Dealership Or Lexus Service Plan

mandon75 · November 16, 2015

As my local independent garage doesn't want to touch a hybrid car I am considering a service plan from my Lexus dealer.

What are your thoughts on the plans available?

Who else can I try?

Is it worth contacting Lexus UK instead of my local dealership to arrange a plan?

Your input would be greatly appreciated, as always.

Aikon · November 16, 2015

I'd be interested in any replies as well, I pick my CT200h up in 3 weeks and will cover 85000 in the 3 years I'll have it.

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Mikeyb999 · November 16, 2015

The plans are dealership specific, or at least mine is. The paperwork states I can transfer to another dealership if I wish, just need to give them a call first.

I understand different dealers will give different deals though - mine gave 10% off the usual servicing cost plus free MOT, but I think others have got better deals.

You might want to try another independent, I thought there was nothing that was really serviceable in the hybrid drivetrain, so it was no different than servicing any other car.

Mikeyb999 · November 16, 2015

Aikon - I assume yours is new so you will want to preserve the manufacturers warranty?

mandon75 · November 16, 2015

I'm afraid you assumed wrong. I've got a 12 plate and wanted to spread the cost of the services so enquired about their service plans.

Due to my high annual mileage the initial payment was high with around a £50 monthly payment.

The plans also included MOT for three years.

The Lexus plan would allow me to get my car serviced at any Lexus dealer whereas the dealership plan was just for the Lister dealership in my local town and not their other Lexus dealerships.

I intend on purchasing a service plan at the end of the month but was unsure of the offers available to me.

My independent garage, for some reason, I guess lack of knowledge of the hybrid cars, didn't want to service my old Prius so I guess they won't touch my CT.

Aikon · November 16, 2015

Aikon - I assume yours is new so you will want to preserve the manufacturers warranty?

Yep mine will be new, I've had a quote from the supplying retailer but will check if it can be transferred to other dealerships as my boss is more likely to go for it if it's transferable or underwritten by Lexus in case of the dealer closing down.

Aikon · November 16, 2015

FWIW I was quoted £2514 for 4 years/100k, my VW TDi has cost £1677 for 100k, plus 6 tyres and a fog lamp, no brake pads yet...

Mikeyb999 · November 16, 2015

Sounds about the same price as my plan. Mine is for 50K / 3 years and I think it was about £1300.

My plan is administered by EMAC on behalf of Lexus - the dealership appear to have no control over it. I'm beginning to think the dealership servicing is very expensive compared to others brands - lots offer cheap packages to cover the first years

C Mclean · November 16, 2015

Sounds about the same price as my plan. Mine is for 50K / 3 years and I think it was about £1300.

My plan is administered by EMAC on behalf of Lexus - the dealership appear to have no control over it. I'm beginning to think the dealership servicing is very expensive compared to others brands - lots offer cheap packages to cover the first years

Remember to ask for LOC discount if can get it..

Funkyboy · November 17, 2015

The price of lexus servicing is really high more than other main agents. Also if you actually look at what gets changed it's usually just the oil and filter. Things like air filter pollen filter fuel filter break fluid very rarely get changed or are not included in the price. Most of the service is visual checks and if they do find anything unless it's under warranty there is extra costs to fix it.

rayaans · November 17, 2015

You ahve to understand that Lexus cars are serviced every 10k miles. Some cars like Mercedes are every 20k miles so its not as cheap as it appears to be. Personally 20k miles is too much for any engine and it should be around 15k.

ColinBarber · November 17, 2015

You ahve to understand that Lexus cars are serviced every 10k miles. Some cars like Mercedes are every 20k miles so its not as cheap as it appears to be. Personally 20k miles is too much for any engine and it should be around 15k.

That's even worse for Lexus. Servicing is as expensive as MB, if not more, and it has to be done twice as often! Factor in your wasted time and effort in getting your car serviced twice as often and it is even worse.

mandon75 · November 17, 2015

Although their services may be in line with MB, are there any alternative options to get a service agreement where I'll get genuine Lexus parts fitted.

I'll bear the mileage difference between services in mind with my next car purchase.

rayaans · November 21, 2015

You ahve to understand that Lexus cars are serviced every 10k miles. Some cars like Mercedes are every 20k miles so its not as cheap as it appears to be. Personally 20k miles is too much for any engine and it should be around 15k.

That's even worse for Lexus. Servicing is as expensive as MB, if not more, and it has to be done twice as often! Factor in your wasted time and effort in getting your car serviced twice as often and it is even worse.

Yes but 20k for any engine is overkill. There was an RX300 at the dealers getting a new engine fitted. Reason? No oil change for 15-18k miles. The oil had literally become gunk.

Having said that, if you're doing MEGA miles - ie 20k miles a year, there's no point getting a dealer service as it probably wont make a huge difference to the value anyway

ColinBarber · November 21, 2015

The 20k services specify very good quality synthetic oil though, Mobil 1 or Castrol Edge for example. There is no reason why Mobil 1 oil in an RX300 wouldn't last 18k miles.

That also shows the lack of skills these days that exist in main dealers. They would rather swap out an engine for £5k rather than a simple rebuild.

Mikeyb999 · November 21, 2015

I ran my old VW on their long life servicing, dictated by the on-board computer.

Usually flagged up services around 18K and was still running fine when I got rid of it at 110K.

Personally I think that the longer service intervals are fine - people don't appreciate how good some of the modern oils are, and how much better built the engines are with modern technologies

Aikon · November 21, 2015

My VW TDI has done 101k on long life servicing, the engine feels great, the aircon had a fault around 70k which I had to pay for but apart from 6 tyres and a fog light I've spent nothing else on it, not even brake pads.

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thar · November 26, 2015

Not wanting to hijack, but i'm new here. I picked my Jan 13 62 reg up last Friday. The dealer offered me a 3 year service package for £750. I do less than 5k miles a year, that may increase with the fuel savings, but I'm thinking I was offered a reasonable deal. What do you guys think?

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Mikeyb999 · November 26, 2015

How many miles has it done so far Tracy?

Depending on which service is next it might or might not be a good deal.

thar · November 27, 2015

There's 10,800 on the clock Mikey.

It was last serviced in September this year. It's had it's 12 months intermediate service in January 14, 2 year full service in January 15, and then another intermediate in September 15 for some reason.

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Mikeyb999 · November 27, 2015

There's 10,800 on the clock Mikey.

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So with mileage that low I'm assuming it had an intermediate in Jan 14, full in Jan 15.

That means the 3 year plan they have offered you is likely to be 2 X intermediate and 1 full. If that's the case its a bad deal as the menu pricing for those is 2 X £195 plus £345 - Total £735 without any discount

Did they give you a written example for the service plan? - that should outline which services they will perform

thar · November 27, 2015

You're spot on Mikey. 2 intermediate and one full service and free MOT's for the life of the plan. It's actually £735 in total, not £750, I got it wrong.

When you say discount, do you mean if I have gold membership with the forum?

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Mikeyb999 · November 28, 2015

Well my local dealer (not the on that supplied the car) gave me 10% discount on the menu pricing and free MOT, but I think others on here have given 15% discount.

The discount was not related to the owners club

mandon75 · December 8, 2015

I now have a service plan with my local Lexus dealer, 15000 miles annually, 10,000 mile intervals, 2 intermediate services, 2 full services including 60000 and 4 MOT's for £37 a month.

Thanks for your input :-)