RLM

I own a 2013 RH450 in near new condition with only 22k miles. The Maintenance Light has come on. The car only has 22k miles. The Lexus dealership said I needed the 30K service and is trying to charge me about $500 for a list of checks and inspections. This is a complete rip off.


Other Lexus owners voice similar concerns with the Lexus warranty service programs.

My Toyota dealership has offered to do the inspection check for 1/2 the price.

How do I get the car serviced checked and maintain the basic Lexus warranty program.

This service issue is enough to make me go back to buying BMW or other cars that do service as part of the warranty.

Please advise,

NateJG

Why?

What's the source for your list? The list I go by is the one in my book (above).

My 2013h' light comes on 5K miles or so after I have it serviced - which I do every 5K miles (I have the oil changed then, as opposed to 10,000 mile intervals).

I have the final vote as to what gets serviced on my dime; and find that I can reduce that to a nickel by having it serviced at the nearby Toyota dealership (no scone for my coffee, however).

vlad_a

5K reminders are there on all of Toyota vehicles to get you to the service department.
That's where the dealer will try to sell you their services. Most not necessary.
Go by what's in the manual. It's pretty much changing oil every 10K miles.

kitlz

RLM, are you registered on Lexus.com? In there is a place for service history. You can add anything you have done outside the dealership. Keep the receipts. That's your proof the 450h was maintained and should avoid warranty issues.

Maintenance lights will come at certain mileage, not necessarily when needed. Here are the instructions to turn off the one for changing the oil. Even though Lexus went synthetic with 10K intervals, the light still comes on every 5K miles. It takes 10 seconds to make it disappear. I think the one for maintenance can be reset through the nav screen.

Service recommendations are based on mileage or time, whichever comes first. Maybe you're close to 36 months and could explain why the dealer said you should get it done. Any good SA will take out unnecessary items. But you're free to take it anywhere you please. Toyota is good alternative since the parts are the same. I don't you can do that with BMW

airboss

I had a friend with an old RX tell me today that the local Toyota dealer told him they couldn't work on his RX years ago. Any one know if that is Toyota policy, etc?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

They can work on his vehicle as far as maintenance goes. It's only warranty work that cannot be done at Toyota.

FLYCT

You are not obligated to use Lexus to do maintenance to maintain warranty.

Personally I would go to your Toyota dealer and ask them to do just do an oil change, tire rotation and brake fluid replacement. Then I would buy and replace the engine air filter and cabin air filter myself.

Keep receipts and you're good to go.

That's what I do. In fact when I use Toyota they report on CarFax the maintenance they completed.

FLYCT

Here's a CarFax printout of service performed on my previous CT200h. You can see the Toyota synthetic oil change that only cost me $24.16 with a coupon on 5/18/15.

Clutchless

It is in the federal law called the Magnusson Moss warranty act that you can take your car anywhere for regular maintenance and that is sufficient to support the warranty requirements. The dealers do not have a monopoly on servicing your car while under warranty and cannot require that only their brand parts be used in maintenance. As long as you have records to prove that the work was done according to the manufacturer's recommended schedule they cannot deny a warranty claim for a related failure.
http://www.autoanything.com/popups/MossWarranty.aspx