JamesBlond

Hi guys,

I bought an IS250 2006 year model a few months ago and took it to it's 120000km service a few days ago @Lexus. What a shock.

The total cost was $1130. This included the normal oil change, wiper blades, the two front brake disks, new brake pads, some filters etc. Nothing too special. This is a bit steep if you ask me.

In the cost breakdown they suggested that I replace both rear drive shafts as they started leaking oil (I still need to investigate the severity of leakage though) as well as the right rear shock for the 135K service. The driveshafts amounted to around $850 each and the shock $630!!! The driveshafts being worn @ 120000km is not something I expected from a Lexus.

Is it just me or is this a ludicrous amount of money for a service. So I'm looking at around $2330 to get all this replaced and fixed (excluding whatever else will have broken in the next 15000km).

And now for the list of questions

Has anyone experienced these expenses on services? Do the driveshafts normally go around 135000km? How can I check if it is actually necessary to have the driveshafts replaced or not? Can they be repaired/serviced or are new ones the only option? How could the shocks be so damn expensive? What if I had to replace the other three, that would clock in at $1890! Are they ripping me off?

If things are going to go on like this, I would rather sell the thing off ASAP and get a BMW again. I just can't imagine what the cost will be, should the gearbox go!

Any help will be appreciated! I need to make up my mind as to whether I should sell it or not!

Thanks
Martin

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

As we all say go to an independ shop you trust and get a second eye view at it. Dealer are there to make money so labor is alway expensive. But if you buy a bimmer and driveshaft goes on that it still probly cost you alot more. But i dont think it a common issue with lexus for it to leak.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Oil change- $50 at dealer
Wiper inserts are $13.20
Air/Cabin filters are like $30, 5 minutes to install yourself
Two rotors (assuming you actually needed them) are $190 plus labor
Front pads are $75 for the low dust OEM on a 250.

That's about $360.

Two hours labor if they're being lazy, so another $220 or so.

Under $600.

I dunno what you paid the other $530 for. (course these are all US prices- no idea how jacked up pricing is in S. Africa which I presume is the Johannesburg you're in)



Rear shocks are about $195 each from Sewell... the rear axles are $312 each side. So around $800 total in parts.

That's just parts of course, but it sure as hell is nowhere near $1500 in labor for that stuff.

Sango

iTrader: (10)

Is this RWD or AWD?

How did the first owner treat the vehicle?

raymond671

+1 for laobo979 and Kurtz, I would look for a independent shop that you trust and purchase your own parts (ie Sewell, Amazon, EBay, etc...) for much less and have the shop install them which i'm sure would probably cost much less than the dealership.....One of the reasons I do not take it to the dealership because they will always charge an arm and a leg for parts and labor even though it is OEM parts...I usually do most of the work myself though, buy OEM or aftermarket parts at reputable stores, and save a ton of money....i do not have a garage of my own, but it's a good thing I work in the military and they have auto hobby shops where I can use lifts, tools, etc for a few bucks...most importantly is that I modified my own IS and lovin it

es808

iTrader: (32)

Are you in Johannesburg, South Africa? If so, that probably explains the outrages prices for the parts and labor. I can't imagine that getting parts there are inexpensive...or labor is any less expensive.

If you're in the States, then this is an outrageous price, even for a stealership. The current labor rate should be about $100-110 per hour plus parts. But they base the labor hours on a fixed amount of time that it should take a mechanic to do the job. You can probably get a close estimate from this.

FYI. I got an estimate for changing out the clutch, pressure plate on my IS and it was going to be $800 at an independent shop. The parts came out to about $400. And keep in mind that the independent shop is usually less expensive in labor as compared to the Lexus dealer.

JamesBlond

Hi,

es808, yes I stay in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Then it must be the fact that all parts gets imported for this car. That makes a lot of sense. I phoned around and all independent shops I contacted stated that they still have to buy the parts directly from Lexus South Africa. That doesn't help much as it is the parts that are the most expensive. Over and above that, the independent shops will probably put some markup on the parts as well so taking it to Lexus is probably still the cheapest option.

No wonder BMW and other makes' parts are so much cheaper here. SA has manufacturing plants for BMW, Mercedes, VW, Toyota and many other but not Lexus. Peugeot and Citroen are also imported vehicles and are devastatingly expensive to repair due to parts cost.

Sango, it is the RWD. From the service history and what the car looks like inside and out, they've treated it very well. It was basically in mint condition when I bought it (and still is other than the driveshafts going).

I'm seriously thinking of getting something that is not imported which will save me a lot of cash. It will be sad to say goodbye to the Lexus, what a fantastic car. Just too expensive here.

JamesBlond

Hi,

Just another update on this. I have been investigating a number of other cars in the same class (to trade my Lexus in for) including BMW, Mazda and Honda however, I simply could not find anything that matches my IS250. Nothing. Everything else out there seems inferior to a Lexus! And I've done my homework.

I've decided to stay with this car. I will drive it until the driveshaft dies or becomes much worse and then simply get a second hand one from a scrap yard which will probably last me a long time as it seems like these cars do not usually have driveshaft problems.

I inquired on what my next service would cost (135k km) and Lexus estimates it at $180 (if I don't do the driveshaft and shocks), which is not too bad.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

$180 for what?

135k is about 83,000 miles.... at either 80k or 85k miles you need nothing at all but an oil change which is around $50 at my local dealer. Ditto at 140k km.

Then at 90k miles (or about 145k km) you'd also need a brake fluid change which is around $100 in the US (plus air/cabin filter changes you can and should do yourself in 5 minutes)

Bichon

Actually Sewell's "In Store" price for the pair of front rotors is 311.12, and the low dust pads are 90.08. Add 35.74 for the "optional" fit kit and 64.22 for the "recommended" shim kit, if the dealer decides to replace those. That's $501.16 plus labor.

It costs money to stock the luxuriously appointed waiting room with cappuccino and snacks, or to provide a Lexus loaner while the vehicle is being serviced, so comparing in-store prices to mail-order really isn't fair.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

It's perfectly fair, unless you can't find anybody willing to use your mail order parts, which I've never run into, especially when they are drop shipped from an actual dealer in OEM packaging.

It's not like they're not making bank on labor either at $110/hr for the tech they pay $15/hr.