M A I N T E N A N C E
❏ Replace engine oil and oil filter
❏ Inspect nuts and bolts on chassis
❏ Measure brake pad thickness and rotor runout
❏ Measure thickness of brake rotors (GS 430, IS)
❏ Replace air conditioner filter
❏ Replace brake fluid
❏ Replace engine air filter
❏ Re-torque axle shaft flange bolts (all models except ES)
❏ Rotate tires (all models except IS with different size front and rear tires)
❏ Road-test vehicle

Looks to me like a fairly minor service with the exception of changing the brake fluid.

Is there a diagram or DIY somewhere that shows where the axle shaft flange bolts are and what the torque specs are?

I assume air conditioning filter is the same as cabin air filter? I know there's a DIY for this (note to self - put system in recirculate mode).

 

Nice summary of the 30K service. What's the dealer want to charge for this?

 

sound like a 200+ dollars.

 

Yea, but what do they really charge at the dealer?

 

The dealer will ask for $400 +

 

price is slightly different from dealer to dealer
but it's pretty much 400~600+
Not worth of money IMO..

 

It's all labor 90 an hour. 2 hrs is 180 already plus another 200 for over prices parts. Yup 400 up. They don't get the name stealership for nothing. DIY FTW!!

 

I haven't even checked with the dealer yet. I'll bet it's north of $400. I think I'll get a quote from an independent Toyota mechanic that I know and trust.

 

Dealership wanted $600 for 30k service.

This is what I'm going to do for my "30k service":

~$42 Engine Filter, AC Filter (SEWELL, install myself)
~$65 Oil Change (Dealership)
~$90 Brake Fluid Change (local shop)

 

that's all that actually needs to be done... all the rest is BS for the dealer to mark the bill up a ton without actually doing anything extra

 

How about "Re-torque axle shaft flange bolts (all models except ES)"? Is that BS as well?

I agree exactly with Coconut about the other stuff. And, I think my guy who does the brake bleed will also check the brakes for free.

 

A while back someone mentioned they'd spoken with a Lexus tech who said in the years and on all the cars he'd been doing scheduled maintenance he'd never ever seen a single bolt that was actually loose for that item... so I file it in the BS category personally.

 

I dug into that quite a bit when I bought the car back in 2006. Most techs and service writers will look at you like you have two heads if you even mention that item, and it's listed at EVERY 5k service. It's Lexus' way of getting you to show up for their "specialized" service.

Incidentally, a tech mentioned on another forum that the axle flange bolt is torqued to hundreds of pounds, and would never loosen on it's own without some pretty significant help.

As others have mentioned here, do the filters yourself, get the brake fluid drained and flushed, and do an oil change. If you order these things a la carte and avoid ever saying "30k service" to the service drone, you'll avoid hundreds of dollars in extra service fees that amount to little more than the techs allowing your car to sit in the service bay for an extra hour or two.

"Inspect nuts and bolts on chassis"...that's just priceless.