RajaReMax

Has anyone had the 10,000 mile maintenence done on their '04 LS yet? If so, what did your dealer service cost? Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks!

gs400998

Lexus service here charges $100 for 10,000-mile service.

<VENOM>

I would just get the oil changed and rotate the tires if you have not, the 10k is just milking the customers wallet, in my opinion the car needs no maintenance til 30k even further, depending on you and what you feel is needed at certain mileage and how long you intend to keep the car

Are you buying it or leasing it

RajaReMax

Edge2-
My car is leased for 3 years. It was interesting to me that I originally was quoted $132, which supposedly included my auto-coupon service rebate of $50.

I cancelled & called back the next day and was quoted $72 by a different service supervisor. Was considering calling & cancelling a few more times to see how much more I can get the price down.

Seriously though:
I may take your advice tommorrow morning when I take the car in. Would it be much cheaper to just go to a Toyota dealership?

<VENOM>

If your leasing for 3 years then just change the oil every 5k and rotate the tires I found a good Toyota dealer who has service as good as lexus and they give me a LandCruiser loaner The toy dealer has an oil change for 23 dollars lexus or toy, they don't do warranty work on lexus vehicles

spxChrome

About $150 here. $89.99 for an oil change (they use Castr Oil 10/30?) and $53.95 for a tire rotation Same stuff you can get done at Scotty's for $40

Si2See

Here at Haley Toyota we charge $80.48 before tax and it includes oil change and tire rotation with Mobil ( non synthetic oil ) Genuine Toyota Filter, and BG Maintence kit. We work on Lexus or Toyota but are the same as the last guy said and dont do warranty on Lexus.

saber

If I had a '04 LS 430 I'd buy 5 quarts of genuine Toyota 5W-30 motor oil at a Toyota dealer for $10 and a Toyota 90915-YZZD3 oil filter for $5-6 then have an independent service shop install them for about $25 labor. The Toyota oil was the original factory fill and is specially forumulated for Toyotas and Lexus engines.

Then I'd also have the shop rotate the tires front to rear, keeping them on the same side of the car and advise the service tech not to over tighten the wheel lug nuts which can cause problems.

Then I'd personally check the fluid levels myself (coolant, brake, transmission and rear axle). Beware a '04 LS430 requires special and unique genuine Toyota coolant, transmission fluid and rear axle oil. And like other Toyota/Lexus models, it requires a Dexron Automatic Transmission Fluid in the power steering system and DOT 3 brake fluid like genuine Toyota Brake Fluid. Most service shops and even some Lexus dealers will not be aware of this or will not care anyway. Plus it is more costly and inconvenient for them to obtain these special lubes and fluids. This is why you need to be on guard and view service shops as potential enemies of your car . This includes Lexus dealerships and Lexus specialty repair shops.

<VENOM>

saber

You sound like you should just do the maintenance yourself, make alot of good point but genuine Toyota motor oil is Penzoil, I have looked into this and they just rebottle it, it may also be quaker state, usually the dealer get their motor oil in bulk and they just have it pumped into their tanks so whoever gives them the best deal they take, dealers use name brand oil, their is no specific toyota motor oil, they are not gonna put their reputation on cheap oil.

The 90915-YZZD3 oil filters are made in Japan and are becoming less and less so stock up, the new ones are 90915-XXXXX, x's being numbers.

Most if not all Toyotas/Lexus vehicles at this time use Toyota coolant, not all use the Toyota Trans fluid but Im betting the LS has the new WS lifetime fluid that can't be checked unless you slide under the car, and the rear axle gear oil is probably Penzoil, Toyota does not have genuine gear oil.

Dexron Trans Fluid in the power steering and DOT 3 brake fluid, Genuine Toyota Brake Fluid, I can't picture it but I thought the brake fluid was just DOT 3, no toyota brand fluid their, although you got to watch cause many cars use DOT 3 for power steering and a brainless tech will not think twice before he fills your car up.

Most service shops and even some Lexus dealers will not be aware of this or will not care anyway, they better be aware they are the ones doing the maintenance, they will have the fluids you need, as for outside shops I would only go to them if they specialized in Lexus otherwise I would rather just go to Lexus or a Toy dealer capable of working on Lexus, I'd rather a lex or Toy dealer mess the car up then an outside shop.

As of now the only Toyota fluids are the Trans and Coolant, everything else can be bought off the store shelf, the rebottled higher priced stuff is just extra profit, Toyota and Lexus sell wax and polish for 2 and 3 times the price as autozone, they sell rims for crazy prices to

saber

Edge2, genuine Toyota motor oil is not rebottled Pennzoil. It's a special formulation developed
by the Toyota engineers for Toyota & Lexus engines. It's the factory fill in all new Toyota &
Lexus engines.

http://www.saber.net/~monarch/ls430b.jpg
http://www.saber.net/~monarch/ls430a.jpg
http://www.saber.net/~monarch/ls430c.jpg

Toyota makes their own special Dexron automatic transmission fluid too and all Toyota
and Lexus power steering systems require Dexron automatic transmission fluid

http://www.saber.net/~monarch/gtatf.jpg
http://www.saber.net/~monarch/gtatf2.jpg

Toyota makes their own special DOT 3 Brake Fluid which is also the factory fill
in all Toyota and Lexus brake systems including the 2004 models.

http://www.saber.net/~monarch/brakefluid1.jpg
2004 LS brake fluid cap: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/brakefluid.jpg

The 90915-YZZD3 is designed by Nippondenso and is assembled in Thailand:
http://www.saber.net/~monarch/ls430filter.jpg

<VENOM>

You showed me some pics but still I was told the Toyota Motor oil was nothin more then Penzoil rebottled, the parts guys themselves said thats what going into the cars.

The Dextron 3 is Dextron or Toyota Trans Fluid Type IV, I would not put Dextron 3 into the trans of an LS430, the 430 either trakes Toyota Trans Fluid Type IV or WS but more likely the WS which is the world standard now for Toyota Lex on some of the vehicles, my 03 ES300 does not say it needs Toyota Trans fluid but my 4Runner does, but Im betting the ES300 has some form of Toyota Fluid in it, why would Toyota make their own Dextron then make the Type IV.

The Brake Fluid, I did not know but are you sure it's not rebottled, I got to look into this and reread both my owners manuals

Anyways Im not saying I don't believe you Im just getting conflicting information and I believe the guy named saber sitting behind the screen in sunny california knows more then the guys who work full time at the dealerships

You don't own an LS430 do you, thats a sweet car that I would love

MGS4

Any dealer can choose whatever motor oil they want to use for servicing. As for the Toyota Genuine Motor Oil (TGMO), it is made by ESSO which is owned by ExxonMobil. Go to this site and on page 2 there's a sentence says "Sponsorship of Toyota's new Formula 1 team.........primary supplier of factory and service lubricant for Toyota Motor Company"

http://www.exxonmobil.com/corporate/...slubes2003.pdf

Toyota motor oil is not synthetic oil. It costs about $1.80 + tax a quart. You could buy Mobil 1 conventional oil at WalMart for lesser price.

the logo ESSO on the F1 car

saber

Mobil or Esso may make genuine Toyota Motor Oil, but that doesn't mean it's chemically identical to any Mobil or Esso oil you can by in an auto parts store or at Walmart. Toyota engineers make the decisions about the basestocks and additive package. Otherwise, Toyota would be legally liable for lying if it's claim that Toyota oil is "specially formulated by Toyota for Toyota vehicles" was false.

Yes both Toyota and Lexus dealer service departments commonly cut corners and do not use genuine fluids and lubes. The genuine stuff costs more so eats into service dept. profits. It's the American way to put profit ahead of quality. Fortunately, Toyota and Lexus owners who want to keep their cars running reliably for as long as possible can buy the genuine Toyota stuff in the dealer parts depts.

<VENOM>

Thanks for the info the autozone has Esso oil and fluid, it's cool to use that then cause I never new what it was or who made it, it seems to fly off the shelves