aljodoro

I have been having my oil changed at the Toyota dealership in town. Now I am planning to do it myself. The ability to the change does not bother me at all. I have the ramps, containers, grease guns, extra backup plugs and all that stuff just to be a backup.
I have been taking it to the dealership as it was cheap and easy. They were charging $34 to $38. The last change was $79 and they put in synthetic oil. I asked why they changed to synthetic and they told me all my changes had been synthetic. Well, if so, they sure raised the price a lot. I believe they went to synthetic this time and that was the reason for the price increase. That would be ok with me as the synthetic oil seemed to make the engine smoother and over 4000 miles my gas measured gas mileage has increased 2.3mpg over the same driving routine. Hard for me to believe it but my numbers indicate there was a change. Go figure.

Ok, cost and synthetic is not issue.
I was changing the differential and transfer case fluids in my garage. I found the zerks on the driveline to be dry. The oil change was two weeks prior. It appears in four oil changes they have done they never touched the zerks. Secondly, I put in a new air cleaner 3,000 miles prior to the oil change. While waiting and talking to the sales people the service people come back and told me I need new air cleaner, wipers (new the week before). I told them I had to check with my wife.
This time they did not top off the washer canister. The tire pressure varied by three pounds. The sheet for work done showed canister checked and tire pressure at 32#. The recommended brake job was the topper. 2000 miles prior I put on new calipers, rotors and pads. They felt based on mileage I need to consider a brake job. It is no longer fun to be at the dealership and how can I trust them?
My question, I will do my oil changes at home. I will change my oil + filter, grease my zerks, check tire pressure, inspect brakes and do all the things I can think of. What additional items do you check or replace at oil changes. Also, what are those little things that are Lexus areas or preventive maintenance you believe you need to do or keep an eye on? Also, where do you buy your synthetic and what weight?
I really like the Lexus as it is a car you can work on. Thanks, Al

PS. The only thing missing is the bonding and the memories I have of helping my dad change the oil and maintain the cars we had as kid. It was like going fishing with my dad. Kind of hard to bond with the dealer. I would rather have the satisfaction of doing the job myself. i

mann777

AL, as they say Dealers are Stealers, The most money they make & get is not from selling cars but from the Service Contracts and Maintenance. You have made a wise decision. My thumb rule would as long as the warranty is there stick with them, once it is over, you can do it yourself, or take it to the private garages. Atleast some personal attention is given, and if it is done personally, you definitely feel satisifed at the end of the day.

cdew002

I just moved to Birmingham, AL from Mobile, AL and I have noticed the same thing with the Toyota and Lexus service departments. The dealer in Mobile was outstanding, but I have experienced complete incompetence in Birmingham.

97JZA80

Sounds pretty normal to me, thats why I never bother with them...Pay attention to your car, look at things when your under it and pay attention to the service schedule in your manual. That, not abusing it, a little luck and you'll be ok...

Random isht is always gonna happen and you'll need to find a quality guy you trust but with this product, in theory, that shouldnt be too often.

redrocks

Agree with Mann777. Once the warranty is over, then do it yourself or private garage. Dealers will void warranty if you can't show proof of regular maintenance.

Koz

With the synthetic you can use the 10K mile change interval.

Koz

Koz

There is no reason why you can not change the oil yourself. The only way the dealer can void the warranty is if they can prove the oil caused a failure. The 4.7 (and most Toyota/Lexus engines) have proven to be very gentle on oil and with synthetic can safely last 10K miles easily. If you have warranty concerns simply send a 10K mile sample to be analyzed and keep a copy of the results for your records (with oil purchase receipts).

Koz

mbenz80

90915-YZZD3 oil filter $4.33 from Lexus dealer
5W-30 Mobil1 full synthetic from Costco $26 per case of 6 quarts with $10 cupon (normal price $36, cupon is starting today oct.13 - nov.6 2011 limit 3 cases) or from Walmart $6.27 per quart.
I do 8K miles oil changes on my Mercedes with 0W-40 Mobil1 full synthetic plus oem filter, usualy lasts whole year and never had any problems. Every second oil change I will replace the air and cabin filter.
O'Reilly auto parts also have sales on full syn Mobil1 for $4.99 one in awhile.
I just got my gorgeous GX on the road for 3 months and I'm planning to do the same service as on my ML320.
Bernard

Tnorling

My Lexus dealer: North park Lexus of San Antonio, told me that after my initial two complementary services, I could go to any Toyota dealer for service. The Lexus rep said Toyota has the same oil and their service is less expensive.

Lexmex

That's a good dealership there. I used to stop by there when I'd come up from Mexico.

Lexmex

I've been running 10K changes on our 2006 4Runner V8...it's been working like a charm and no ill effects.

jrbyrn

Somewhere in the Lexus web site, maybe FAQ, it says that once you have used synthetic oil you should continue using it, but the 5000K interval doesn't change.

My dealer switched me to synthetic the last change also

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I had synthetic oil put in my GX by our local Lexus dealership as well. I kept wondering why it cost almost twice as much as my SC's oil change, until I noticed it was synthetic.

Doing oil changes yourself can save you a lot of money.

ALAN553

That's not true, but there are differences in synthetics that can extend your changes from OEM to 15K, check out AMSOIL's website. I have been doing 15k changes in all my cars for over 10 years,no problems at all ever.