Hey everyone, this is my first car so I have NO idea what are the pro and cons maintainencing my car at a Dealership or Companies like Midas etc etc...

I tried searching but nothing came up

My car is at 29,000 KM that is roughly 18k Mi and the maintenance sticker told me to go at 29k KM.

 

I personally would go this route...

DIY > Dealer > Midas

Most of the maintenance can be done yourself. For the maintenance you feel uncomfortable doing, take it to the dealer. I personally have bad experiences with companies like Midas, but that all depends on the service of each individual shop

 

Did you at least get your 5k, 10k, and 15k maintenances?

 

I see

I got everything maintenance at Regency Lexus. Reason why I'm asking is because I'm a full time student now and the dealereship is an hour drive away and Midas is right beside my school.

 

I would trust a Lexus dealer over places like Midas. While nothing is a garantee, your odds are better those working at Lexus dealership have specific model experience and are held to a higher standard than the high turnover workers at Midas.

 

If you wanna save a lot of $ and still go to the dealer then you need to stop asking for the "X miles maintenance" and only ask for the actual services you need.

otherwise they're gonna charge you 2-3 times as much and end up doing exactly as much work.


For example, at 10k miles all the car needs is an oil change. That's $50 at my dealer. Ask for the 10k mile service and it's $150. Same work.

What the car ACTUALLY needs (based on US service schedule, CDN may differ slightly, check your manual):

Every 5k miles:
Rotate tires (AWD only)
Oil change (see below)

Every 15k miles:
check you engine and cabin filters- this takes 2 minutes and you can do yourself.

Every 30k miles:
Change those cabin/engine filters (again, takes 2 minutes, do this yourself)

Change brake fluid (should be around $100)

Every 60k miles:
Change spark plugs

Every 100k miles:
Change coolant.


That's IT.


Regarding the oil- the manual says every 5k. Under normal driving conditions repeated UOAs posted on the 2IS show that you can very comfortably go 7500-10,000 miles between changes on conventional oil, and a lot more on a good synthetic (1/yr up to 25k miles with something like Amsoil). Up to you which you want to do, but actual lab analysis shows 5k is way too often to be changing oil on these engines.

 

This is a great post and very true. Although my local dealer charges $75 for an oil change. I passed on it and use my family's mechanic.

About the 10k oil change. When you say to check the filters, what do we actually look for when we see them? Like what is considered dirty or clean or?

 

doesn't it void warranty if something goes wrong and you can't prove u properly maintenance the car?

 

To deny warranty coverage the dealer has to prove something you did caused the issue. Same idea that they can't deny coverage just because you used an aftermarket part, they have to prove that part caused whatever the problem is.


And if you use Amsoil for long oil change intervals they (Amsoil) guarantee it, and will address the issue if the dealer tries denying coverage... but in 30 years in business they've never found an oil-change-related engine failure using their product... that's one reason I prefer Amsoil for long OCIs... while many synthetics will work fine for the purpose they're the only company I know of that guarantees their product for them.

 

I've learned a lot from reading this thank you so much guys!

 

I would NOT trust the Midas touch lol

 

back at like 80k my cabin filter was good as new. At like 100k my fsport air intake was pretty clean.

A synthetic oil change would cost me like 90-100 so i do that myself, of course.

I changed my coolant recently at 118k when I had to replace my water pump.

I guess I should look into brake fluid change huh?

Is our differential fluid life-long like the transmission?

Also as far as spark plugs...is that something I should have certainly changed by now (at 120k)?

 

Depends on how good you are mechanically. I trust that Lexus dealer won't cover up any problems with "there is nothing wrong", but I won't trust them not to gouge me with unnecessary repairs or the cost.

Regarding to maintenance, the IS is a pretty simple car to maintain. Only oil change, air filter change, AC filter change, tire changes, brake fluid change, and brake pads changes are necessary in low mileage (<60k miles), and you pretty much can get them done anywhere without screw up, and other than the tire change the rest can be done at home after some learning with no problem.

It is not really that much different than, say, a Toyota or even a domestic, don't worry.

 

I will also add, for those with RWD, that if you use tires that have arrows going in the same direction on each side , that you CAN have them rotated from side to the other side. Especially with those who are lowered and experiencing inner edge camber wear can benefit from having them rotated on the same axle. I'm just realizing this (duhhhh). My front tires had been going about 10-15k . 98% of the tire was like new but wires would show cause of the camber wear. I plan on flipping them side to side every 5k now.

 

Ask around and find a reliable independent shop, rather than Midas. They earned their rep on duping customers--their lifetime muffler warranty, didn't include all the other parts needed to install the muffler. So you go in there on a warranty replacement, and walk out with a $500 bill. Maybe they've cleaned up their act, but I'm not planing on finding out.