I use the dealer on my vehicles until they get 8-10 years old. After that since I have 3 vehicles to maintain its hard to find time to drive around dealerships. Once a vehicle is 10 years old, resale value matters little. Not to mention Im going to keep my LX until the engine falls out lol. But after seeing that my (very well rated) dealer, lost my battery post cap, put in 12mm screws into 10 mil homes on the skid plate, lost 3 bolts, lost and did not replace half of the engine cover clips, scratched my driver's door, put my tires with a ton of inner wear into bags and did not tell me I needed an alignment until I killed the summer set as well, I do not have much faith. Oil changes and fluid changes are usually done by the least experienced people at the dealer.

 

And in general, the older the vehicle the less experienced the technician. Senior techs get to work on the new cars, new guys, not so much.

 

^ yep. I actually had get the dealer to redo an oil change because they "forgot" to put in synthetic and tried to make up for it by giving me a $20 coupon for next oil change. I was like, its been synthetic for 100,000 miles. Im not going to change for one time for $20. Drain and refill. Brutal..

 

Dealer competence and knowledge varies like crazy...and you're correct about the new guy taking care of changing vital fluids.

Definitely true.

Somewhat typical.

As I've posted before, I'll beat the dead horse again and recommend a local independent mechanic who specializes in Toyota products...as an example, LTS Motors in the small town of Boise.

When the super-tech's get tired of dealer BS, if they don't retire many will work for an indy shop, a few may even start there own. That's where great personalized service lives, with no excuses. And the "new guy" is not changing your fluids. The hourly labor rate is a bit less than the local Toyota dealer, and a bunch less than the Lexus shop. Who, incidentally, advised me that both trans fluid and AHC fluid are lifetime fills that do not need changing. Idiots.

 

 

Up here it's at LTS Motors Boise

 

Just did my 30K (CPO Paid For) service at my local Lexus dealer. The process was easy, trouble free and I don't believe anyone new or underpaid touched my 2015 LX570. I say that as the notes from the techs were not "new guy" notes and I saw both of them from the window and asked my adviser how long they'd been there. His answer on both was since the dealership opened and moved 2 times (so had he).

Only issues I've had since buying was the front seat cupholder divider buzzing (replaced under warranty) and vibration when braking (resurfaced rotors under warranty). Techs did all recommended items including driveshaft lubrication and retorquing, replacing brake fluid, got new es350 loaner for the day, and was done when I left work. 75K was recommendation on diffs and transfer case if not towing or major 4wd (still going to change), 60K for AHC unless towing or major 4wd (still going to change), and 60K for PS fluid (still going to change).

I have all the fluids and a new set of rotors and brakes (thanks ebay 20% off auto sale last month) and feel like Diffs, Transfer Case, and AHC is worth an extra change as they essentially are the LX570. Will keep the brake parts in storage until needed, didn't expect brake issue to be covered under warranty.

I did change out locking wheel nuts on wheels as the lock was FUBAR and figured $50 is a small price to pay to not have an issue.

 

There are some things only the dealer can do, such as addressing recalls. And if you're under warranty and need repairs obviously you will need to go through the dealer.

But I won't use the dealer for any other reason. Any pretense of "white glove" service left my local Lexus dealer a long time ago. There are no loaners, you may get a jerky ride to a nearby transit center if you're lucky, and the overworked service writer won't spend much time or make you feel like they particularly care about getting your vehicle right. The dealer handles crushingly high volume, being one of three dealers in a large metro area and the nearest one to all of the wealthiest areas. And the service reflects that.

I also suspect that my truck suffered at some point from an undocumented service incident caused by the dealer. It had been exclusively dealer serviced before I bought it, with no record of damage or accident on the Carfax. But there is some rough and slightly discolored paint on the top of the front left fender. It's the original fender with a VIN sticker, and looks like a poor to mediocre scratch/dent repair job by a tech who doesn't understand the challenges of matching pearl white paint. That is an unlikely location for accident damage, but a very likely location for damage during service.

For regular fluid changes and anything else that's not an extended warranty repair, I'll be taking it to a local independent shop that has 2 ex-Toyota techs and did an outstanding job with my former LS460 and my Acura Legend.