My dealer quoted $675 for the 30K service on my 18 IS300 FSport AWD.

After checking what is included, I declined. Pretty sure I can DIY most items (air filter, cabin air filter, wiper blades) and save a bundle.

I have to wonder if what my dealer quoted is usual & customary for the 30K service?

 

Many many moons ago with my very first Lexus RX450h, I also got suckered with that hefty service maintenance fee. I went to look on what they did and exactly as you mentioned, plus a regular oil change.

Never again and good to know you declined. I was an idiot back then (less idiot now but still an idiot lol) so I was left no choice than to pay thinking the car will break apart if I don't do such maintenance.

Nowadays, I only go to a dealer if the issue is under warranty. I found a shop nearby where I can watch as they work on my car - not a lot of shop allows it but I'm sure you can find one near your area.

 

Yeah those "big" services at Lexus are an absolute rip off. I was going through the 30-60-90k menu options at my local dealers and was going through the full on service history a bit more in depth in the Lexus portal to see what needed to be done on the IS that the previous owner didn't get done. After all was said and done I was like "so they did absolutely nothing more than what an over glorified express service would do and call it a big service?" They want over $1000 here in CO for their top package and they don't even do a Fuel injection service or AWD service (those services are an extra $600+ on top of it), just an oil change, alignment, rotate and balance if necessary, brake flush, inspection, wipers, filters and that's it for a whooping $1400? That's deranged! Good thing I can do most of my own work being a former tech, can't justify that type of money for such minor items. Only thing thankfully I have to get done is the AWD service cause the last owner never got that done and will look for a shop that can do a BG fuel injection service (proper fuel system service, none of that drop in tank cheap *** "cleaner" crap) and that should be all it'll need for a while. They don't even offer a full on transmission flush for these, however they do offer a "drain and fill" which is absolutely horrendous for your transmission to mix old fluid with new fluid.

 

The only services I couldn't find at shops are replacement of fuel filter and also the drain and fill of new brake fluid, otherwise, most of the service are quite common. For brake fluid, i just syringe out as much as I can from the brake fluid reservoir in engine bay and fill in new fluid and do this over a few times. Till now, still finding shops that can do fuel filter replacement at a reasonable price, it is coming due at next major servicing.

 

I was quoted $900+ a few years back. Needless to say, I found an indy shop to do the items I couldn't do.

I will only go to the dealer for warranty work.
I just had the fuel system recall completed and I was super paranoid that they would wash my car after I told them to make sure they don't.
Dealership maintenance departments make me nervous for some reason.

 

For 30k I had the dealer do just oil change and inspection for $90. Did filters myself bought from amazon. Ecoguard carbon cabin for 13+tax, and lexus oem engine for 22+tax. Cabin filter I had skipped at 20k and it was still only lightly used, Im still on my factory wipers. Brake flush I will do soon, I did oil change at 29k and its been several months and car hasnt hit 31 yet.

 

$900... $1,400 and if you pay attention, it appears to me that what you're paying for is service techs to (supposedly) check 30-40-50 different items.
The same items a good mechanic would check, if you were looking at buying a pre-owned vehicle (aka: used car)
Yes I can afford it, but I'd rather throw the same money out the window on the freeway.

 

You can always go to an independent shop by law for any car service under warranty or do it yourself. As long as there is documentation. you're fine.

 

What is the AWD service? Is that different than a transmission fluid change? I thought the transfer case shared the same oil as the transmission.

Also, I have never heard it was bad to mix good fluid with bad fluid. I've only ever heard it was not as good as a full flush and refill. Is it because of the contaminants in the old fluid mixing together with the new stuff? I plan to do the transmission fluid at the 5 year mark, and was going to do the aforementioned drain and fill only. Now I'm thinking I would want a full flush instead.

 

They do the bare min work if at all, that first 8k check up they just eyeball the car and say its good and collect the fee from toyota.
if you can do the work yourself do it else find a honest and reliable indy shop to get your work done. Lexus typically need little servicing and your bank account should reflect this otherwise we would be getting over tuned german toys.

 

as someone from another country I'm always intrigued when I hear that in some countries people are self-servicing expensive, rather new, vehicles. Doesn't it affect the used-price and depreciation in USA? In Sweden if you are selling a used car and you cannot show proof that it has been serviced as per the official recommendations, which in practice means that you need a stamp and signature from an official mechanic, it will be more or less impossible to sell the car and you're looking at a huge loss.

Of course, for older cars, maybe 15+ years, it's another story, but even for those cars it is much easier to get a good price if you have proof that is has been serviced correctly....

 

Glad to hear most are not paying these outrageous service costs and are doing the work themselves. My air filter and cabin air filter should arrive tomorrow from Amazon. Just had the oil changed and my wiper blades & fob batteries are still good, so that’s going to be the extent of my 30K service.

 

In my experience, a documented service history is something which can affect the value of exotics like a Ferrari or a Porsche in the USA. For mainstream makes, it really does not have a material impact.

 

Used cars lose way more value in Europe than the U.S. Idk if its due to less strict or no annual inspections in states, cars being less of a luxury here or financing related.

 

The AWD service does a fluid drain and fill on your t-case and your front/rear differentials and it is separate from an actual transmission service. Not 100% on these cars if the t-case fluid is shared with the transmission, from my years as an used car tech I only saw the FWD based AWD set ups have that type of design but with a RWD based AWD system you tend to have all independent from each other from what I've seen. I assume they're separate cause both dealers quoted me independently for drain and fill on both front and rear diffs and the t-case. Yes, mixing old fluid with new fluid is very bad juju cause of the oxidation rates and what not, it'll cause more damage than help honestly. I have yet to find a shop that would actually do an actual full flush on it, not sure if it's because of the transmission design or what honestly, they can't really clearly tell me why. I've yet to look under there and see why they don't offer this service but they do offer a drain and fill which I find surprising as most shops have stepped away from that.