I purchased a 2024 ES350 back in January of 2024. I also got the 5 year 60,000 mile maintenance package. The paperwork lists what gets done at each 6 month visit for the next 5 years. When I scheduled the first visit (6 months or 5,000 miles), I was at 6 months but still short of 5,000 miles...I have a pretty short commute each day. The service advisor said I was late and I should schedule my 1 year, 10,000 mile visit in October regardless of what my mileage actually is (October 2023 is the month the dealership received the car). My paperwork clearly states the start and end dates of the maintenance agreement (Jan 2024 - Dec 2028), and here we are in November and I'm still not near 10,000 miles yet. I plan to wait until January to go in for my 1 year (even though I'll still be shy of 10,000 miles). Has anyone else experienced the dealership trying to time service visits from the date they received the car instead of the purchase date?

 

Purchase date.

 

It make sense form rcv date by time. But my dealer also schedule by purchase date.

 

Yes same with me...They want me to come in for a 6 month or 5,000 mile service. I have done maybe 2,000 miles. The thng is my free services are for 4 years . So if I don't go in then they just keep it.....

 

Like you, I'm a low milage driver so the maintenance is on the 6 month time interval schedule. The first (complementary) maintenance was performed within a day or two of 6 months from date of purchase and continuing at 6 month intervals afterward. Never has a service advisor or service reminder notice suggested any time interval service on other than 6 month anniversaries from the date of purchase.

For all but time based maintenance service intervals, you can find Lexus's specifying time based intervals starting with the "vehicle’s in-service date". The XXXX Lexus ES YYYY Warranty and Services Guide's "When Warranty Begins" has this definition of in-service date:
If one assumes the time based maintenance service interval uses the "vehicle’s in-service date" as the initial start date then your time based intervals should be based on your date of purchase/delivered to you 6 month anniversary dates unless the dealership was using it as company car (e.g., loaner car) or demonstrator.

Assuming it is the Lexus maintenance package you purchased, I believe you, as a low milage driver, should be getting sent from Lexus Financial Services a scheduled service reminder card approximately one month before each six month anniversary vehicle in-service date. If you have received and are continuing to receive those reminder cards, that's Lexus's reminder that there's a forthcoming time interval or milage maintenance service milestone that you have prepaid for. Regardless what a service advisor is telling you, that is the time interval maintenance events that Lexus has contracted with you to provide. I'm not sure how large a time window around the Lexus recommended maintenance service time there is before you get outside of what will be covered as a Lexus recommended maintenance service item. (If you read the fine print of the Lexus maintenance package, only the Lexus recommended maintenance items at Lexus recommended maintenance intervals are covered. Any additional maintenance servicing beyond that even if recommended by a Lexus authorized service advisor is explicitly not covered.)

 

I can’t think of any new car purchase that I’ve made where the date the dealer received the car was used for anything. “In service date” has always meant the day the purchase was made by the car owner.

You didn’t indicate who at the dealer told you differently but I would be escalating that interpretation if I had invested in the maintenance agreement.

 

It was the service advisor that I was assigned to. I'm not sure they are going to really make a bid deal about it, I just found it odd that they even referenced October since I didn't buy the car until January. The car only had 37 total miles on it so I don't believe they were using it as any kind of loaner or "dealership" car.

I'll make my 12 month appointment for late December or January and see what they say this time (I'll still be under 10,000 miles).

 

Very simple. Sign into lexus.com my lexus and look at vehicle specs and it will show you date of first use and will show you date when bought and if different you bought a used car.

 

For quite some time now, the lexus. com web site's vehicle specs feature hasn't been working. When I submitted a complaint about it, the response I got back was something like "we've temporarily removed that capability and are working to bring it back at some time in the future" and the future hasn't yet arrived (or at least it hasn't for my ES in my account).

You can still get your Lexus vehicle's specs with the The Lexus app. From a vehicle's main display page, click/tap the "Info" button, on the next display page click/tap the "Glovebox" item, and on the next display page click/tap "Specs & Capabilities" which will then display a "Vehicle Info" page with the "Specifications" tab selected where scrolling down a bit you'll find the "Date of First Use" entry.

 

Thanks. Date of First use is showing a 1/1/24, so it seems I'm in the clear and the Service Advisor was just wrong. The list of service history actions does date back to October of 2023, but those are all "Pre Delivery Inspection" and "Sublet to Detail".

 

I checked before I posted. Is your vin added as a vehicle? Under manage vehicles

 

Thanks to the people who added to this thread. The instruction in post #9 worked. I looked at the date of first use for my ES350 in my Lexus app. It says 14May24 instead of 13Jul24, the date I bought the car. My purchase agreement says the car was new with 170 miles when I bought it. I sent an email to the managers at the selling dealership and asked them to explain and whether they can correct the date if it was their error. I hate to lose two months of my twelve months of free service and want to know if I have to get my twelve-month service in May or July next year.

 

The date of first use also determines when the trial periods for your vehicle's subscriptions ends and the various vehicle warranties' coverage periods . Two months difference may not seem like much but Remote Connect is $8 per month and Drive Connect is $16 per month (all US and US$ prices).

 

Hmm... My ES is showing in my My Lexus account with the correct VIN and it is the only vehicle in the account.

I don't have a clue as to why it is just my ES which My Lexus won't display the vehicle specification for it but the Lexus app will.

 

Could be browser. Mobil browsers are terrible about not containing all info. On laptop or desktop try turning off add blocker if on. I use chrome on laptop. Also clear history and cache in browser. Try deleting car and adding back on. I even see specs for my 2001 LS430UL.