I plan on doing most of the oil changes on my car myself as the dealership is 1.5 hours away. does anybody know how that will affect the warranty?

 

If you do your own make sure to save all receipts for oil, filters etc.

A lot of Toyota dealerships will service ES350's, usually at a lower cost than a Lexus dealership.

 

Keep receipts, document the day / miles you change the oil. Update the car's maintenance record if you have the navigation system.

 

The manual says you can do it yourself without repercussions on the warranty. I have done mine on new cars for 30 years running, but then I have never had an warranty claim that was related to maintanence.

 

My dealer is an hour away and he ask me today why I drove down to get my 5K service done. He said they would pick up my car and give me a loaner if I wanted. All I had to do was call and make the appointment.

 

By law it cannot affect the warranty. Just record that the work was done.

 

Lexus initially was going to deny a $4,000+ claim to rebuild the entire braking system because they couldn't find in the computer where I had an oil change at a Lexus dealership. A Lexus dealership had put transmission fluid in the brake fluid reservoir which completely demolished the braking system. They were claiming that the last place I had the oil changed must have made the mistake with the fluid and as a result they would not cover it since it wasn't a Lexus dealership. They changed their mind when I presented the paperwork showing it was Lexus who had changed the oil. I have first hand experience proving that they will not stand behind what is printed in the manual. I would recommend only a Lexus dealership service your car until the warranty period is up.

 

Pestle, The reason I don't take my car to the dealer is precisely because of what happened to you! Look at what you are saying! You took your car to a Lexus dealer and they put in the wrong fluids. Then they tried to blame it on someone else. And still you take your car back to these goof offs for more?

 

I have had all of my cars maintained by a local Gulf oil garage and I am right there in the garage by the car while they are servicing (friends of all owners there). They keep computerized records of all the services.

 

Other then oil/filter changes and top up of other fluids there isn't to much to maintaining these cars. On my 2008 which had 20,000 miles all I did was 1 dealer oil change and 3 myself. Didn't need to do anything else so I suspect I'll follow the same procedure with the 2010. Tire rotation and brake pad changes are relatively simple so I'll do them as needed. All I do is keep a running spreadsheet on what has been done to the car along with a folder of the receipts. Keep it simple.