What are your thoughts on servicing?

The-Acre · June 18, 2016

My car has had a Lexus main dealer service every year from new, the problem is that the nearest dealer is well over an hours drive from home, the last owner was only 10 mins from Lexus Guildford where he took it for the last 10 years. Should I be happy just to take it to my local Toyota dealer, or any decent independent? After all, it is 15 years old. Any thoughts boys and girls?

steve2006 · June 18, 2016

At the age it is a continuous Lexus SH will have very little impact on the value of the car, taking it elsewhere will be very beneficial to your wallet though.

lex - eleven · June 18, 2016

Mine has had nearly all lexus servicing apart from one Toyota dealership service. I took it to lexus Woodford last year and had the service and cam belt done. (£700). I'm moving to devon soon and I will probably look at future services with a reputable garage. My car is 15 years old too with 123000 on the clock. I don't suppose having a full lexus service history will make much difference anyway as I don't intend selling it and as long as it still is serviced properly it should be fine. It is my only car and is used as a daily driver and most of the time my wife's mobility scooter is in the boot. Probably better to look after the wallet a bit more now.

Chasdad · June 18, 2016

I think you'd have to be a very picky buyer to turn down a nice car because the history is no longer main dealer.

And at the price of our cars the money you'd probably save will more than out weigh any loss in resale value

AndyCheltenham1 · June 18, 2016

I personally think main dealer skills are massively over-rated and would much prefer my car was looked after and serviced by a competent and trusted independent mechanic. I think when your car is new it is good to have it serviced by a main dealer because of your warranty but when it is out of warranty I wouldn't entertain a main dealer. My experience of dealing with Lexus Cheltenham/Swindon in the past doesn't fill me with confidence-I asked both branches for a price to change the automatic transmission fluid on my car-both said it is a sealed unit and cannot be changed?! I took it to an automatic transmission specialist who changed the fluid. When my dash lights started going out ( a common fault) I was quoted a stupid price (£1000+) by lexus to replace the whole unit as they said it couldn't be repaired-yet I had it repaired for about £50(simply replacing a few diodes) and it is still working perfectly 3/4 years later. Lexus Cheltenham were also responsible for wrongly diagnosing a gearbox fault on a LS430 as being a wheel bearing noise-resulting in the gearbox totally failing. I have heard it said and I agree that main dealers don't employ mechanics, they employ "fitters"-as in that they are capable/willing to fit new parts but unable/unwilling to try and "repair" your car. Most independent mechanics have to have the skill to repair your car whereas main dealers will just replace parts without any concern for the cost. When I have my air con serviced/topped up I take it to an specialist as to me they are much more skilled than a main dealer is. My other car is a 1991 Cadillac and I regularly speak to a guy in USA who was the foreman of a cadillac dealership for a number of years before leaving and going independent and he is always advising people who have problems with their cadillacs to never ever go to a main dealer but go to a competent local garage who will most times be more capable of repairing your car and at a sensible price. I've had my Lexus 8 years now and I don't think Lexus could service it any better than my independent garage has in all this time??

mikeyv · June 18, 2016

Definitely go for specialist over main dealer, imo.

There's a garage in Brighton that fits the bill, though I've only used him once, others on here have also had good results.

Hopefully somebody can remember the details, otherwise I'll dig them out, if required.

mikeyv · June 18, 2016

8 minutes ago, mikeyv said:

Definitely go for specialist over main dealer, imo.

There's a garage in Brighton that fits the bill, though I've only used him once, others on here have also had good results.

Hopefully somebody can remember the details, otherwise I'll dig them out, if required.

Actually Phil, I seem to recall it was you who gave me the heads up on the Brighton garage, so preaching to the converted perhaps.

The-Acre · June 18, 2016

33 minutes ago, mikeyv said:

Actually Phil, I seem to recall it was you who gave me the heads up on the Brighton garage, so preaching to the converted perhaps.

Thanks all for your input which was just what I've been thinking, so thanks for confirming it. The Brighton garage (Grove Garage) is one that I've recommended, mostly because it was recommended to me by Scribe, another member, and they are the kind of garage that will try to repair parts rather than just replacing them. I think now that my Volvo is 8 years old it will also part company with main dealers exorbitant prices. Thanks again for the wise advice.

Phil

mrdoofa · June 19, 2016

If you know a decent independent mechanic I would go there over the main stealers any day!!! I've just had the cambelt changed on my LS400 by a local mechanic who I've known for years. He did the whole job including a new waterpump, tensioners and complete coolant change for £400 including VAT and labour. I rang Lexus and they wanted over well over £600 for just doing the belt alone without the other items!!!

Main dealer service histories are vastly overrated in my opinion, sure seeing all Lexus stamps in the book looks good but I'm more interested in the quality of the servicing being good which I don't think you always get at the main dealers. They are simply fitters rather than full mechanics who are trained to empty your wallet as quickly as possible!!!

My car is 16 years old with 160k on the clock and as good as the car is its still only worth at best £1500 to £2000 so main stealer servicing will now affect the value very little if any.

Malc · June 19, 2016

Been running Ls400s for 15/16 years now and always used indy servicing .............. even though this latest ( 5 years ago now ) came with Full Lexus Service History I wasn't prepared to pay the effective cost price again every 2 or 3 years just to keep that going ............... and she drives as sweet as a nut ............. of course

Save the £££££££, put that towards more of life's little pleasures, just as you have now driving your Lexus

Malc

steve2006 · June 19, 2016

I seem to remember that as part of the official Lexus servicing programme the brake calliper slider pins are not removed/cleaned/regreased during the brake service, I also seem to remember many problems with seized callipers on fairly new cars.

Makes you wonder.

The-Acre · June 19, 2016

21 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

I seem to remember that as part of the official Lexus servicing programme the brake calliper slider pins are not removed/cleaned/regreased during the brake service, I also seem to remember many problems with seized callipers on fairly new cars.

Makes you wonder.

It really does make you wonder if the whole thing is one big con. To be honest I've never taken a car to a main dealer for servicing in my 42 years of driving, except for my last LS which I took to Toyota, but they didn't do anything that an independent wouldn't do (apart from wash it....badly)

jpjsavage · June 19, 2016

Independents for me all the way, especially when you find one that specialises in Toyota.

The-Acre · June 19, 2016

Well that's unanimous then! Plus I'd rather give my hard earned money to a small business anyway. Again, thanks all for your input, it's very much appreciated. Now it's time to watch the last episode of The Disappearance on iPlayer!

ambermarine · June 20, 2016

I did all the servicing on my Mark 1 which I had for 16 years did'nt make one jot of difference in the service records as the vehicle was scrapped the year after I sold it

.The Mark 4 I have now has three Lexus dealership stamps in the service record one for pre-delivery and one free 500 mile and one for annual service whilst they owned it.The previous owner to me had it serviced at an independent but he only put 9k on it in 13 years .I have serviced it twice in four years and have put 16k on it so there are three entries in the service record for Lexus two for me and thats it on a eighteen year old car with 33k on it .

Service bills at a minimum and car as good as new, simples.