I recently received a 08 GS 350 from my dad and when I took it to the dealership for some work to be done the dealership told me that the car was overdue for a major service maintenance because of its mileage (108k). He said it should've been done at 90k/100k.
I was quoted nearly $2k for the entire service package which I am sure included a lot of unnecessary frills. This seemed a bit ridiculous so here I am hoping you guys can provide some answers as to what actually needs to be done and if it would be a bad idea to have it done at a local shop to save some money. As far as I know only minor maintenance has been done on the car the entire time my dad owned it (oil change, replace brake pads, some new tires).

Please leave a comment if you have experience with a similar situation. Thanks!

 

Welcome to the club!

I did my 90k service myself, so I can't speak to whether 2 grand is normal. I would guess not though since I don't remember it involving a huge amount of time or replacement of expensive parts. Maybe you need brakes or shocks or water pump replaced? Those services can be quite expensive at the dealer.

Could you post what exactly they recommend you have done?

And generally, any independent shop will have better prices than the dealer, though I wouldn't take my car to a shop unless it specialized in Toyota/Lexus.

 

$2k is nuts. These cars have timing chains so no timing belt is involved. A few things to look at would be water pump, suspension components, PCV, radiator hoses, serpentine belt, brake fluid, tranny fluid and coolant. not sure if RWD or AWD but replace differential gear oil as well

 

It depends, depends on what may or may not have been done in prior service work. What exactly have they proposed to do for the $2K?

I spent around $800 for that service, which included coolant and trans flush, rear diff fluid change and 4 wheel alignment.

 

I have a 430 and I ordered a timing kit, hoses, plugs and changed the tranny and differential fluid.

U may consider the dealer for the tranny and differential change. When u consider the costs of the fluid it's not that bad. However, seek a reputable shop for the other repairs as the deader will sitck it to you.

 

Maybe the spark plugs, break fluid, coolant, air filter and cabin, differential fluid, alignment etc..

 

My car has 70K so I was wondering what needed to get done and found your thread. I then went through the manual and did not find much in the way of things to do. If they have not been done, the manual says Change Brake Fluid, Coolant, Spark Plugs, Oil Change. Then "inspect" brakes, differential fluid transmission fluid. That is just to get you current. and I did not spot a 90K interval with all these at once, they are spaced out.

The only way I could see 2K is if they did all that and all your brakes, and to me that is still on the high side, but I do my own brakes.


I will say that sealed transmissions to me are a problem and I would discuss having the fluid changed. Do a drain and fill for a a few hundred . The drain and fill will get you about five new quarts, but read up on that. I actually had my oil pan replaced so I got what I hope is most of it replaced at 50K. Our tranny holds something like 12 quarts and I remember the fluid being expensive. Do a few drain and fills and eventually you will have 98% new fluid.

Did you find out what the Dealer was quoting you?

 

At an independent mechanic, I spent just over $400 for brake fluid bleed and replace, tranny + diff fluid drain and fill, induction system cleaning, and spark plug+tune up. + $120 for spark plugs for OEM/Denso spark plugs that I had to find myself. Independently, I did my own brakes. All in, it was still quite under $1000, basically... other than buying the car, I am not sure why you would go to dealer, obviously any dealer has mark up, and for "premium brand" the markup is even more so you have nice coffee, leather couches, and classical music rather than a waiting room that feels like a public transit bus stop.... you decide if that is something worth paying for.

 

My dealer has free donuts and fresh cookies. Can you explain the induction system cleaning?

 

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I am joking... but really, I did not verify exactly what my mechanic did, but it supposedly was cleaning of throttle body (that can be as basic as spraying above can, to as complex as taking it off and cleaning it by hand as I did on my old car), sea foam or some other cleaning of the intake manifold.
The theory is to clean the the airway into the car from carbon build up... I do it because I am OCD, i am pretty sure it does nothing... although on my old car, build up in the idle air bypass valve, caused it to stall when cold and idling at a light...a little stepper motor was getting stuck.

It shouldn't run you more than $100 at an independent mechanic, if you are doing other work around intake/spark plugs they may give you a discount although it really doesn't involve much else than putting some sort of cleaning agent through the intake/injectors

 

yea most of that stuff you can do your self. I recently changed the water pump, spark plugs, ignition coils and the egr valve, cause while changing the plugs, I broke the stem of the egr valve trying to remove it.

 

Is there an interval on the Water Pump and coils or is it one of those things people have found to be necessary over time?

 

Did they want to flush your power steering fluid too?