Lextranny...can you please post where you buy the Toyota filters for $3.25. Thanks.

mmahamm

I refuse to be scared into paying someone else to do a worse job than I can do, changing the oil. When I give potential buyers my print-out of my maintenance, they are impressed. I also have a friend who runs a car dealership, so I can provide them with a Carfax report as well.

Toyota says "We're asking all of our customers who do ask for assistance under this program to at least show that they made a reasonable effort to follow a regular maintenance schedule." Your notebook--and my computer records (I keep track of my maintenance in Quicken)--should show a "reasonable effort to follow a regular maintenance schedule."


For heaven's sake, people, it's a CAR. The same EXACT model is called a Toyota Harrier in Japan (albeit with right-hand drive). Let's all get over the mystique that is applied when that fancy oval L is put on the front and recognize it's designed and built by humans out of metal, plastic, rubber, and a little wood. Just like a Maybach or a Kia.

As far as potential buyers, we'll find out. I'm selling my wife's 2000 this month. I'll report back on it. As far as trade-in, I would prefer to get more money by selling. My car has about 120,000 miles on it, so it's not going to resell as certified anyway.