luxury1

Lexus recommends oil changes and service every 5,000 miles. My mercedes requires service about every 7,500 or 10,000 and my first porsche service isn't due until 20,000 miles!

I drive about 35,000 miles a year so visits to the dealership will be very regular if I am faithful to the service recommendations.

Why is service necessary so frequently for Lexus and not for my other German cars? Is it really necessary to do it as frequently as it states in the manual (especially if I am really putting the miles on quickly)?

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

mercedes is using synthetic probably, lexus runs 5k on conventional

LEX012006

Most german manufacturers use full synthetic oil. BMW requires service every 15000 miles. If the oil level gets low, they just top it off. It is not changed until vehicle has reached its 15000 mile interval. Just think though, most american cars gets there service done every 3000.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

What do you base that on? I think every Ford has at least 5K oil changes now.

Lexus has 5K intervals for 2 reasons - one that's their view of the life of the oil/filter, and two, it gets you back to the dealer where they can make some profit.

BMW on the other hand, bundles in scheduled maintenance with the car (you pay up front) so they want you back as INFREQUENTLY as possible.

jjbodean

exactly!

lexus is lowering some maintenance issues on the ls460, though. timing chain, long life atf, etc. we will see more and more of this in the other models and areas of maintenance as well i would guess before too much longer.

luxury1

I thought that this might be profit driven. Do you think it is unreasonable to have it serviced at 7,500 miles instead to save myself some hassel and expense?

LEX012006

I disagree!! As you know, there are oil companies out there that advertise oil that can be used from 5 to 10 to 15
thousand mile intervals. Sure the manufacturer makes you "pay" up front for the schedule maintenance (oil changes, wipers, brakes, etc.) but if you knew how much the manufacturer paid for those services, you would change your tune. It is not as much as you think. Warranty pay rates and customer pay rates are different. As for what is done when the services are done is also a factor (not as much vs. when the consumer is paying for it...I can go on for hours about this topic).

If you are using a full synthetic oil that last up to 15000 miles, especially if you are not a real agressive driver, that oil will last. Hell, even conventional oil will last a long time. Honda now has a system in there vehicles call a "Maintenance Minder System". Basically sensors (tp, ckp, and wheel speed) monitors how fast the vehicle is driven, how high the rpms go, and how often. This calculation determine the oil life. As per Honda, the engine oil needs to be changed when it reached 20% left of its life (starts at 100%) of once a year. I have seen a variety of driving styles in my years in the business. If BMW is doing services every 15000 miles, Honda doing services based on your driving characteristics, Lexus making things last longer....well as all manufacturers are trying to do...make a sale. The product they are pushing does not need as much maintenance as product of the past.

But for the sales dept. things will get better. But what about the service dept? What about the independant service guy? What about your local mechanic that has fix your grandfathers, your fathers, your brothers cars? As time goes on all of these individuals (except for the dealerships service dept) will slowly go out of business. Except for those shops that do high performance work and exterior & interior upgrades. But not the local garage!!!!!

Infrequent service is a wonderful thing. But for those individuals that make a living on repairs (not that Lexus needs repairs often) these modern day vehicle are going to run them out of business soon!!

luxury1

I could care less about a local repair shop that has probably been ripping people off for years. I care about my dollar and my time. If you care about these shops then bring your car to them every 1,000 miles and tip 600% of the cost of the service bill. I certainly do not feel sorry for them.

I know that everyone thought that Wal-Mart would consume every store under the sun also but it hasn't. In an every evolving economy, businesses need to continue to be dynamic or they may fail. If these shops are afraid that they are going out of business then they need to offer other product lines or something that the dealership can't offer. I certainly don't think that the industry should revert back to more frequent service just to keep some unaffiliated service shops alive!

LEX012006

Well judging by your stable of cars, you obviously DO NOT have to go to the local guy.

The local guy can not "rip" off todays educated consumer as easy as it was in the old days. The smaller shops do not have the capitol to be competitive with the daelerships. Only Pep Boys, AutoZone, Sears, and the like can compete. And even then, most of the cars they see are the older models.

The industry is NOT reverting to help service. It is just the opposite. But it is not just routine service these shops are for. They are there for when the vehicle eventually breaks down, as you know, there is no vehicle on the planet that is problem free. Someday, something will stop working and will need to be repaired. As for me, I take my car to Lexus (I work in a service dept and can perform my own services and repairs, but it is their car, so they are the experts) I let them fix it.

Not the local guy.....thats for dad's old Ford!!!!

Rockville

little servicing and have twice the incidence of repair as Lexus? Tests of Mobil 1 synthetic have proven (with filter changes) that the oil can last near 20,000 miles. The new transmission fluid should last 100,000 miles and cannot be accessed by Jiffy lube anyway. There isn't any power steering fluid to worry about in the LS460 because it has EPS. Tires are rotated every 5,000 miles at Lexus. The long service intervals at Benz and BMW started when they went to "free maintenance". Mercedes no longer offers it and slipped to 27th in reliability during this time. Lexus is ranked number one in initial quality and 2 year reliability. I think the 5k service interval helps those statistics. The LS460 uses 9 quarts of 0W20 oil and it is a new design so protect your $70,000 investment and get it serviced by the dealer on schedule and you will benefit. I have had horror stories from my Mercedes owners about long stints of driving a C Class loaner while their S Class was in for a repair under warranty. Sometimes it was for weeks at a time (air suspension). How convenient......

Rock

rosskoss

This is rather silly. You buy a $75K car and you don't want to do the scheduled maintenance on it? Oil is the lifeblood of a car. If you want your engine to last in any way, change oil at the specified intervals.

For years, 3000 miles was the norm, now it's 5000 miles on most cars. If you still find 5000 miles too much of a hassle, switch completely from dino to synthetic oil with longer service intervals. That's your only other way out. Pick one or the other. Otherwise, you're asking for trouble.

Lexus_girl

I agree with Rock and Ross.
Happy driving

Lexmex

I have friends with Toyota products (no Lexus here officially yet) and BMW and Mercedes products, and I hear more from the MB owners and less from the BMW and Toyota owners over how frequent they need to change the oil (not dealer recommendations) but from what they see on the dipstick.

LEX012006

Rockross is correct. If you own such a wonderful car, why would you NOT to want to maintain as the dealer/manufacturer suggest? Servicing every 5000 miles (2-3 times a year) is not a whole lot of miantenance/trips to the dealer (especially when our vehicles generally do not break down...no unnecessary vists to service)!!!!!

luxury1

For me it is a hassel though because I drive anywhere from 35,000-40,000 miles a year (my '04 mercedes for instace has 70,000 miles and it wasn't the only car I was driving!). Also, many of the problems that I have had with my last two BMW's ('00 & '02) and my mercedes were electrical. The engine worked fine.

I am just curious more than anything else. I would prefer to visit the dealership less but will if necessary. With my wife's RX330 we are religous about getting it to the shop for her peace of mind but for me I am just a little less concerned...