pot_head

hi. im getting my next service done and the tech said its going to take approx 3 hrs. this includes topping my fluids, changing oil and taking my brake pads out and cleaning them, lubrication etc.... im wondering if its really necessary to do the brake service and other things like lubrication and ? i would really like to take my car to lexus and have my car serviced, since Lexus is the ones who know about the car and im not too concerned about how much it would cost me, but i am worried about my aftermarket suspension. If in the car to the lexus dealer to have it serviced, and in the future if my car has any problems because of my aftermarket suspension, lexus would deny my warranty. What are your thoughts? Should i take my car to a good independant shop or to Lexus? Thanks for any info.btw this is for a sc430.

mooretorque

Pot, look in your "Owner's Manual Supplement" and have your dealer do ONLY what is listed for the mileage of your coupe. Lexus dealers figured out very early on that charging $75-80/hr to do stuff that I used to do (long ago, far away, when I worked in a service station in the early 70s) to every car that came in for gas at full service was a cash cow. That rapidly expanded to doing stuff that, while not exactly a ripoff (they at least do what they say they'll do), is really unnecessary, again racking up those labor charges.

Do we honestly think that the dealer has more information/skills available than the engineers who actually developed and tested the components of our cars????

As far as warranty and your suspension, dealers vary in their acceptance of mods. Most will only consider the particular system involved (suspension, in this case) to be non-warranty. Your service guy can probably give you a pretty good idea of your dealer's position. But I would try to stay with Lexus for all service (just don't let them tack on all that slush) during your warranty period.