Who maintains their own Lexus?

[DruLS]

I do the majority of the work on my own cars. It probably started out of necessity when I got my first car and was too skint to pay somebody to fix it. Now I can't bring myself to pay silly money at a dealer for an oil change, and having done my work experience at a mechanics and seeing how things were done there I know they often don't put care into their work. Not to mention I can do an oil change faster then it takes for me to drive it to somebody else! Servicing, suspension work, brake jobs and basic repairs I'll do myself and leave the bigger jobs for the professionals. No way I'd do an cambelt change. I'm sure I could do it just fine but if I mess that up it's game over!

If I had a new car I'd pay to get it serviced so it had history, but my cars are old so it's never going to make much of a difference come resale an with the money I save I'd still be up. I still keep and maintain my own records though so buyers can see what I've done to the car over the years.

[Britprius]

As with member Reid a couple of posts back I took my Prius to my local Toyota agent for a service. On arrival at reception I specifically asked what oil grade they were going to use, and was told 0w20.
On collecting the carI noticed the invoice showed they had used 5w30 for the oil change. I challenged the service writer about this, and he said they had used the correct oil it' just that we use the 5w30 in most cars and get used to typing that in. I then asked for the invoice to be re-printed with the correct oil grade, and was given a new invoice that did not give the grade of oil it simply stated "hybrid oil".  I reject this, and gave them back the invoice, and asked to see the mechanic that did the service.
The service guy came out and I asked him what oil had been used, and he said 5w30 as this was within the Toyota specification. I then pointed out that according to the hand book "if any other grade of oil other than 0w20 the oil should be changed again within 5,000 miles, and the correct 0w20 used to refill." The correct grade of oil would last for 10,000 miles.

I asked to see the service manager, and gave him the options of giving me a free oil change using the correct grade of oil in 5,000 miles or change the oil now with the correct grade while I watched. He elected to change the oil immediately while I watched. The service manager then said my next service was free.

John

[DruLS]

37 minutes ago, Britprius said:

As with member Reid a couple of posts back I took my Prius to my local Toyota agent for a service. On arrival at reception I specifically asked what oil grade they were going to use, and was told 0w20.
On collecting the carI noticed the invoice showed they had used 5w30 for the oil change. I challenged the service writer about this, and he said they had used the correct oil it' just that we use the 5w30 in most cars and get used to typing that in. I then asked for the invoice to be re-printed with the correct oil grade, and was given a new invoice that did not give the grade of oil it simply stated "hybrid oil".  I reject this, and gave them back the invoice, and asked to see the mechanic that did the service.
The service guy came out and I asked him what oil had been used, and he said 5w30 as this was within the Toyota specification. I then pointed out that according to the hand book "if any other grade of oil other than 0w20 the oil should be changed again within 5,000 miles, and the correct 0w20 used to refill." The correct grade of oil would last for 10,000 miles.

I asked to see the service manager, and gave him the options of giving me a free oil change using the correct grade of oil in 5,000 miles or change the oil now with the correct grade while I watched. He elected to change the oil immediately while I watched. The service manager then said my next service was free.

John

That’s shocking. I’m no mechanic but at least I know what kind of oil I need. 

I’ve heads loads of horror stories where a mechanic has drained the oil and just never put the new oil back in. 5 minutes later and you need a new engine. 

I can be dumb but I’m not that dumb.