bam

Although I don't currently own an ISF, I would someday like to have one in my garage. In the mean time, I'm curious to know what the "true cost" of owning an ISF is? Of course, up front, an ISF is cheaper than an M3 and C63 and BMW covers maintenance for 4year/50k miles and Lexus doesn't have a similar plan although BMW's coverage is nothing like what they used to recommend for service.

Of course, the ISF is a Toyota at heart and Toyotas are inexpensive to maintain but I'm curious to know if this carries over to the ISF as it does have some expensive bits.

For example, I heard that it cost $2k for a brake job. Is that true? Maybe it is, because the brakes are Brembo brakes and for example, I've heard that the GTR brakes are ridiculously expensive too.

Curious to know the typical charge for the following services...
Brakes service...
Belts...
Collant flush...
Brake fluid flush...
transmission/differential fluid flush...
air filter...
spark plugs...
alignment...
oil/oil filte change...

Thanks.

bnizzle87

Interesting question. Most of the F owners, myself included, are approaching three years. Aside from regular oil changes (~$50 for 2 5 qt jugs of engine oil of choice and ~$3-10 for oil filter), there isn't much that needs to be addressed as often. Brake pads and rotors are expensive, so $2k doesn't seem too harsh considering the high performance aspect, although there are some cheaper alternatives that perform on par with OEM pads. But I'm not sure what the other maintenance costs would be with such a relatively new vehicle as the F. A great car to own....as long as it's always maintained properly!

melbitoast

iTrader: (1)

I'm confused about your warranty statement. I pretty sure the bumper-to-bumper warranty included is 4yr/50k. I've taken mine in for little cosmetic crap, and I have not paid a dime.

Your flush services should not vary at all b/t these cars unless there is something I don't know. Same for oil changes.

Brakes - any sports vehicle is going to be expensive. I have not reached that point, so I cannot help much there. I can say that after reading comparison reviews to the M3 and such, the ISF brake set up is miles ahead and therefore much cheaper over time.

Only other thing is tires. Depending on how you drive the car and what tires you purchase, you're probably looking at ~$1,200-1,400 for a set every 30k miles or so.

Long story short, yes, the Toyota theory carries over to the ISF.

s4play

iTrader: (2)

Z E R O DOLLARS minus the routine oil change.

Nothing else!

bam

My question being regarding the cost of service, I was saying that even though BMW includes maintenance for 4years/50k miles, the actualy service they do has been reduced drastically from years ago so you can't really compare their current recommended service to what pretty much everybody in the auto industry follows. For example, their recommended oil change interval can run anywhere from 12 to 20k miles as it depends on when the computer determines you should change your oil whereas pretyt much everybody else in the auto industry says you should change your oil between 7500 and 10k miles.

In any case, I would agree that I'd expect the cost of maintenance to be the same as any other Lexus, minus the LF-A, but there are somethings that may cost more than the normal Lexus such as brake pads and rotors.

Maybe some people can chime in that have reached their 15k, 30k, and 45k mile service to let us know how much it cost and if they did anything within the service that isn't done on a normal Toyota/Lexus.

kabnvtt

To me the cost is right on par with the car, just did the 30k service and only cost $511.00. To me having it done at the dealer and noted is well worth the cost in the long run.

bam

That sounds like it's inline with the other Lexus, minus the LF-A. Did you notice if the service write up included any "checks" or "services" out of the ordinary? I wouldn't expect anything as drive belts shouldn't require anything for quite some time, spark plugs prob won't be replaced for quite some time, and I'd guess the brakes still have some miles to go.

I would be really curious to know if anybody has actually put some serious miles on the car where they actually needed some of the other "major" services done and how much they cost.

JPcoISF

I will be coming up on my 30k here in a few months and was wondering if the 30k service is really worth it? I'm really not worried about having it documented and $5-600 for what really seems like a glorified oil change and basic inspection doesn't seem worthwhile.

Is there something I am missing here?

darbs242

iTrader: (5)

^^^ I never pay for the service its almost always cheaper to take the few actual things the dealer does at those intervals and have the individual things done... You are paying for lots of extra labor for all the bull inspections by doing "services" at many dealers.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I have 45k on mine. I do everything myself, so my results are a bit skewed. I send the oil for analysis, and based on analysis have arrived at a 12k mile OCI. I have replaced the engine air filter every 15k miles, so I've bought two of them. I also replaced the cabin air filter - it takes 5 minutes and is easy to accomplish by yourself.

Brake parts from Lexus are more expensive than pedestrian cars. The Brembo name adds to this. Rotors are ~$300 each front and ~$350 each rear, pads are $400 for fronts and ~$250 for rears. Yeah, you could spend $2k if you had Lexus do it at MSRP. Where I shop, the prices are a lot better - I also have connections most people don't have, so I can keep the costs down quite a bit.

The only reason I've serviced my brakes is because I've taken the car to a road course known for being very hard on brakes. I've killed one set of full race pads and am well into the second set. Street pads have not been a problem, and after getting my rotors really hot at the track, they just about stopped wearing, but they did crack pretty heavily.

Front tires went at 21k, a used set took me to 31k, and now I'm on a second set of new fronts with 14k and looking good for at least 25k. Rears lasted to 31k (including three track weekends) and I'm on my second set of rears, but I bought them used for $100 each. You can read all about my tire issues here.

I've had no other issues (besides plugging in a bad cellphone charger and popping both the console fuses) with the car. If you spill drinks down the center console, you'll want to read this thread.

Some people have changed out their differential oil. I plan to change my differential oil at 50k miles, and I will be taking a sample of the WS ATF from the transmission for analysis by Blackstone at 50k as well. Based on Blackstone's test results I will decide if it makes sense to replace the transmission fluid. I am only considering this because I track the car. If I did not, I would leave it alone as Lexus says the ATF is a lifetime fill.

bam

OMG! I guess the brake service is expensive. Based on your numbers above, that's $2600 not including labor costs. I guess you have to pay to play. It's nice to know that the ATF is a lifetime fluid. I'd be curious to know what Lexus says about the differential fluid. If I'm correct, doesn't only the 2011 have the differential and the previous model years don't or is that they did but the 2011 has the Torsen dif?

ArticKnght

The 2010 model year was the first year with a true limited slip diff.

One of aspect of cost of ownership that is missing from this thread is the financial pieces. Finance charges (IE interest on a loan), deprecation, gas and insurance. Edmunds has a good tool for measuring true cost of ownership.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

How did you arrive at $2600? $1300 for rotors total. $650 for pads total. All up parts at MSRP, ~$1950.

A WRX STi had the same pricing when I was looking into what they cost in 2004.

If the caliper says Brembo, you're going to pay. Be glad these are not Porsche parts. Rotors alone are $1k a piece, and that's not the carbon brakes. Carbon brakes are WAY more.

All RWD cars have a differential. They all run in oil. Some have limited slip, some do not. Some limited slip spools have clutches that wear out, some have gears that don't, most differentials are just called open because they essentially drive only one wheel. Oil changes are based on the type of spool in the differential, with the clutch type being the most sensitive to oil degradation and the open diffs the least sensitive.

2ndreality

I'm surprised that everyone seems to replace rotors w/ brake pads. I had 35k from new on my STI and was still on stock pads/rotors with plenty of life left, and never heard of anyone needing to replace rotors, however they were flat rotors stock, not slotted/drilled, so unsure if that comes into play? I saw on the carfax of my IS-F that pads/rotors were replaced right after 30k, and found that to be pretty common through research.

If that is needed then so be it, but that might be something to consider as it seems to be the only wear item that is anywhere above 'standard' cost of ownership for a performance car (tires cost / life is comparable to most performance cars, and that seems to be the only other major cost).

bam

You're right. I reread your post and I read the front rotors were $300 each and and the rear rotors were $350 each. I didn't catch that you reported the pads were for the pair and not each.

Either way, it's expensive. Maybe I should just call my SA and ask them how much a tranny flush, spark plug, drive belts, and anything else might cost that costs more than the normal Lexus service. Thanks for your guys' feedback.