Lexus Dealership servicing- is it worth it?

Alex300h · November 2, 2018

Hi all! I recently bought a 2015 Lexus IS300h with 47k miles. The car is great, and I've been enjoying it so far. However, it's due in for an intermediate service at 52k. After taking a look at the checklist on the lexus website, it's just an oil change, as far as I can tell. I think, however, I am going to go to the dealer for the 60k full service, since it seems like a major one.

Also, the closest Lexus dealership to me is located in Plymouth, which is a 60 mile drive, so it's much, much more convenient to take my car in for an oil change at a local independent.

What are your thoughts? Thanks!

P.S. I've been thinking of getting a hybrid health check separately, for £59. Should I go for it?

ColinBarber · November 2, 2018

There is no reason why only a Lexus dealer should perform the service, you just need to decide how much resale value would be affected if you lost full Lexus service history - and that would depend somewhat on how long you intend to keep the vehicle.

If you get a hybrid health check performed then your convenience point goes our the window as you will need to travel 60 miles to get that done.

I've never seen the hybrid health check T&Cs - there may be something in there about full Lexus servicing or continuous coverage. If possible I'd only get it done after the vehicle is five years old - very, very unlucky to have a Battery issue before then (if at all) - but the T&Cs may prevent that approach.

Bob99 · November 3, 2018

My car is 5 years old and obviously out of warranty. This year tried to have it serviced at my local Toyota dealership 1 mile away, they said they could carry out the service but couldn't do the hybrid health check as they don't have the equipment. I ended up with the over 100 mile round trip to lexus for the essential service with hybrid check included plus mot. Had a wiper issue and tried Toyota again but they didn't even want to look at it as all spares would have to be ordered from Lexus. This is probably the main issue for me now and will force me to source my next car from a local dealership.

Britprius · November 3, 2018

48 minutes ago, Bob99 said:

My car is 5 years old and obviously out of warranty. This year tried to have it serviced at my local Toyota dealership 1 mile away, they said they could carry out the service but couldn't do the hybrid health check as they don't have the equipment. I ended up with the over 100 mile round trip to lexus for the essential service with hybrid check included plus mot. Had a wiper issue and tried Toyota again but they didn't even want to look at it as all spares would have to be ordered from Lexus. This is probably the main issue for me now and will force me to source my next car from a local dealership.

Your Toyota dealer is telling you porky's. The equipment used for the hybrid health check is the same for all Toyota/Lexus/Scion hybrid vehicles as they use all the same hybrid, and engine components.
My nearest Lexus dealer is around the same distance as yours while the nearest Toyota dealer is only 26 miles away. They "Toyota" are happy to both service, and do the health check, and on checking with the Lexus dealer they said they would honor all guarantees including the hybrid Battery extended health check guarantee as if they had serviced the car themselves.

John.

rayaans · November 3, 2018

15 hours ago, Alex300h said:

Hi all! I recently bought a 2015 Lexus IS300h with 47k miles. The car is great, and I've been enjoying it so far. However, it's due in for an intermediate service at 52k. After taking a look at the checklist on the lexus website, it's just an oil change, as far as I can tell. I think, however, I am going to go to the dealer for the 60k full service, since it seems like a major one.

Also, the closest Lexus dealership to me is located in Plymouth, which is a 60 mile drive, so it's much, much more convenient to take my car in for an oil change at a local independent.

What are your thoughts? Thanks!

P.S. I've been thinking of getting a hybrid health check separately, for £59. Should I go for it?

As others have mentioned it depends on how long you plan to keep the car.

The problem is, the IS300h attracts quite a specialist buyer. They're not your average buyer and hence, most do buy from a Lexus approved scheme or will atleast make sure it has a full Lexus service history.

At the end of the day, its a Premium car with premium servicing. I guess you could also put budget tyres on but buyers will notice this straight away. I wouldn't buy a premium vehicle with budget tyres, same with servicing.

ColinBarber · November 3, 2018

4 hours ago, Britprius said:

Your Toyota dealer is telling you porky's. The equipment used for the hybrid health check is the same for all Toyota/Lexus/Scion hybrid vehicles as they use all the same hybrid, and engine components.

No they are telling the official line and want to kept their franchise. They don't typically have codes to unlock the Lexus vehicles on their diagnostic equipment and parts catalogue. It somewhat depends if the Toyota dealer also has a Lexus franchise.

darrude · November 3, 2018

I started using my local independent as soon as the car was out of warranty, they use Lexus sourced parts (at my request) and are more than half the price. I plan on keeping my car for a long time so resale flsh isn't a big consideration. When we bought my wife's Rx if it didn't have Lexus history I wasn't interested.

I asked Lexus what the hybrid health check involved, as far as I could work out, taking money out of your wallet.

Probably just get that before selling at 10+years old.

NemesisUK · November 3, 2018

ganzoom · November 4, 2018

9 hours ago, darrude said:

I asked Lexus what the hybrid health check involved, as far as I could work out, taking money out of your wallet.

30 seconds to plug into the OBD port and than print off a Battery voltage report - Easy money.

The Nissan tech I took my Leaf into for a 'service' was almost embrassed to take £90 off me for essentially the same 'Battery check' on our old Leaf. Sadly he wasn't embrassed enough not too take the money and I had to 'service' it as part of the PCP agreement.

Our current EV has just ticked over 15K in 12 month, warranty is fully intact regardless of when/if I choose to service it. Battery coolant will need replacing at 50K so that will be the first time I will take it back to the dealer, local independent will do brake fluid change for £60 next year.

Shame our Lexus still has oilly bits to actually warrant an annual sevice, I have never liked throwing money away.

Hadrian · November 4, 2018

One of the reasons I bought a Lexus was because they have a service centre a 2 minute walk away. I also bought from a Lexus dealership via

my local Toyota dealer. It's the most money we've ever spent on a car, and from the outset knew what the cost of ownership involved.

The service centre will have a record of the car's history, and can advise of things which may need looking at, befor they become major problems.

"You pays your money and you takes your choice".

Richard1200 · November 4, 2018

1 hour ago, Hadrian said:

One of the reasons I bought a Lexus was because they have a service centre a 2 minute walk away. I also bought from a Lexus dealership via

my local Toyota dealer. It's the most money we've ever spent on a car, and from the outset knew what the cost of ownership involved.

The service centre will have a record of the car's history, and can advise of things which may need looking at, befor they become major problems.

"You pays your money and you takes your choice".

Well summed up.

matt8 · November 4, 2018

1 hour ago, Hadrian said:

The service centre will have a record of the car's history, and can advise of things which may need looking at, befor they become major problems.

Don't the dealers prefer major problems to arise, so they can sell you new cars and expensive repair work? Or they tell you of major things to come which may never come, or which are exaggerated, so you shell out?

I don't believe any dealer will offer you the best service. They'll offer you a consistent-with-other-dealers service. An independent garage or individual mechanic with a real enthusiasm would provide a better service in my mind. They aren't easy to find though.

The greasing of the guide / sliding pins on brake calipers for example; will never be done by Lexus or any other dealer during brake service (it's not on the tick list to do) but is well-known as something very important to do. The enthusiastic independent will likely do it!

A friend who once worked for big Japanese name car dealer tells me of horror stories he observed. Oil changes ticked "done" but not actually done, with the attitude "if there's a problem in the future, we'll sort it under warranty, or sell an expensive repair." Etc.

Some of the advantages the dealer has is the support of Lexus and good access to parts I suppose.

royoftherovers · November 4, 2018

2 hours ago, Hadrian said:

One of the reasons I bought a Lexus was because they have a service centre a 2 minute walk away. I also bought from a Lexus dealership via

my local Toyota dealer. It's the most money we've ever spent on a car, and from the outset knew what the cost of ownership involved.

The service centre will have a record of the car's history, and can advise of things which may need looking at, befor they become major problems.

"You pays your money and you takes your choice".

My perspective will mirror other Members I am sure, but will not reflect the views of all.

I bought my GS just over 5 years ago from Lexus Chester which has completed all servicing (via a Service Agreement, costing £34 per month fixed, during that period ).I also purchased and continued to purchase an Extended Warranty which ran throughout that period and the current one still has the best part of 2 years to run.

The Dealer is 6 miles from my home and I knew of Lexus Dealerships at Liverpool (10 miles away ) and Bolton (30 miles away). Indeed Lexus Bolton offered to collect the car from my home and return it to me after servicing, stating "that`s what we do".

I bought the car for the long term (still having my 16 year old W210 Merc Estate). The principle reason for my choosing Lexus was their reliability, perceived quality and famed Customer Service,. both of which have been first class. I have had no problems whatsoever with the car (servicing and consumables only) and customer relationships have been all that I would have wished.

I did not and still do not, see the logic in investing in a Lexus, to then "spoil the ship for a halfpenneth of Tar".

Having invested as I did, it is not necessary for me to worry about Dealerships being x miles away, or expensive for servicing or repairs.

As I stated at the outset, not all will agree with my views, but I can claim to have been pleased with the outcomes of my decisions.

rayaans · November 4, 2018

6 hours ago, matt8 said:

Don't the dealers prefer major problems to arise, so they can sell you new cars and expensive repair work? Or they tell you of major things to come which may never come, or which are exaggerated, so you shell out?

I don't believe any dealer will offer you the best service. They'll offer you a consistent-with-other-dealers service. An independent garage or individual mechanic with a real enthusiasm would provide a better service in my mind. They aren't easy to find though.

The greasing of the guide / sliding pins on brake calipers for example; will never be done by Lexus or any other dealer during brake service (it's not on the tick list to do) but is well-known as something very important to do. The enthusiastic independent will likely do it!

A friend who once worked for big Japanese name car dealer tells me of horror stories he observed. Oil changes ticked "done" but not actually done, with the attitude "if there's a problem in the future, we'll sort it under warranty, or sell an expensive repair." Etc.

Some of the advantages the dealer has is the support of Lexus and good access to parts I suppose.

The dealers can't tell you of major things to come which may never come - you can sue them if they do. They should only be telling you what is wrong with the car at that moment in time and if something may need doing but ultimately its the buyers choice on whether to do it or not.

Greasing of the sliding pins on brake calipers is something that is not routinely done as its not a huge occurrence. Maybe on older cars but my RX was 5 years old when I got rid of it and had no such issues. Our IS300h is older than 5 years and it also has no caliper issues. Its just something you hear about but nobody knows how "common" it actually is.

Oil changes being ticked as "Done" is massively risky business. Someone could analyse it and sue the dealer and tarnish their reputation at the same time. Common for things to get missed but not actively chosen not to be done.

ColinBarber · November 4, 2018

3 hours ago, rayaans said:

Greasing of the sliding pins on brake calipers is something that is not routinely done as its not a huge occurrence. Maybe on older cars but my RX was 5 years old when I got rid of it and had no such issues. Our IS300h is older than 5 years and it also has no caliper issues. Its just something you hear about but nobody knows how "common" it actually is

It depends on the brake design, but of models affected I'd say 90%+ will see the issue - it is extremely common. However it only really starts to become an issue after 5 years. Possible should be part of the 60k mile service as preventive maintenance (40k on hybrids as the brakes aren't used as much).

Ala Larj · November 4, 2018

16 hours ago, ganzoom said:

30 seconds to plug into the OBD port and than print off a battery voltage report - Easy money.

The Nissan tech I took my Leaf into for a 'service' was almost embrassed to take £90 off me for essentially the same 'battery check' on our old Leaf. Sadly he wasn't embrassed enough not too take the money and I had to 'service' it as part of the PCP agreement.

Our current EV has just ticked over 15K in 12 month, warranty is fully intact regardless of when/if I choose to service it. Battery coolant will need replacing at 50K so that will be the first time I will take it back to the dealer, local independent will do brake fluid change for £60 next year.

Shame our Lexus still has oilly bits to actually warrant an annual sevice, I have never liked throwing money away.

But surely the cost of the Battery check is not just the check but also 12 months warranty?

ganzoom · December 2, 2018

On 11/4/2018 at 8:57 PM, Ala Larj said:

But surely the cost of the battery check is not just the check but also 12 months warranty?

The chance of the Battery pack failling is pretty much 0%. The system runs a 'battery' check constantly. If the Battery is not safe, the whole hybrid set up would just stop. In this case a warranty will be needed, but am not sure I've heard of any IS300H hybrid system failling?