new_berlin

Are changing brakepads, tires, and basic tasks as easy as in regular cars? Basically, i'm trying to determine if a car like this will have to go into a shop for even basic things.

On a related note, I came across a couple of used 6-year old 250h, neither of which have has any maintenance (ie not even oil changes) at all done with a lexus facility. Is that something to be concerned about? When a vehicle is new and under warranty why would anyone not do basic maintenance at a dealer?

Magellan55

I own a 2010 with ~95k miles on it. Brake pads are still fine, so no idea if there's anything special about that, though I doubt it as they appear to be typical disk brakes, just lasting a lot longer given they don't work as hard. I'm on my third set of tires, and had Discount Tire do them - nothing out of the ordinary just the typical aluminum wheels (i.e. don't let some gas station guy mount them on a rig that's meant for steel wheels). I also don't see why oil changes are different, and several folks on this forum do their own. Air cleaner is normal too, and cabin air filter. So far I just haven't hit any service that I would consider "special". But I understand that at 120k you have to replace the battery coolant, so I'm guessing that requires special tools. And the 12v battery is hard to find outside the dealer - we just had a thread on that here.

As for your second question, I don't think where the service was done matters at all as long as there's some proof that it was done. The reason they didn't go to Lexus was the cost - dealer charges ~$150 for an oil change and "40 point inspection"! And only the first oil change is free. After that, much cheaper to have an independent shop do it. But hey, you get a "free" loaner car or private office to use while your car is serviced at Lexus, so it all depends on what your time is worth.

Good luck! It's been a nice car to own. Not the sportiest, but pleasant to drive. I plan to keep mine and give it to my kids for high school and college. And used ones are super-good deals given the stigma of them no longer being sold in the US.

new_berlin

Thanks for the response, much appreciated.
I've been getting dealership oil changes on my es300s for $60, what's so special about the hs oil change that it costs $180?!

Magellan55

the big kicker is labor - like 3/4 of an hour @ $132/hr. $35 for the 0W20 full synthetic oil. $10 for filter and gasket. $5 for the key fob battery. And $15 or so for "shop supplies and environmental fees". And then 7% tax. Labor includes rotating the tires, topping off fluids, "inspecting" everything, etc. Yeah it's a real luxury item to go to the dealer for this rather than do it yourself or go to jiffy lube. For a while I also went there for the 5k services that didn't even include an oil change, and those were $80. Stopped doing those after the newness wore off and I felt sure this hybrid stuff was working fine

TheAirman

And those are the key words, "hybrid stuff".

That's the only real difference between working on the HS and a "regular" car. The hybrid stuff. The inverter, traction battery, battery cooler, inverter water cooling system, electric brake system, electric air conditioning, electric steering, no alternator, etc. Those are some of the differences. Stuff like brake pads, oil and filter and everything else related is all the same to work on and you can do it yourself if you are handy.

The hybrid related stuff, you might want to have an understanding of the systems, or take it to the dealer, or get yourself a manual. And plus the HS is a very complex, computer related car and some of the things can only be fixed by the dealer Techstream computer.

GS300ken

I got my premium for over 3 years and put on over 60k miles. Most of maintenance works are easy since I like to work on my cars. I just change all the brakes using Brembo rotors and Lexus OEM pads yesterday. The procedure is the same as regular car. I still have about 30% pads left at 87k miles from factory pads but the rotors are thin.

I always changed oil with mobil 1 0w20 and mobil 1 extended filter every 10k miles. Just switched to penzoil ultra platinum 0w20 and bosch distance plus filter. The hs250 is running smooth with penzoil. Replaced 12v battery with OEM one, plushed brake fluid, replaced toyo tires from factory with cooper cs5. That is all I done.

Clutchless

You should change the transmission fluid at around 50,000 miles. It is a simple drain and fill like a manual transmission. It holds about 4 quarts of Toyota WS ATF. You just fill it up until it overflows the fill hole. There are other threads that discuss this.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hs-...fluid-now.html

I changed mine at 25,000 and will do it again at the next oil change at 52,000. The ATF is about $9 a quart at my local Toyota dealer but have seen at for $7 at other dealers.

TheAirman

Good advice.
Here is the how to from the manual in case people want to do it themselves.

HYBRID TRANSAXLE FLUID.pdf