sharmila19

Question to owners - where are you getting your service? Are you going back to dealer?
Is this car like accord/camry which has a first major service at 100,000?

I am considering buying this car but am concerned about maintenance.

So far I have had camry and Honda and I don't remember ever going to the dealer after purchasing the car.

Thanks!

LexBob2

For routine service you can take the car to an outside shop, just save your receipts.

Check your dealers web site, they often offer Service Specials where you can save a few dollars if you choose to have your car serviced there.

bootman

The first two service are free at the dealer.

Stop in a Lexus dealer and visit the service lounge.
Then you might get why some just go to the dealer.
Mine has free bagels, coffee, tea, water, large flat screen, wifi, four PCs if you need them, ethernet ports for business laptops, recliners, you get the idea.

lesz

I've owned multiple Lexus vehicles over the course of the last decade. Other than for warranty service, I use either a Toyota dealer or an independent mechanic for service.

For me, the decision to do so was easy because the closest Lexus dealers to me are all over 100 miles away, but, even if that were not the case, I would still choose not to use the Lexus service department for reasons of cost. For my ES, the Lexus dealer charges about $125 for a full synthetic oil change. The local Toyota dealer, using the same oil and filter, charges $57. A few years ago, a leak developed in the refrigerant line of the air conditioning system on my GX. The Lexus dealer would only replace the entire line at a cost of about $1800. At the Toyota dealer, the estimate I got for the same line replacement was $800, but they also told me that they thought that just replacing a fitting where the leak was would likely do the job. The fitting replacement cost me about $200, and the repair has held up for several years. I've also found that parts used in the Lexus, even when they are identical parts to those that are used in Toyota vehicles, generally cost almost twice as much from the Lexus parts department as they cost at the Toyota parts department.

For me, a breakfast bar, high end furniture, big screen TVs, high end ice cream, etc. only go so far, and paying almost twice as much for service at the Lexus dealer is too much of a premium for me to be able to justify using the Lexus service department.

As already mentioned, if you keep your receipts for maintenance and other work done at a Toyota dealer or by an independent mechanic, there should be no issues whatever with regard to maintaining the vehicle's warranty.

Canesguy

One could say, why would you spend the money for a premium car, then want to go cheaper for service? A free loaner at Lexus with its added convenience somewhat mitigates service costs when utilizing Lexus service.

bc6152

Not when the difference in repair cost is $1600.00... You can keep the bagels and coffee and rent 3 cars for $1600.00... IMO the service charges at Lexus are grossly overpriced. Warranty only for me...

LexBob2

IMO you can't go wrong either way. You can argue that an oil and filter change is just an oil and filter change. I doubt that a Lexus dealership has their master techs doing them and an indy shop or Toyota dealership is just fine for that work. An oil change and tire rotation takes less than an hour which isn't worth the bother for me to get a loaner.

On the other hand if you want to establish a service relationship with the dealership in case it's needed down the road, and you can save a few bucks by taking advantage of Service Specials, that makes sense too.

lesz

Actually, I consider spending the money to buy a Lexus, in a way, the more frugal economic decision. If, for example, I choose to buy an ES and not a comparably equipped Avalon, yes, I'm going to pay a couple of thousand dollars more for the ES, but I'm also going to be able to drive a car that is noticeably more refined in terms of things like ride quality, isolation from road, wind, and engine noise, etc. Then, a few years down the road, when it is time to sell or trade in the ES, I'm going to recover a couple of thousand dollars more for it than I would have been able to get for a comparably equipped Avalon. Thus, I end up getting to drive a nicer car for little or no additional cost, considering both original sale price and re-sale/trade-in value, than what I would have been spending to drive an Avalon. For me, that turns out to be a very cost-effective decision. On the other hand, spending around twice as much to have the vehicle serviced by a Lexus dealer, instead of a Toyota dealer, is spending more money with no return or recovery, either immediately or at a later point in time.

For me, the bottom line is that I don't mind paying extra money for something if, in return, I'm getting something that is tangible and meaningful to me. On the other hand, I have trouble spending extra money when, in return, what I'm getting is the same thing that I could have gotten while spending less money. And, no, I don't consider a free bagel and a complimentary car wash to be tangible and meaningful to me.

To me, that is the one point that might make sense as a reason for using the Lexus service department. On the other hand, in my 17 total years of owning Lexus vehicles (and my 15 years of owning Toyota vehicles), I've never had a need to get any warranty work done. Both Toyota and Lexus build their vehicles so well that having something fail during the warranty period is not much of a concern for me. Further, if ever needed to use a relationship built up with a Lexus service department, I'm not sure that I'd still be better off than I would be with the Toyota service department. For example, I've read about some issues that other GX owners have had with their vehicles after the warranties had expired. After going through various appeals and with the help of the "relationship" that they had built with the Lexus dealer's service department, they were able to get Lexus to cover, say, 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost of the needed repair, but the remaining 1/2 to 2/3 of the repair cost that was still the responsibility of the vehicle owner turned out to be more than they would have had to pay had they had the repair work done at the Toyota dealer for full price.

bootman

In NJ dealers, auto service, etc are plenty so competition is very good.
I'm not going to the dealer unless I have a discount in hand.
(Didn't pay full price for the car so I'm not paying full price for an oil change either)
The free bagels are good, but not that good.

SW17LS

No reason to use the dealer for maintenance unless you want to. Its expensive, but its an enjoyable premium experience. I used the dealer all the time when I was a new Lexus owner. Now that I have had them for a long time and the vanity of the service experience has worn off...I have an independent who does my service.

This is a HUGE reason to use an independent mechanic when your car is older and out of warranty. Lexus techs are taught to "replace first, never repair". So, if a component is malfunctioning or whatever they simply replace it and do not attempt a repair. The reason for this (supposedly) is that Lexus customers want the issue fixed the first time, and attempting a repair may require a follow-up if the repair doesn't work.

Well...thats great when Lexus is paying through the warranty...but when you start paying...means maintaining an older Lexus at the dealer will cost you a fortune. Find a good independent who knows these cars well...

The critical flaw in this argument is the idea that using an independent mechanic is accepting a lower quality of service for your "premium car". This has in all honesty been the OPPOSITE of my experience. My independent mechanic is a small shop, specializes in Lexus, the owner who was a Lexus master tech for 16 years and his mechanic, its always either of them working on my car...whether its an oil change or a major repair. The oil doesn't get changed by an "oil tech" like at the dealer, its changed by an ASE certified mechanic with years of Lexus specific experience. Its not parked in a crowded lot, its in a 3 bay service shop or sitting outside. I know everybody there by name and they know me by name. They're happy to see me and I'm happy to see them.

I KNOW my car is being treated 100% right every second its there...because they all love it...they mostly work on older out of warranty cars.

The loaner is convenient...but when I go in there they do the work immediately when I get there...so any maintenance that a new Lexus would need takes a maximum of maybe 45 minutes. I spend more time at the Lexus dealer trying to pick up the loaner and drop it off and waiting for the porter to bring my car around.

If he sees something that is warranty work, he sends it over to Lexus to have them do it, or he suggests I do so and gives me a printout showing exactly what they need to do.

Sure, it doesn't get washed...but I never let the dealer wash it anyway because they can't do it without destroying the paint.

The moral is...take the time and find an excellent independent mechanic. I wouldn't use the Toyota dealer. You will save money and create a relationship that is really valuable.

lesz

And, for those who still enjoy the feeling of being treated in a special way by the Lexus service department, they may not have noticed that, in the last decade or so, service departments at most auto dealers, including luxury and non-luxury brands have upped their game with regard to pampering their customers. In the waiting room of my local Toyota dealer, there is high-end furniture, free wi-fi, 2 computer stations, 2 flat screen TVs, free Starbucks coffees, and free donuts/sweet rolls. And the amenities at the local Nissan dealer are even nicer. The only thing that I don't get at the Toyota dealer that I would get at the Lexus dealer is the complimentary car wash. While the loaner that I get is not a Lexus, I can live with driving a Toyota for a day, and the a bill that I get is going to be roughly half of what it would have been at the Lexus dealer. While the Lexus service department experience and that of other luxury brands may have stood out from the rest 15 years ago, that gap has closed significantly, and, now, customers will find increased levels of pampering at the service departments of Chevy, Ford, Nissan, and virtually all other car dealers. I think it may be the case that car dealers have realized that the added cost of providing a nice TV, premium coffee, a few donuts, loaner cars, and free wi-fi to customers is minimal, and that cost is easily recovered by the dealers if, by having those amenities, they can attract just a few more customers who otherwise would have had their service done by the local tire dealer or the independent mechanic down the road. It should also be noted that, even at the local tire dealer or the independent mechanic, the level of amenities available to customers has also increased.

I also notice that a couple of people have pointed out that they are able to cut the cost of their visits to the Lexus service department by taking advantage of service specials. It can be noted that service specials are not exclusive to Lexus dealers. If you go to the websites of virtually any new car dealers, you will find service specials that offer similar discounts for oil changes, brake jobs, periodic maintenance, etc.

And I find it interesting that there are some who are willing to spend hours to get a dealership's sales department to sell them a vehicle for an extra 1% off of MSRP. Yet, they are willing to give that 1% and more back to dealership's service department with the regular visits to that service department and the accompanying significantly higher bills that come with those visits.

Max707

I've always used the Lexus dealer for service while my vehicle was under warranty. It's called consistency. I've seen one dealership blame the last for problems. Oil plug over tightened causing a leak, not greased properly causing component failure, etc. if you use the same Lexus dealership that you bought your vehicle from during the entire warranty period this won't happen. I've never had a problem using the selling Lexus dealership, plus I've gotten additional service at no charge because of the established relationship. I will have my oil/filter changed by the dealer every 5k miles and the tires rotated after the first rotation every 7-9k miles depending on wear. These cars are very low maintance, cost is nothing compared to other brands. MB = $500 service. If you really are concerned about costs do it yourself. You will need to document and keep all receipts and be prepared to fight with the dealer over the cause of any warranty issues. JMHO

LexBob2

I was one of the posters who brought up the point of looking for dealers service specials. My point was that if someone wanted to use the Lexus dealership AND also would like to save a few bucks on the service, these things are available. It wasn't meant to imply that Lexus dealerships were the only ones offering service specials.

Max707

Great idea. I've never done that.

alpinefun

As alternative to both options you can do practically all maintenance by yourself in your garage or on your driveway.
I do it. Not a big deal at all.