BC93

Ok, this should be the last out of me.

In my research, I saw a Consumer Reports that went out of its way to mention that the ES 350 costs $2300 a year in maintenance. For normal maintenance, I never came near that on any car, except for say, a single year of ownership where a major part had to be replaced. What I've seen in the forum are head gasket and water pump being pricey repairs, hopefully late in the life of the car. I know brakes are expensive too, relatively. But, $2300 a year is not something I want to sign up for. I can't believe those dealer prices for the water pump and head gasket repairs!

I've found a 2010 CPO with low mileage that's skirting my self-imposed budget. I know my insurance will go up roughly $100 despite the newer safety devices and increase in the number of safety devices in the Lexus vs my old car. If I used premium gas, that cost would stay the same; though, I plan to use regular or 89 going by the number of people doing so and the fact that it's the same engine used in the Camry. So, a possible small savings there. The electronic gizmos are always a concern, but every car has them these days. I figure the CPO warranty gives a nice cushion for things. Noticed that the CPO warranty includes a "first basic service" free. Wonder what "basic" covers?

What I gather is that these cars aren't in the shop much, other than for routine maintenance. But, the dealer hoses you on price. So find a good independent garage. Is this the consensus? And if we're at 15k a year, we're saying under $1000 a year maintenance: oil and filter changes and tire rotations?

Thanks for all who participate in the forum!

garsarno

If you buy the car, get the Lexus Platinum Extended warranty if available to cover these potential future costs. At 15,000 miles per year, that's 3 oil changes / tire rotations. Nowhere near $2,300. I use my local garage for those maintenance things.

BC93

Appreciate the warranty tip, garsarno. I will definitely look into it.

jagtoes

I'm on my second ES350. 1st was a 2008 which I traded in at 20,000 miles for a 2010. I change my own oil at $30 in parts every 5000 miles. I do the normal tire rotation and change air and cabin filters at 10,000 miles. Cost about $60. I now have 20,000 on my 2010 and have had the same costs. I'll most likely keep this one for another 10,000 miles and maybe I'll have to do brakes. If you use a dealer for any work you'll pay the $100-150 an hour for their labor costs. So gage it from there. I believe these are low ownership cost cars. Oh I've always used 87 oct. gas with no negative results and also dino oil ..

ThumperPup

every 10k you change air filter and cabin filter ?
is it because of climate where you live that you do it that offten ?
for me if i changed it every 10k i would be changing filters every 3 months
i do it every 20k every 6 month which ever comes last

i find dealer on oil changes all the time i just paid the lexus dealer near me 24.99 plus taxes to do a oil change on my Es350 the time before that i paid 34.00

jagtoes

OK I change them every 2 years which is 10,000 miles for me. I usually drive the pick up or the Ferrari or my wife's car so I don't put a lot of miles on the Lex. The Lexus dealers around here get $90 for an oil and filter change. The car takes 6 qts at $5 a qt and $11 for the filter. If you get it done for $25 then keep getting it changed at that place. Sounds like a deal.

ThumperPup

ah cool cool
wow you got a pick of cars a Lex a truck a ferrari

cool cool
i want to one day be rich enought to have a 599gtb and a 612

i drove a 612 and a 599gtb on a track my father took me to one of those exotice race car driving school places he goes all the time
and those 2 cars i fell in love with

dreyfus

I've owned my 2007 since July of 2006. It now has 144,000 miles on it. I replace my own oil, filters, wiper blades, a single headlight bulb, do my own brake work, rotate my tires, and have replaced all my fluids (except radiator) once now. Oh, and I also replaced a coil pack for $80 and ten minutes work two years ago. Otherwise the sum total of non-regular-warrantee maintenance work for those seven years of ownership are as follows.

The dealer cleaned my throttle body which didn't need it (the coil pack was an intermittent failure which they failed to diagnose). Because they left a hose disconnected during this visit I received credit for a free spark plug change which I took them up on at 120,000 miles

I'm about to purchase my fourth set of tires, not including the set that came with the car.

One radiator flush at Toyota.

Replaced a defective tire pressure sensor.

Four or five wheel alignments (lifetime from Firestone so all but the first are free).

That's it. Not working from original receipts, I estimate my total costs (dealer & DIY) so far to be around $5,000 or about $722 a year ($5,000/6.92 years). This has been by far the most economical car to maintain that I have ever owned.

Now my water pump may fail tomorrow which would kill these numbers, but that has been my experience so far.

EJC

I just said in another post, the cars don't break

BC93

Thanks for all of the responses! I had a feeling it was the usual media exaggeration. I'm sure they just use dealer maintenance numbers.

dreyfus

I forgot, I put in a new battery earlier this year. That will add about $13 per year to my total cost so far.
.

RickC5

Yes, a BIG exaggeration for sure!

I do all my own oil & filter changes, and aside from having to change the fob batteries, that's all I have had to do to our '08 in 19 months of ownership. Bulletproof cars.

BC93

Went by a dealer close to my work today and asked a sales guy about the platinum warranty. He had no idea. Tried to tell me that it didn't exist. So, I mentioned that on the website, it sends you to the Financing page and it's listed there. He takes me to a finance guy who knows about it and he answers my questions. $2020 for 6yr/100,000 or 6yr/125,000 for $2200 (I think? Can't remember now). I think there was something about converting the 3yr was $1500, but it got jumbled in the CPO warranty discussion.

What he told me was that the 6yr (or 3yr) Platinum converted the 3yr CPO to "Platinum" and extended the coverage to 6yrs/100k. I guess because I have little faith in car dealers, I still have a nagging doubt that he wasn't talking about the Lexus VSA, even though I specifically asked if he was. And it wasn't completely clear about the CPO vs the Platinum.

Having the sales guy say "our dealership warranties" kind of put me on alert. That and he walked me back where they do the CPO work to look at a car and the work area was such a letdown. And it's supposed to be an Lexus Elite Award winning dealer. Although, I will say overall both employees were enjoyable to talk to.

Well, regardless, at that up front price, I won't get it. I realize over 72months that's ~$30 a month, but upfront it's $2020 and puts the car at close to, if not over $30k all in. I'm not a master negotiator, so odds I get it under where I'd like to be are slim. And I still don't get the CPO Platinum conversion thing. Likely not worth it over the CPO.

garsarno

You can buy this warranty online for about 1/2 to 2/3 the cost.

blazinice

I have a 2011 ES 350 with 56500 miles on it and I'm interested in purchasing the Lexus Platinum Extended Warranty. I was given the following information at one of my local Lexus dealers (but I'm sure they can do better)
5yr, 60,000 for $2767
4yr 48,000 for 2452
3yr 36,000 for $2156
Are these prices fair for this vehicle? Where can I purchase this online?