15k mile service
#16
Lead Lap
I am nearing my 20k service, by next month i will take it in because the certified pre owned sales manager threw in 2 free services so i will definitely take advantage of that.
Also i think its beneficial when you are buying your car ( as i am ) to take it to a Lexus dealership for minor service like oil change and tire rotation in the early years of the vehicle because i rather pay $150 and have documents that prove i had my car serviced at an authorize Lexus dealer in case i want to sell it someday. Buyers like to see that the vehicle has been serviced at the dealer. Saving $50 by taking it else where is not worth it for me, plus the customer service and free M&Ms are delightful
Also i think its beneficial when you are buying your car ( as i am ) to take it to a Lexus dealership for minor service like oil change and tire rotation in the early years of the vehicle because i rather pay $150 and have documents that prove i had my car serviced at an authorize Lexus dealer in case i want to sell it someday. Buyers like to see that the vehicle has been serviced at the dealer. Saving $50 by taking it else where is not worth it for me, plus the customer service and free M&Ms are delightful
Last edited by PirelliRC; 05-19-15 at 12:21 AM.
#17
Instructor
Thread Starter
I think at one time or another, most drivers have fallen victim to these nickel and dime charges at dealer service departments.
My last one was when our Audi was in for routine service (oil, filter & rotation). The SA said, "do you want us to reset the service monitor/reminder?" I said yes, only to find a $30 charge for the "procedure". Yeah, the tech had to hook the car up to his computer, but you'd think that would be included with the service. I remembered this incident for future visits..
My last one was when our Audi was in for routine service (oil, filter & rotation). The SA said, "do you want us to reset the service monitor/reminder?" I said yes, only to find a $30 charge for the "procedure". Yeah, the tech had to hook the car up to his computer, but you'd think that would be included with the service. I remembered this incident for future visits..
Lexbob... I hear you.... reminds me of when I took my boat in for service a couple of years ago.... when I dropped it off, I asked the service writer that I had just noticed one of my trailer tires looked low and while they had it in the shop, would they check it.. sure, no problem... picked up the boat the next weekend and saw a charge on the bill for $25 to put air in the tire... I flipped out... asked them to explain that charge... I was told the shop labor charge was 100 an hour, and the minimum job was a quarter hour or 25 bucks... mind you both me and my son both bought our boats from this same dealership... I paid the bill but told them I'd never be back... they went out of business not too long ago.. gee, wonder why........ back to my es... from here on out I'll check the manual for lexus recommended services instead of depending on the dealership... appreciate the feed back guys..
Poppa
#18
15K mile service
My 13 ES is due this month for 25K mile or 30 month service. Looking at the service guide it looks like all it recommends are fluid levels check and other minor checks, plus a tire rotation. I, like some others on this forum, only rotate every 10K. Also I only have total of 24K miles presently. So with this said, I am going to skip this service. Will do the 36K service which calls for oil change and all the rest. What do you think of this particular action/non action?
#19
Lead Lap
I am nearing my 20k service, by next month i will take it in because the certified pre owned sales manager threw in 2 free services so i will definitely take advantage of that.
Also i think its beneficial when you are buying your car ( as i am ) to take it to a Lexus dealership for minor service like oil change and tire rotation in the early years of the vehicle because i rather pay $150 and have documents that prove i had my car serviced at an authorize Lexus dealer in case i want to sell it someday. Buyers like to see that the vehicle has been serviced at the dealer. Saving $50 by taking it else where is not worth it for me, plus the customer service and free M&Ms are delightful
Also i think its beneficial when you are buying your car ( as i am ) to take it to a Lexus dealership for minor service like oil change and tire rotation in the early years of the vehicle because i rather pay $150 and have documents that prove i had my car serviced at an authorize Lexus dealer in case i want to sell it someday. Buyers like to see that the vehicle has been serviced at the dealer. Saving $50 by taking it else where is not worth it for me, plus the customer service and free M&Ms are delightful
#20
I agree with the others.
First, with full synthetic oil, there should be no need whatever to change the oil at 5000 mile intervals. Even the Lexus recommendation of 10,000 miles is quite conservative for full synthetic oil. Vehicle manufacturers like BMW are now using 15,000 mile intervals for full synthetic oil changes, and I can't imagine that BMW's production tolerances or lubricants are so superior to those of Lexus as to allow them to use those longer intervals without issues.
But, even if you insist on changing the oil at 5000 mile intervals, those prices are ridiculously high. My local Toyota dealer will do a full synthetic oil change on my ES using the same filter and oil as the Lexus dealer, and the cost is $52, which is about 1/3 what the OP paid using his oil.
While the Lexus 5000 mile, 15000 mile, etc. service intervals basically call for only tire rotations, even the tire rotations at 5000 mile intervals are not really needed. I've regularly rotated my tires on all of my vehicles at 10,000 mile intervals, and I've never experienced either premature tire wear or uneven tire wear (assuming that I haven't done anything to cause the wheels to go out of alignment). If 10,000 mile tire rotation intervals are sufficient even for the all-wheel drive vehicles that I've owned, they would certainly be sufficient for the ES. With my ES, I rotated the tires for the first time at 10,000 miles. At that time I had about 1/32 more wear on the front tires than the rears. By the time I do the next rotation at 20,000 miles, I expect that the wear on the fronts and rears will have evened out.
The bottom line is that the cost of service at a Lexus dealer is, I think, excessive, even considering the waiting room amenities. And even the amenities at the Lexus dealers are no longer head and shoulders above those at other dealers in the way that they might have been 15 or 20 years ago. Even my Toyota dealer now has a waiting room with a big screen TV, free Wi-Fi, Starbucks coffee, donuts, etc. About the only difference between what I get at the Toyota dealer and what the Lexus dealer would have given me is that, if I need a loaner, I'll likely be driving a Camry from the Toyota dealer and not a Lexus ES from the Lexus dealer.
Considering how many people spend many hours trying to squeeze a few hundred dollars of extra savings when they buy a vehicle, I've often found it curious that many seem to be willing to give those savings back to the dealer in their first couple of trips to the service department.
First, with full synthetic oil, there should be no need whatever to change the oil at 5000 mile intervals. Even the Lexus recommendation of 10,000 miles is quite conservative for full synthetic oil. Vehicle manufacturers like BMW are now using 15,000 mile intervals for full synthetic oil changes, and I can't imagine that BMW's production tolerances or lubricants are so superior to those of Lexus as to allow them to use those longer intervals without issues.
But, even if you insist on changing the oil at 5000 mile intervals, those prices are ridiculously high. My local Toyota dealer will do a full synthetic oil change on my ES using the same filter and oil as the Lexus dealer, and the cost is $52, which is about 1/3 what the OP paid using his oil.
While the Lexus 5000 mile, 15000 mile, etc. service intervals basically call for only tire rotations, even the tire rotations at 5000 mile intervals are not really needed. I've regularly rotated my tires on all of my vehicles at 10,000 mile intervals, and I've never experienced either premature tire wear or uneven tire wear (assuming that I haven't done anything to cause the wheels to go out of alignment). If 10,000 mile tire rotation intervals are sufficient even for the all-wheel drive vehicles that I've owned, they would certainly be sufficient for the ES. With my ES, I rotated the tires for the first time at 10,000 miles. At that time I had about 1/32 more wear on the front tires than the rears. By the time I do the next rotation at 20,000 miles, I expect that the wear on the fronts and rears will have evened out.
The bottom line is that the cost of service at a Lexus dealer is, I think, excessive, even considering the waiting room amenities. And even the amenities at the Lexus dealers are no longer head and shoulders above those at other dealers in the way that they might have been 15 or 20 years ago. Even my Toyota dealer now has a waiting room with a big screen TV, free Wi-Fi, Starbucks coffee, donuts, etc. About the only difference between what I get at the Toyota dealer and what the Lexus dealer would have given me is that, if I need a loaner, I'll likely be driving a Camry from the Toyota dealer and not a Lexus ES from the Lexus dealer.
Considering how many people spend many hours trying to squeeze a few hundred dollars of extra savings when they buy a vehicle, I've often found it curious that many seem to be willing to give those savings back to the dealer in their first couple of trips to the service department.
I have seen a 5 series head that was totally gunked up at 80k. 15k oil changes is too long IMHO.
looked like molasses inside. car was driven mostly around town, short hops. buddy's wife's car.
-YMMV
#21
Aside from first couple of oil changes that are included with all new vehicle and seldom warranty works. I have never taken any of my past car to dealers for service. I do most of quick jobs that doesn't require specialized tools myself. Oil change intervals are usually 7.5k miles to 10k miles using full synthetic. I sometimes push it beyond 10k miles but its not worth it. Also agree with post above. When trading the car in, all dealers care about are appearance and mileage. When selling privately, you can probably print out all the service record and stand firm on the price (everyone negotiates). Also aside from services like spark plugs and timing belt. I usually don't bother with fluids. I have 200k mile accord thats still running on original fluid. I would change fluid on the lexus just because of the value of the car but not every 20-30k miles.
#22
Lexus Champion
My 13 ES is due this month for 25K mile or 30 month service. Looking at the service guide it looks like all it recommends are fluid levels check and other minor checks, plus a tire rotation. I, like some others on this forum, only rotate every 10K. Also I only have total of 24K miles presently. So with this said, I am going to skip this service. Will do the 36K service which calls for oil change and all the rest. What do you think of this particular action/non action?
Last edited by dchar; 05-19-15 at 10:22 PM.
#23
Lead Lap
This is beneficial only if you plan on selling the car yourself, privately. If you're trading it in, the used car sales manager cares about two things; the appearance of the car and the mileage. They don't look at any service records. If the car looks good it will move quickly. This is what they want. As far as documentation, you could have service records from Joe's garage down the street and it wouldn't matter.
#24
Lexus Champion
BMW has gone to 10k intervals, or less, depending on driving condition with a condition based service system (CBS). I just had the first service on mine at 8 months and about 5500 miles.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post