hudoff

Sorry if this is off topic but I'm a newbie here on this forum group.

I bought a Lexus RX300 on March 9. I had owned Mercedes Benz's and this was the best experience and also I think the best vehicle. The shopping experience was wonderful and the dealer almost perfect except for a little discussion of why I needed "Lo-Jack" <g>

What I didn't like was the recommended "local" service costs.

For example:
every 5000 mile Oil Change 44.95 plus 14.95 to clean and test the battery.
(I've owned cars for a zillion years and never cleaned or tested my battery <g>.
34.95 to clean and adjust the brakes. (at 5000 miles)?

Oh, BTW I think the 1000 and the 5000 mile service are on the house so they can clean and test whatever they want.
Oh, I just may paint a little red dot on the battery to see if they really "clean" it <LOL>

Hold on-- at 15,000 miles it gets even better:

44.95 for the oil change
37.95 for an air filter
74.95 transmission service (they want to add "conditioner")
14.95 for that battery thing again
32.95 for wiper inserts (no windshield replacement necessary <g>
14.95 for cooling system service
104.95 to replace the differential fluid!!! Am I missing something here?
34.95 for the brake service.
The total is 385.60
Obviously the 30,000 is 595.50 and the 60,000 mile is:
a whopping 782.95.
I'm going to check the owner's manual and see if what they say is really necessary

Oh my, do they have to make all their money from the service
department.

Shame on them and shame on me if I fall for any of that.
Well, what is your experience?

Looks like I'm back to changing my own oil with synthetic for much, much less. Also I can look at the battery when I'm under the hood for zero dollars!!

Hey, Lexus wise up. many of the premium cars have built in oil quality meters and very lengthy service intervals. My MB ML-320 needed service at about 12,000 miles according to the meter on the dash. I did call MB and they verified that they would not need me to come in before the indicator told me to. It has something to do with the viscosity of the oil I think. Also many of the premium cars have all service costs included. Tes I knw that I'm paying for them somehow so TIA for the comment.

Thanks and enjoy the laugh,
Howard

itsallgood

For all that tell them to detail your car also and rotate the tires as well

mooretorque

hudoff, glad you are enjoying the RX. Sorry to hear that your dealer is another one of those who seem to be back in the "old-fashioned" car business. There have been a number of posts here on CL and elsewhere about the $75/hr (ave) labor charges for such things itemized on your bill as "check all fluids". Yours is apparently more greedy than most. Very obviously, most of your recommended service is slush. If you have more than one dealer in your area, you might check with other service departments. You'll find a fair amount of variability among them.

BTW, even if you DIY the oil changes, that's one item I would not skimp on. The Toy/Lex 3.0 L V6 seems to have very little tolerance for extended oil change intervals. There have been a small number (3100 out of over 3 million) of sludged engines, but those who sludged have been very vocal. Without going into a lengthy recap, the net result is that T/L now has supplemented your existing warranty with an 8 year, unlimited mileage policy regarding sludge development and will repair/replace the motor in such an occurence. Many theories have circulated regarding the sludging, since some owners had fairly low mileage and had changed oil, in some cases, even MORE frequently than recommended. Much has been made of the possibilty of some mysterious "design flaw". Likely there's not such an animal. One thing seems evident and that is that the V6 is hard on the viscosity improvers in the oil. So I'd stick with the 5k changes. And I agree, T/L should have "smart" service indicators. Next generation?

Regardless, congrats on your RX!

kreativ

I've only read a couple stories from owners of sludged V6 Toyota engines, but the ones I read were of people that obviously had no clue about the quality of oil and oil filters. What quick lube place doesn't use the cheapest oil filters available? And some places even use recycled motor oil, etc.

I think as long as you stick to name-brand motor oil and quality oil filters, you won't have any issues.

This isn't to say that the design of the engine couldn't be improved. AFAIK, they made a small change to the engine design in March '02.

kreativ

About Lexus service prices, they're a rip-off at almost any Lexus dealer. That's just how it is. As long as people keep taking their cars to them, nothing's going to change.

They don't seem to be any more expensive than other luxury car dealer service centers though. AFAIK, Mercedes service centers charge even more but their cars have extended service intervals and maintenance is included with most (all?) of their new cars.

Gs400TRD

A friend of mine told me the #1 complaint of 911 owners is that the first service is ~$900!!! when you paid 90k for a car 900 is a spit. Since then I think the service rate has been reduced.