v1rotate

Hey y'all... I was quoted for $150 for my 25K mile oil change, tire rotation, and safety check. (It's described in the manual)... My car is a 2010 IS 250 AWD CPO and I don't want to do anything to affect the warranty.

TRUE OR FALSE?

I was told if I document oil changes I can get them done anywhere and not affect the warranty?

Are there ever service coupons or specials like my Audi dealer used to have?

Does $150 sound right or should I look at other delaerships?

Should I just get it done at an independent shop?

Should I just bite the bullet and figure that is the price of good maintenance?

Thanks for the input in advance!

NimaM

iTrader: (1)

My personal preference is to get the recommended maintenance done at the dealer. My dealer usually sends out 20% off coupons around the time my car is due for the next maintenance. If you do your maintenance at any Lexus dealer, the record will be saved in their national database and it might be good when you sell your car in the future.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

True. You can do them yourself for that matter.

You can not even do them at all and it still doesn't impact your warranty except for an issue that would be caused by failing to regularly change the oil.

(ie they can't deny a warranty fix on your stereo because you skipped oil changes)

An oil change should be about $50. Everything else in their service besides the tire rotation is BS they charge you for without actually doing anything.

You can rotate your own tires... or you can go to any decent tire shop or hell walmart if you're brave and get it done for 10-20 bucks.


$150 is an insane ripoff for what you're getting.

Here's what you car actually needs done, and about what it should cost-


every 5k miles- tire rotation and oil change (see below on this)- $10-20 for rotation, $50 for oil change (less at a local shop, that 50 is at a dealership)

every 15k miles- check your air and cabin filters, clean if needed- do this yourself for free, takes 5 minutes.

Every 30k miles- change those same filters yourself, still takes 5 minutes. Change brake fluid. ($120 or so at a dealer, $60-90 at a local shop)

Every 60k miles- change spark plugs (I've seen anywhere from 200-400 bucks quoted on this... parts are about $78 if you want to do yourself.

Every 100k miles- change coolant... cost should be similar to brake fluid.

That's it

everything else is your dealer trying to screw you out of money. Only ever ask for the things you actually need done, never ever ever ask for the "x miles" service as they're triple the cost and do nothing extra for you.


On oil- oil analysis shows that in normal driving the 2IS can comfortably and safely go at least 10k miles on even regular oil, and considerably longer (at least 15-20k, with a filter change halfway along) on good synthetic oil. It's up to you if you wish to take advantage of this fact or not.

NCLexi250

iTrader: (1)

Kurtz,

Great info here...

But regarding your comment, "On oil- oil analysis shows that in normal driving the 2IS can comfortably and safely go at least 10k miles on even regular oil, and considerably longer (at least 15-20k, with a filter change halfway along) on good synthetic oil. It's up to you if you wish to take advantage of this fact or not."

Are you referring to the interval between regular oil changes? I use semi-synthetic on my car, and my mechanic says not to wait more than 3,500 miles or so between oil changes. Are they just saying that to make more $$ or does going, say, 5,000 miles actually affect my car?

Lastly, as I am approaching 60k miles on my car, are there any recommended spark plugs for a bit more performance?

Thanks for any and all info you all can provide.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Yes they're saying it to make more money off you.

At least, I hope.... the alternative is their understanding of cars hasn't advanced in decades, which is even scarier.

3000-ish mile oil changes in normal driving haven't been needed for many many years.... see for example:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/yo...shortcuts.html


Also- semi-synthetic is a huge waste of money as well. It's more expensive than conventional oil, without giving you most of the benefits of real synthetic. Either use cheap stuff and change every 5-10, or use real synthetic and change once a year (up to 15-25k miles, though you ought change the filter every 6 months).

I'd find another mechanic to be honest.

Nope. OEM's just fine (and choices are pretty limited actually since you need longer-than-normal length plugs to work properly with the car)

GilIS250

iTrader: (10)

OEM will do... SewellParts has them for cheap! http://is.sewellparts.com/accessorie...2010/2056.html

NCLexi250

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for looking into this , Kurtz.

NCLexi250

iTrader: (1)

Great link, thanks!