The cost of motoring

steveledzep · January 11, 2017

My previous car was an IS250 saloon and it had a full service history but two services had been done by an independent Mercedes specialist. My car was accepted for warranty after a visual inspection by Lexus Cardiff. Depends how they view the Toyota service I suppose ??

peachy · January 11, 2017

Rebecca, an extended warranty is always good to have and if you can afford it and want peace of mind then go for it.

However in my opinion with a low mileage is250 like yours it's going to be a long long time before you need a mechanic and after the 2 years is up you will be kicking yourself with what you could of spent the £895 on.

That's the gamble.

steveledzep · January 12, 2017

Yes Shaun, it's a gamble.

Mines low mileage too, 2009 on 43k. I've broken even on my warranty up to now and still have 10 months remaining.

ahmedali44 · January 12, 2017

As far I understand law was changed few yrs ago about servicing car with main dealers.

Was changed to any vat registered garage as long as they use original parts so don't know why lexus want you to service at lexus only.

Rebecca u could try click 4 warranty which is lot cheaper than lexus, when had my is220d took it out with click 4 warranty for about £250 for yr and covered everything that lexus cover plus had wear and tear as standard. Didnt ask for car to b checked and had good reviews. So can't see why they shouldn't accept Toyota service history.

My lexus warranty expires next month won't pay lexus will probably go with click 4 warranty.

My local lexus dealer in Woodford use same garage facilities as Toyota, parts also same building. Mine only got 45k so will get next service by Toyota.

IS200D · January 12, 2017

11 hours ago, peachy said:

However in my opinion with a low mileage is250 like yours it's going to be a long long time before you need a mechanic and after the 2 years is up you will be kicking yourself with what you could of spent the £895 on.

That's the gamble.

Yeah Shaun, particularly with that low mileage factored in it does become more of a potential waste of money.

Mind you, at around £225 per year when you deduct mots and breakdown cover (I only had a brief look over their warranty before the 'what we do and dont cover' bit started to give me a headache so dont quote me please) for a risk averse individual its not too bad actually.

Rebecca · January 12, 2017

Thanks for the advice guys. It's a tricky one this. I remember taking my previous lexus is220d to lexus bristol for repairs and I got chatting to the staff. I remember them telling me the only time they see a is250 is when it's in for service. They rarely go wrong.

Knowing my luck though if I don't take out the warranty something probably will go wrong and if I take out the warranty everything will be tickety boo and as you say shaun I'd be kicking myself as £895 is a lovely fortnight holiday somewhere hot.

Hmmmm decisions decisions.

Shahpor · January 12, 2017

For me, it is a bit like car insurance.

You hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

Also, it doesn't take much for the warranty to work out. When you deduct the cost of the breakdown cover, it works out to about £300 a year. One seized caliper would cover that at a dealer since they replace the whole lot rather than grease the pins.

IS200D · January 12, 2017

29 minutes ago, Rebecca said:

Knowing my luck though if I don't take out the warranty something probably will go wrong and if I take out the warranty everything will be tickety boo.

Thats exactly what insurance companies (which is what warranty companies are really) prey upon, and we all fall for it one way or another. Its all about how you view risks. I like a holiday, so I'd prefer to take a risk and have a couple of days away!

dazed · January 12, 2017

Regarding warranties, I guess it comes down to whether you could handle the potential bills that might arise if you don't take out the warranty.

Statistically, an individual will lose out over a lifetime of taking out extended warranties - insurers aren't charities after all.

So I'd say, if you worry about, or would have difficulty paying a large repair bill then take the warranty for peace of mind (assuming it's a reasonable price). Otherwise just save (or better still invest) the money and insure yourself.

One thing that does leave me rather confused is how some people will quite happily spend £20K plus on a car and then fret about repair bills. I don't know if I'm missing something, but if they spent a little less (say £18K) then they'd have £2K for repairs. I appreciate this is a slightly simplistic view of things, but logically it does solve the whole dilemma that so many people appear to have.

sorcerer · January 12, 2017

Don't forget it's not just the cost of the warranty. You also have to factor in the increased cost of servicing at Lexus main stealers over cheaper independent garages.

The Lexus Paradox - people are drawn to the cars because of the reputation for reliability and then spend a grand on a warranty because they're frightened of it being unreliable

dazed · January 12, 2017

1 hour ago, sorcerer said:

Don't forget it's not just the cost of the warranty. You also have to factor in the increased cost of servicing at Lexus main stealers over cheaper independent garages.

The Lexus Paradox - people are drawn to the cars because of the reputation for reliability and then spend a grand on a warranty because they're frightened of it being unreliable

Fair points. One of the reasons I've run a Lexus for the past 10 years is their reliability - I do about 25K miles a year. So far (over 200K miles and 2 cars) the only repair bill I've had to pay is for a new water pump (about £300 I think).

I accept that at some point I'll get a reasonably big bill to settle, but on balance I reckon self insurance is the way to go with a Lexus.

As for my wife's VW - that's a different matter entirely.

bobmc · January 12, 2017

I had this dilemma when I bought my IS250 earlier this year. On the one hand the Lexus warranty has a generally good rep when it comes to accepting claims (although there have been some exceptions discussed on these forums) in contrast to some stories one hears about with after-market warranty companies. Against that was the possibility of needing something expensive - like a new exhaust - which wouldn't be covered under the warranty, and also the need to use Lexus for servicing.

On balance I decided to take the risk and put the cash I would have spent on the warranty aside for any exceptional expense and to save on servicing by going to an independent.

So far so good - touch wood - the only expenses I have had so far are ones that wouln't have been covered in any case - brakes and a Battery, plus a leaking joint that only cost about £100 to get replaced.

Fishboy · January 12, 2017

On 1/10/2017 at 6:32 PM, Linas.P said:

I am not convinced you can get 2010 IS250SEL (or it is SE-i) for 6350?

Secondly.. you lucky with insurance... mine would be the biggest expense, second only to the car price itself (if I would have paid 13k, but because I haven't it is actually the biggest expense for me).

I guess it's the high mileage on my 2010 SE-I that gave it a low valuation? You don't see many IS250's with very high mileage as most drivers doing 20k a year buy diesels and then spent loads on DPFs and injector repairs/replacements.

Linas.P · January 13, 2017

That is true, but I guess £6350 is like trade-in dead bottom low value, but not the price for which you can actually buy the car.

WetMyBeak · January 13, 2017

1 hour ago, Linas.P said:

That is true, but I guess £6350 is like trade-in dead bottom low value, but not the price for which you can actually buy the car.

Last year I snagged a 2009, 58 plate with 80k for 5k. Despite being well equipped and lovely to drive I'm not sure there's a lot of interest in these cars. The seller said he'd listed it at 6k but had no enquiries. If it had BMW/Audi badge and aesthetics they'd go for a lot more.

WetMyBeak · January 13, 2017

On 12/01/2017 at 3:33 PM, bobmc said:

I had this dilemma when I bought my IS250 earlier this year. On the one hand the Lexus warranty has a generally good rep when it comes to accepting claims (although there have been some exceptions discussed on these forums) in contrast to some stories one hears about with after-market warranty companies. Against that was the possibility of needing something expensive - like a new exhaust - which wouldn't be covered under the warranty, and also the need to use Lexus for servicing.

On balance I decided to take the risk and put the cash I would have spent on the warranty aside for any exceptional expense and to save on servicing by going to an independent.

So far so good - touch wood - the only expenses I have had so far are ones that wouln't have been covered in any case - brakes and a battery, plus a leaking joint that only cost about £100 to get replaced.

I was in the same boat. Weighed up the warranty and Lexus servicing costs and ' rolled the dice'. I've replaced a wheel bearing, discs and pads at a cost of approx £250 in eight months of ownership. Just passed its MOT today with no advisories. I must admit the exhaust thing is a concern and I plan to keep the car for a further 18 months in the hope I won't have any big repair bills. Shame because I doubt I'll own a better car for the foreseeable.

Linas.P · January 14, 2017

On 1/13/2017 at 6:11 PM, WetMyBeak said:

Last year I snagged a 2009, 58 plate with 80k for 5k. Despite being well equipped and lovely to drive I'm not sure there's a lot of interest in these cars. The seller said he'd listed it at 6k but had no enquiries. If it had BMW/Audi badge and aesthetics they'd go for a lot more.

My personal opinion is that aesthetics on Lexus is better then comparable year BMW/Audi/MB + the build and material quality is in different league. But it is true... Lexus brand is simply unknown for many and people simply don't understand the value for these cars + many being put off by mileage without understanding that 120k for Lexus is probably equivalent to 60k on MB/BMW in terms of repairs and wear.