Advice for a first time Lexus RX 350 2013 owner
02-26-16, 08:02 AM
#1
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Advice for a first time Lexus RX 350 2013 owner
Can someone help me out?!
We are first time Lexus owners. My wife wants to keep up with the joneses and we got a new 2013 Lexus RX350 at the end of 2013 - a little over 2 years ago. It has 39K miles on it now
My wife brought it in for an oil change / rotate to the dealership.
They are saying it needs these things.
New tires - 1036
Alignment $200
Brake flush $175
Front brakes are gone $300 (normally 416)
Back brakes are almost gone / next oil change
PCV valve replace $50 (they say it's clogged / 'recommended' to be changed every 15 - 20K
Throttle body cleaning $100
googling the throttle body cleaning, I found some pages in this forum saying it's not needed now, if at all. And someone said 'stealership'. LOVE THAT!
PCV valve- I remember that working on my own cars 30 years ago - rattling it to see if it's gummed up. they still ahve them in these newer cars? they have problems at 40K?
The tires we'll do at Costco (and back to the dealer for the alignment?).
Is there a page here about what things are upsell so I don't have to scramble when they tell us what they say we need to do?
We are first time Lexus owners. My wife wants to keep up with the joneses and we got a new 2013 Lexus RX350 at the end of 2013 - a little over 2 years ago. It has 39K miles on it now
My wife brought it in for an oil change / rotate to the dealership.
They are saying it needs these things.
New tires - 1036
Alignment $200
Brake flush $175
Front brakes are gone $300 (normally 416)
Back brakes are almost gone / next oil change
PCV valve replace $50 (they say it's clogged / 'recommended' to be changed every 15 - 20K
Throttle body cleaning $100
googling the throttle body cleaning, I found some pages in this forum saying it's not needed now, if at all. And someone said 'stealership'. LOVE THAT!
PCV valve- I remember that working on my own cars 30 years ago - rattling it to see if it's gummed up. they still ahve them in these newer cars? they have problems at 40K?
The tires we'll do at Costco (and back to the dealer for the alignment?).
Is there a page here about what things are upsell so I don't have to scramble when they tell us what they say we need to do?
Last edited by babaganoos; 02-26-16 at 08:09 AM. Reason: update
02-26-16, 10:31 AM
#2
Intermediate
I suggest getting routine maintenance done at a Toyota dealership. Without you asking, they're likely to look things over, recommend what might else be needed. I wouldn't be surprised if their
list of suggested work was considerably shorter than what the Lexus dealer recommended.
Bottom line is you have to have a repair facility you know you can trust.
list of suggested work was considerably shorter than what the Lexus dealer recommended.
Bottom line is you have to have a repair facility you know you can trust.
02-26-16, 11:34 AM
#3
I'd say none of these things, except possibly the front brakes and the OEM tires (mine were Dunlops, and I swapped them out at 44k miles). They should give you the thickness of the pads in mm readings - but have you noticed any softness in braking? Or squealing? If not, I'd ignore them - and yes, take it to the local Toyota dealer for a checkup and see what they say.
- Rear brakes will probably be fine until 100k+ miles; most of the wear is on the front.
- PCV valve and throttle body at 40k is ridiculous.
- Replace brake fluid is recommended in the manual at (I think) 90k or 100k miles.
I'd recommend that you look in the owners' manual for the recommended maintenance log, and follow that. Tires from TireRack or Costco; I'd go to a specialty alignment shop for that as well (I just recently had mine aligned, and it was $90).
- Rear brakes will probably be fine until 100k+ miles; most of the wear is on the front.
- PCV valve and throttle body at 40k is ridiculous.
- Replace brake fluid is recommended in the manual at (I think) 90k or 100k miles.
I'd recommend that you look in the owners' manual for the recommended maintenance log, and follow that. Tires from TireRack or Costco; I'd go to a specialty alignment shop for that as well (I just recently had mine aligned, and it was $90).
02-27-16, 06:09 AM
#4
Sounds like gouging at its best.
Can someone help me out?!
We are first time Lexus owners. My wife wants to keep up with the joneses and we got a new 2013 Lexus RX350 at the end of 2013 - a little over 2 years ago. It has 39K miles on it now
My wife brought it in for an oil change / rotate to the dealership.
They are saying it needs these things.
New tires - 1036
Alignment $200
Brake flush $175
Front brakes are gone $300 (normally 416)
Back brakes are almost gone / next oil change
PCV valve replace $50 (they say it's clogged / 'recommended' to be changed every 15 - 20K
Throttle body cleaning $100
googling the throttle body cleaning, I found some pages in this forum saying it's not needed now, if at all. And someone said 'stealership'. LOVE THAT!
PCV valve- I remember that working on my own cars 30 years ago - rattling it to see if it's gummed up. they still ahve them in these newer cars? they have problems at 40K?
The tires we'll do at Costco (and back to the dealer for the alignment?).
Is there a page here about what things are upsell so I don't have to scramble when they tell us what they say we need to do?
We are first time Lexus owners. My wife wants to keep up with the joneses and we got a new 2013 Lexus RX350 at the end of 2013 - a little over 2 years ago. It has 39K miles on it now
My wife brought it in for an oil change / rotate to the dealership.
They are saying it needs these things.
New tires - 1036
Alignment $200
Brake flush $175
Front brakes are gone $300 (normally 416)
Back brakes are almost gone / next oil change
PCV valve replace $50 (they say it's clogged / 'recommended' to be changed every 15 - 20K
Throttle body cleaning $100
googling the throttle body cleaning, I found some pages in this forum saying it's not needed now, if at all. And someone said 'stealership'. LOVE THAT!
PCV valve- I remember that working on my own cars 30 years ago - rattling it to see if it's gummed up. they still ahve them in these newer cars? they have problems at 40K?
The tires we'll do at Costco (and back to the dealer for the alignment?).
Is there a page here about what things are upsell so I don't have to scramble when they tell us what they say we need to do?
02-28-16, 06:23 AM
#5
Moderator
I agree and will add that the brake fluid should be flushed/changed every 2 or 3 years as recommended by Toyota because it absorbs water which leads to corrosion internally of expensive brake components. However their price is too high. It can be done by any competent independent shop. I got mine done at the independent place that installed the tires I got at Tire Rack and had shipped to them. Brake fluid flush $125 and alignment was $95. Always get an alignment with new tires.
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02-29-16, 03:51 PM
#8
Intermediate
Can someone help me out?!
We are first time Lexus owners. My wife wants to keep up with the joneses and we got a new 2013 Lexus RX350 at the end of 2013 - a little over 2 years ago. It has 39K miles on it now
My wife brought it in for an oil change / rotate to the dealership.
They are saying it needs these things.
New tires - 1036
Alignment $200
Brake flush $175
Front brakes are gone $300 (normally 416)
Back brakes are almost gone / next oil change
PCV valve replace $50 (they say it's clogged / 'recommended' to be changed every 15 - 20K
Throttle body cleaning $100
googling the throttle body cleaning, I found some pages in this forum saying it's not needed now, if at all. And someone said 'stealership'. LOVE THAT!
PCV valve- I remember that working on my own cars 30 years ago - rattling it to see if it's gummed up. they still ahve them in these newer cars? they have problems at 40K?
The tires we'll do at Costco (and back to the dealer for the alignment?).
Is there a page here about what things are upsell so I don't have to scramble when they tell us what they say we need to do?
We are first time Lexus owners. My wife wants to keep up with the joneses and we got a new 2013 Lexus RX350 at the end of 2013 - a little over 2 years ago. It has 39K miles on it now
My wife brought it in for an oil change / rotate to the dealership.
They are saying it needs these things.
New tires - 1036
Alignment $200
Brake flush $175
Front brakes are gone $300 (normally 416)
Back brakes are almost gone / next oil change
PCV valve replace $50 (they say it's clogged / 'recommended' to be changed every 15 - 20K
Throttle body cleaning $100
googling the throttle body cleaning, I found some pages in this forum saying it's not needed now, if at all. And someone said 'stealership'. LOVE THAT!
PCV valve- I remember that working on my own cars 30 years ago - rattling it to see if it's gummed up. they still ahve them in these newer cars? they have problems at 40K?
The tires we'll do at Costco (and back to the dealer for the alignment?).
Is there a page here about what things are upsell so I don't have to scramble when they tell us what they say we need to do?
Brake fluid does needs changing about every 30k miles or 3years even if the dealers say other-wise.
The PCV valve could need changing since they can start to get sticky around 30k mile.
Personally I would take my car to Toyota if you do not want to repair/replace the items yourself since they can do the same work cheaper.
I buy my oil filters from Toyota since the same filter cost $5 at Toyota and about $8 at my local Lexus dealership.
I would not even bother with the throttle body cleaning with less than 40k miles, or even 150k miles.
03-03-16, 10:53 AM
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Thank you all for your comments!!
Please check this out.
So the service advisor called my wife saying the tires had 1/32 on them. We declined that and told them to skip the tire rotation since the tires were so far gone.
My wife picked up the car and they had charged us for the rotation : )
But worse... we took the car to Costco.
They measured the tread depth and came up with 5/32 on 3 tires and 7/32 on another tire. The dealer had replaced 1 tire because of damage to the sidewall.
Looking at the 'multipoint check', it said 3/32 for all the tires
and there was notation about clogged PCV and throttle body deposits.
And look at how they wrote up the work - Client states replace PCV. - shouldn't it be 'we found PCV clogged and client states replace?' if it's them suggesting it be replaced?
Is this all a scam / upsell to a woman bringing in her lexus? And this was the end of the month - 'Hey service advisor - your sales this month are low...'
Call me jaded. But am I wrong?
And get this - we brought this to Lexus Corp. Seems they tossed it back to the dealer and they offered.... to replace the tires for free. Morons! The tires don't need to be replaced at all.
Just swear off the dealership? Is there a 'shame on you' department for Lexus? although they don't seem to care.
Please check this out.
So the service advisor called my wife saying the tires had 1/32 on them. We declined that and told them to skip the tire rotation since the tires were so far gone.
My wife picked up the car and they had charged us for the rotation : )
But worse... we took the car to Costco.
They measured the tread depth and came up with 5/32 on 3 tires and 7/32 on another tire. The dealer had replaced 1 tire because of damage to the sidewall.
Looking at the 'multipoint check', it said 3/32 for all the tires
and there was notation about clogged PCV and throttle body deposits.
And look at how they wrote up the work - Client states replace PCV. - shouldn't it be 'we found PCV clogged and client states replace?' if it's them suggesting it be replaced?
Is this all a scam / upsell to a woman bringing in her lexus? And this was the end of the month - 'Hey service advisor - your sales this month are low...'
Call me jaded. But am I wrong?
And get this - we brought this to Lexus Corp. Seems they tossed it back to the dealer and they offered.... to replace the tires for free. Morons! The tires don't need to be replaced at all.
Just swear off the dealership? Is there a 'shame on you' department for Lexus? although they don't seem to care.
03-03-16, 01:14 PM
#10
Moderator
Although this dealer is never to be trusted again, If they are offering free tire replacement to make up for being jerks (I trust you meant replacement and did not mean rotation) I would accept!
The inspection also indicates your front brakes are very worn and the rear brakes partly worn. Those should be inspected by someone else you trust. Inspecting brake pads is very simple, as is their replacement. It is one of the highest profit jobs at any repair shop.
The inspection also indicates your front brakes are very worn and the rear brakes partly worn. Those should be inspected by someone else you trust. Inspecting brake pads is very simple, as is their replacement. It is one of the highest profit jobs at any repair shop.
03-03-16, 01:21 PM
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sorry, yes, he pitched and we took him up on the front brake job. I think that was in the first post.
Yes, they are offering replacement:
I would like to set up an appointment to take another look at your RX to inspect the tires. Based on our finding we will replace all four tires as a good will jester. Let me know when it’s convenient to bring the vehicle to our service department.
jester is how he spells it.
I feel it's a joke / they are further jerks - the tires are fine (or maybe he won't replace them because they are fine in contrast to them telling me they were bald.
re-reading this makes me wonder what he meant.
Yes, they are offering replacement:
I would like to set up an appointment to take another look at your RX to inspect the tires. Based on our finding we will replace all four tires as a good will jester. Let me know when it’s convenient to bring the vehicle to our service department.
jester is how he spells it.
I feel it's a joke / they are further jerks - the tires are fine (or maybe he won't replace them because they are fine in contrast to them telling me they were bald.
re-reading this makes me wonder what he meant.
03-03-16, 02:16 PM
#12
Moderator
Well it never hurts to find out. Regarding the PCV valve it is just like your cars 30 years ago. I have been working on my own cars for 40 years. It plugs into one of the valve covers. You can get an OEM one on eBay for $6.81 shipped http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOYOTA-OEM-P...ZVokDc&vxp=mtr
I have one in my garage but keep forgetting to install it as it is so cold....
I have one in my garage but keep forgetting to install it as it is so cold....
03-03-16, 02:24 PM
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Interesting to know it hasn't changed.
But more importantly - how would they know that it was clogged and throttle body had deposits?! It's got 37K? miles. It's running fine / my wife brought it in for an oil change and tire rotation.
Those things aren't noted in the multipoint inspection. But yet the sleazvisor says they need to be dealt with.
But more importantly - how would they know that it was clogged and throttle body had deposits?! It's got 37K? miles. It's running fine / my wife brought it in for an oil change and tire rotation.
Those things aren't noted in the multipoint inspection. But yet the sleazvisor says they need to be dealt with.
03-03-16, 03:00 PM
#14
I hate going to dealerships - period.
I started a long career in the automotive industry as a mechanic - and I saw then what hasn't changed yet - dishonesty at worst -- overselling at best.
I just had my tires replaced at a Sarasota Lexus dealership; and they cost $1,200 or so - including a discounted $100 four-wheel alignment. They treated me very well; and I trusted their service. I plan to use them again next year.
I started a long career in the automotive industry as a mechanic - and I saw then what hasn't changed yet - dishonesty at worst -- overselling at best.
I just had my tires replaced at a Sarasota Lexus dealership; and they cost $1,200 or so - including a discounted $100 four-wheel alignment. They treated me very well; and I trusted their service. I plan to use them again next year.
I've used Wilde Lexus in Sarasota for probobly 10 years now and have been very happy with them. In fact the service writer talks me out of some items. I was having an issue with throttle response and missing with moderate throttle on my '08 SC430. I asked them to do a throttle body cleaning and the service advisor told me to save my money. It ended up being bad gas that took a few tanks to run through.
Our service advisor calls us all by our first names, including our dog, who loves to go to Wilde Lexus.
03-03-16, 03:15 PM
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flyct - sure, when you have a repore like that, then you can feel comfortable. But when most people come in, there's just a business relationship. I wish I had the relationship you have with them.
In the meantime. lexus says they want to bring the car back to the dealer so they can see the tire depth. First they wanted my wife to bring it there. then we'lll flat bed it'. Then when we said we didn't want that sleazy dealer to have their hands near it. we'll flatbed it to another dealer 20 miles away.
WTF. They want to waste the money on a tow and we want to risk the car getting scratched up loading / unloading on the flatbed? Just check the tread depth with a penny at my wife's office. It's BLATANTLY obvious it's not 1/32 left. More like 5 - 7/32.
Even Lexus is just dragging out confronting the dealer - how the hell do you say these are bald tires. We saw them and they have loads of tread. I guess they don't care like I would have hoped they would. Yeah, we've sworn off that dealer, but this is showing Lexus' bad side too.
I personally drive Honda cars. It's my wife's lexus.... what's the Accura equvalent to RX350?
In the meantime. lexus says they want to bring the car back to the dealer so they can see the tire depth. First they wanted my wife to bring it there. then we'lll flat bed it'. Then when we said we didn't want that sleazy dealer to have their hands near it. we'll flatbed it to another dealer 20 miles away.
WTF. They want to waste the money on a tow and we want to risk the car getting scratched up loading / unloading on the flatbed? Just check the tread depth with a penny at my wife's office. It's BLATANTLY obvious it's not 1/32 left. More like 5 - 7/32.
Even Lexus is just dragging out confronting the dealer - how the hell do you say these are bald tires. We saw them and they have loads of tread. I guess they don't care like I would have hoped they would. Yeah, we've sworn off that dealer, but this is showing Lexus' bad side too.
I personally drive Honda cars. It's my wife's lexus.... what's the Accura equvalent to RX350?