I have an appointment for 15K miles service on my 2005 GX tomorrow(Friday).
1. Should I follow Lexus manual or go with dealer recommended service?.
2. WHat are the things that I need to make sure while doing 15K service.

This GX is not used for towing/off road. It is equiped with KDSS if that make any difference.

Appreciate your response.

 

i would follow the manual

 

What is the difference in the two services? Anything special done at the 15000 mile service?

 

Just thought of sharing about my 15K service. Replaced the following items:
Oil & filter
Transmission fluid
Differential fluid
Cabin filter &
Inspection of other items

Paid: $269 + tax.

 

I thought the 05 have a long life Transmission fluid and Differential fluid. The cabin filter I would change my self and I can inspect all the item myself as well. So it sounds like just a oil change at 15000 miles.

 

depends on the dealers recommended service. some go by the book, others recommend additional services. compare the manual to your dealers service menu.

 

how do change the cabin filter ?
I'll be needing to do the 15,000 mile maintance ..

 

The cabin filter is behind the glove box. Look in the rear of the owners manual. It tells you how to do it. Easy stuff to do yourself and save the king's ransom you would have paid a dealership.

 

BobsGX thanks .. I'll be doing it myself.. !!

 

how about having to change the coolant ?? I asked the service person .. says the coolant is good for 100,000 miles.. I 've always done the coolant change every 3 years .. living in Wisconsin ..
any thoughts ?

 

I'm out in Utah on a trip (rental car, 07 Chevy Impala ugh), so I can't look in the owners manual, but I believe the owners manual says the coolant is good for 120 months or 100,000 miles. It is a long life coolant and I have heard from many technicians that Toyota has THE best coolant on the market.

 

just did entire dealer recommended 15K, cost $470

 

I think my 15K mile service was $299 plus whatever extra had to be done. Although I feel stupid complaining about servicing a $60K vehicle (LOADED) because my philosophy has also been that if you cannot afford to service a more expensive vehicle then don't buy one. My only problem is that I tend to expect more from Lexus. I had the unique experience of owning a $52K Acura RL (LOADED) before my GX and never, ever had costs anywhere near those above for service. I know this sounds crazy, but everytime I left the Acura dealership at Jerry Damson Acura in Huntsville, AL, I always thought that I should have paid more. Isn't that weird? I would rate the quality of customer service equal. Maybe Honda tends to take care of their customers with generally lower rates for customer service than Toyota. Unfortunately, Honda doesn't offer an SUV vehicle that is the total look and quality of the GX in my opinion, and I am including the newly designed Acura MDX. I could have bought either and chose the Lexus GX 470 and have not been disappointed. It is a bit of a quandry!

 

If you think Acura dealers have better customer service than Lexus, then you may want to try out another Lexus dealer. I traded in a MDX for the GX and the customer service between Acura and Lexus was night and day. Acura tends to give me a hard time about every problem I reported, where Lexus would try to address my concerns.
The way I look at these schedule maintenance is that, it is a profit generator for the dealers. Beside the fluid and belt changes. All the other stuff you can do yourself or skip. For example, I can top off the fluids myself and I do not need to check my brakes every 5000 miles. If my brakes starts to go, I think I would know.

 

15K service performed yesterday. Consisted of:

Oil change, filter and lube
Rotate Tires
Check fluids including steering box
Check frame bolts
Check ball joints and other suspension components
Check brakes

I specifically asked about the diff fluid (based on comments above, and my owners manual, which states it should be changed if "the vehicle is driven predominantly in desert conditions, dirt roads or for towing". They said they do not, as a matter of routine, change the diff fluid, and the SA mentioned the 100k life span...

Also, they did not change the cabin air filter (according to the manual, that was to have been performed at 10K... since I did that oil change, I'll have to pick up a filter and do that myself...)

Interestingly, my dealers documentation also said thhey would rebalance the front wheels only... I inquired and they said that was only for the "early ones"... I referenced the shimmy I've heard about and they said "Yeah, for that..."

BTW, total tab for 15K service was $198... $12 of that was disposal fee... what a crock, thats almost as much as the oil cost! ($17)...

Anyway, long story short, I plan to follow the manuals instructions... I figure I'll do all the intermittant oil changes (20K, 25K) and then take it in again for the 30K service...