Toys4RJill

I agree. I think IMO some of the issues of unreasonable expectations has to do with how people are spending so much these days for their cars, houses or whatever. When I was younger, the concept of Starbucks, IMAX prices for movies, iPhones, cell phone plans, and cars people drive and what they want in their cars today where not the same. The lifestyles of the young today seem to look a little better or more expensive when I was young. The concept of a BMW or Mercedes didn't exist for younger folks but today people seem to be getting into them at younger ages and with a higher lifestyle comes an ocrease in costs.

Like I said, something tells me the OP has a big issue with this dealer or sevice costs in general. I believe each state has a law on pricing when you get the invoice before you sign, the OP should of spotted the fee before he signed. Then left. The OP chose to stay.

UDel

When I got my timing belt done on my GS430 the Toyota dealership said they would do it for around $850 and I could use my own parts, it was cheaper just to let them use their own parts. The Lexus dealership quoted me at $1900 and said I could not use my own parts. Another Lexus dealership quoted me at $1600, it was a no brainer to use the Toyota dealership and I saved a ton of money, I actually paid less then the quote because I recently performed my own oil change and the job was done with no issues.

I don't mind paying a little extra at a Lexus dealership but more and more I keep hearing of outrageous costs and quotes that are just flat out gouging their customers. I could care less about a nicer waiting room, I normally just drop the car off and then have someone drive me back for any service that will take a long time.

Toys4RJill

Hard to believe anyone would pay those prices for a timing belt service at Lexus.

SW17LS

Believe it lol. Timing belt service at $1,600 on my 03 ES300 is what made me find my independent mechanic. Unfortunately, it was after I had it done I found him.

He just did the 45k, oil change and rotation and replaced the rear brakes on the LS for $350. A beautiful thing. Just the service at Lexus would have been $300. Brakes probably another $500.

BUT, I had to Uber a couple places instead of having a loner, but I can do that to save $500. Would I do it to save $50 or $100? Probably not.

mmarshall

Though there are some exceptions, in general, timing-belt replacement (and any other significant work done on the front end of the engine block) is more expensive in transverse-engined vehicles, simply because it is usually easier to reach those components when the engine lies north/south (longitudinal) in orientation, and a lot less labor is involved. With transverse engines, I've seen some cases where the engine actually had to be loosened on its mounts and shifted so the technicians could actually reach the front of it and remove the timing-belt cover.

Same with changing the rear bank of spark plugs on a transverse-mounted V6. That can be a b**ch......and sometimes require special tools. Fortunately, today's plugs (especially the platinum ones) don't have to be changed very often.

SW17LS

The cost from Lexus is not due to a transverse layout lol. We paid about the same for them to do the timing belt on the RWD LS400. It’s because Lexus labor rate is very high.

My independent would have done the timing belt for $800, half what I had paid Lexus.

mmarshall

The Lexus labor rate is indeed high, but probably not as high as on some competitors, especially Mercedes and Porsche. While Lexus may be an exception, it still doesn't change what I said about transverse engines often (but not always) being more difficult to work on.

Yes, but for half the price, would you have gotten a Lexus/Toyota, factory-certified belt, or a cheaper, aftermarket substitute that might or might not take the pressure or last as long? If you have an interference-engine (some vehicles have them, and some don't), the last thing you want is a broken belt....that can do some serious damage if pistons hit valves.

We sometimes see that in accident-claim-settlements with insurance companies...the insurance companies pushing aftermarket, generic body-parts because they are cheaper to replace. But the generics often don't have the same close fit, galvanizing, or corrosion-resistance as the factory originals.

Toys4RJill

I highly doubt a transverse engine is more expensive because of the layout. My 4Runner timing belt cost is $499 at Toyota and about $1000 if I do the water pump.

SW17LS

Lexus labor rates are every bit as high as Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, you name it. It is just as expensive to service a Lexus at the dealer as it is those makes.

Absolutely I would have. He uses all Lexus OEM parts, he was a Lexus master tech for 16 years before he opened his own shop, he owns 5 Lexus cars himself. The cost of the belt is a small fraction of the cost of the job, that job is ALL labor.

Its a timing belt...

mmarshall

In many cases, it makes sense to do the water pump at the same time...when you already have the front of the engine-block disassembled. Pat Goss, Motorweek's Lead Technician, has recommended that for a number of years.

Toys4RJill

That is well know common knowledge.

mmarshall

Among some of us here in Car Chat, yes.....but you would be surprised at the number who don't.

I'll say one thing for pure-electric cars,.....once they are perfected, with adequate battery-range, and get an adequate coast-to-coast recharging infrastructure, they are going to solve (or eliminate) many of the common maintenance/repair/replace headaches we go through today with internal-combustion engines.. Water pumps and timing-belts are just two of the MANY things underhood that are going to be eliminated.....probably too many of them for me to list here.

mmarshall

Not from what I've heard from actual Mercedes and/or Porsche owners (or people that have owned all three makes, including Lexus)...but I'll admit that's hearsay, as I have not personally owned a Mercedes or a Porsche myself. My experience, when I had my Lexus IS300 (that's when I joined CL, BTW) was that Lexus shops wanted more than Toyota shops for the same type of work...but less than the German makes. Of course, we both know an LS probably costs more to service than an IS.

BMW used to have an system that, in addition to addition to the nice lease-terms, probably explained a lot of the brand's' many 2-4 year leases. Offer basically free service/maintenance during that period, charge sky-high rates for cars that need repair once past the warranty period, and let those owners, wth their high service/repair bills, subsidize all of the free service that the new-BMW owners were getting. In other words, robbing Peter to pay Paul LOL.

Toys4RJill

newer cars have no timing belts. Most modern cars have gone to chains. Water pump should last the life of the car. Spark plugs last a lot longer than ever before. As for electric cars eliminating maintenance, it's not exactly like that. The cost of an electric car is a lot higher in almost every configuration It all offsets the costs. Plus, most modern cars have very limited maintenance needs for the first 10 years of the car.

Your new Buick LaCrosse should have minimal costs as per maintenance.

Toys4RJill

An BMW requires 4 services under the warranty period. None should be major. All oil changes. All built into the MSRP of the car. The service is not really free. I am a little surprised they went to this type of offering. Perhaps to keep the cars returning to BMW during the lease period to enhance resale. Don't know. Maybe?.

I always found Lexus vs Toyota very interesting. An Avalon needs no maintenance service at 16K service while the ES350 coming out of the same plant in Kentucky needs a full maintenance service. Then at 32K the ES requires a brake service with fluid change while the Avalon only needs a brake service. Maintanenxe schedules for cars are designed to extract a certain amount of dollars out of the customer at specific price points.