Service time

[ahmedali44]

Rather then go lexus Woodford this time for service decided to use my local ford dealers which were cheaper than lexus. Last yr was conned as told me less price end up charging 325 for essential service. Ford quote me £203 including vat. Will see what included. Not been seen yet been 25 mins 

Any1 used service stop apparently supposed to be good lot cheaper then main dealers pick car @ drop car off but will car be returned loool 

Servicestop charge 125 full service 

Think gonna walk out rubbish service took while to find prices for parts as car not been to them before quoted 283 including vat still lot cheaper than lexus 

[ahmedali44]

Just picked up car all good even send video of health check and give gift.

[is200 Newbie]

What was done at the service as the cost of £125 seems very low ?

[scudney]

£125 for a full service really??,very much doubt it,will be interesting to know what was done as even a small/minor service ie oil,oil filter,cabin filter roughly comes to that as it is 

[ahmedali44]

Company called Servicestop quote 125 plus 30 special oils 

Ford charge 283 

[ahmedali44]

Company called Servicingstop quote 125 plus 30 special oils 

Ford charge 283 

[ahmedali44]

Put number plate on Servicingstop.co.uk gives you 125 for service. Pick up and drop off 2.i got Dagenham motors to do mine 

[scudney]

what sort of service did they do please if you don't mind telling,what exactly did they change?

[ahmedali44]

As far as I know all service parts except plugs and sent video of health check too

[ahmedali44]

Shouldn't lexus send video of inspection had couple of services done no videos plus charge me more for essential service.

[steveledzep]

Yes, I always get a video of the initial inspection from Lexus Cardiff.

[is200 Newbie]

Oil to spec at approx. £55 for 6 litres / Oil filter at £9 / New sump plug washer at £2 / Air filter at £10 / Engine flush at £10 ..... pickup and drop off ... (costs for these parts vary)

Other items to consider would be the oil filter removal tool specific to the car ..

An hour to do maximum. This is what it would cost me and includes the time taken by myself to do the service on an standard service only. So I guess adding the labour element into it then it does stack up but I cant see where they are making their profit from, especially considering they are collecting and dropping your car off. I would be a bit suspicious on the parts used if I could not establish what they were, especially the oil grade and the fact you cant reallhy check the oil filter has been changed without draining the engine.

This came up on a search on the company

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/mar/18/servicing-stop-charges-can-add-up-car-garage-driving

 

[Verbout]

You can’t really be serious about using “Servicestop”?

[ahmedali44]

Oh God will never use them my sister got bmw was thinking of using them did tell her it's too cheap and it's a con, 2016 grand tourer 2.0 petrol only 20k on clock quote her 200.when put my Reg in came up 125 plus any special oil 30. Was thinking how can be possible at that price. So I think Dagenham motors charge right amount £283 including vat. 

[ilovemylexus72]

I tend to get my service done at my local garage, garage express, but I get all my parts ordered through Daniel at www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk  

All the parts are genuine lexus products, he is great and all the parts are really good value.

[scudney]

As the saying goes,cheap is not always cheerful,had my suspicions as soon as I saw the price,have used my local garage for the last 20 years and will continue to do so 😊 

[mk_lon]

I use my local independent in North London called Bmerc, they are honest and trustworthy. I usually pay £200 ish for a service. Been using them for 3 years now for my is250. 

My friends car was damaged (dented) by service stop and the scumbag mechanic took out the sd card from the dash cam so he could not be traced. 

They finally payed up after a long time. 

[johnatg]

On 11/6/2018 at 10:12 PM, is200 Newbie said:

Oil to spec at approx. £55 for 6 litres / Oil filter at £9 / New sump plug washer at £2 / Air filter at £10 / Engine flush at £10 ..... pickup and drop off ... (costs for these parts vary)

 

 

Yes, but those are retail prices and garages pay much, much less. Now, I pay retail, but for example I buy oil to spec in 20 litre drums for £60, so say £20 for the oil, OK, filter at about £9, sump plug washer - I bought the correct green fibre/ally core ones from smartearlybird.co.uk - 10 for £5.68 - say 60p (a garage could buy 100 for £29.61). Air filter - £8.92  and engine flush - I buy 6 Comma bottles for £15.84 - say £2.70 each. Total for above - £42 or so. And a garage will pay less again in more bulk and at trade prices.

So charge £80 or a bit more for labour and you're just about in business - tight though. And a garage wouldn't use sump plug washers - most of them will suck the oil out with a pump and not bother with the flush.

You don't need to change the pollen filter every time (nor the air filter actually). The rest of the service involves a coat of looking at and very little more.

I certainly wouldn't use a cheapo service outfit - but equally I think paying getting on for £300 for a service is completely OTT. You're paying for a lot of fancy environment, coffee, biscuits etc etc.

And on to cheap MoTs - there is indeed a chance - likelihood even - that they will find a fail or even just an advisory on something and charge a lot for a 'fix'. You need to find somewhere you can trust. A common scam I've come across frequently is 'worn brake pads'. Most people will say 'You'd better fix it then'. I've fallen for it myself when a family member's car has had that advisory, so I've bought pads in preparation, then when I come to do the job I find there's half the pad thickness left. The last time was my daughter's Pug 208 - got a service (not MoT) advisory in December '17 for low front brake pads and worn discs (needs to be done ASAP) , so I bought a set of pads then came to do the job in January. Bit of a silver lining there - we found she had no locking wheel nut key and it took quite  a while to sort that out, at least when it wasn't urgent. When I got to the pads of course, no problem and the discs were OK too. Finally changed discs and pads last month after another 10000 miles.

[is200 Newbie]

7 hours ago, johnatg said:

Yes, but those are retail prices and garages pay much, much less. Now, I pay retail, but for example I buy oil to spec in 20 litre drums for £60, so say £20 for the oil, OK, filter at about £9, sump plug washer - I bought the correct green fibre/ally core ones from smartearlybird.co.uk - 10 for £5.68 - say 60p (a garage could buy 100 for £29.61). Air filter - £8.92  and engine flush - I buy 6 Comma bottles for £15.84 - say £2.70 each. Total for above - £42 or so. And a garage will pay less again in more bulk and at trade prices.

So charge £80 or a bit more for labour and you're just about in business - tight though. And a garage wouldn't use sump plug washers - most of them will suck the oil out with a pump and not bother with the flush.

You don't need to change the pollen filter every time (nor the air filter actually). The rest of the service involves a coat of looking at and very little more.

I certainly wouldn't use a cheapo service outfit - but equally I think paying getting on for £300 for a service is completely OTT. You're paying for a lot of fancy environment, coffee, biscuits etc etc.

And on to cheap MoTs - there is indeed a chance - likelihood even - that they will find a fail or even just an advisory on something and charge a lot for a 'fix'. You need to find somewhere you can trust. A common scam I've come across frequently is 'worn brake pads'. Most people will say 'You'd better fix it then'. I've fallen for it myself when a family member's car has had that advisory, so I've bought pads in preparation, then when I come to do the job I find there's half the pad thickness left. The last time was my daughter's Pug 208 - got a service (not MoT) advisory in December '17 for low front brake pads and worn discs (needs to be done ASAP) , so I bought a set of pads then came to do the job in January. Bit of a silver lining there - we found she had no locking wheel nut key and it took quite  a while to sort that out, at least when it wasn't urgent. When I got to the pads of course, no problem and the discs were OK too. Finally changed discs and pads last month after another 10000 miles.

Agree totally with that and I knew there would be a major reduction for trade prices ...

Could you guarantee the correct grade of oil being used - would a garage have the range of oils available for all cars? I actually buy the oil cheaper when it comes up on offer but you need to know when that is. The £60 for 20 litres is a good deal. If say I purchased one of these (if I found a supplier that would sell it at trade price) and used it for servicing my car, it would last just under 2 years as I do an oil change twice a year. Would there be any issue in storing an opened oil for that long taking into account the last use of it would be in a years time?

Also - how much oil can really be sucked out of the engine using this method?

[johnatg]

I look after 5 cars, so the 60 litres does for a while. I think oil lats a good while once it's opened - after all it needs to be good for a year or more in the harsh conditions of engine running, so I reckon it will last OK sitting quietly in the can even if it has been opened. I use Exol Optima LSG 5W-30 (eBay) in all the cars - Lexus, Mazda MX-5, Seat Mii, Peugeot 208, Mazda3 and my lawnmower.

Good garages will keep a range of oils. Whether you get the correct one for your particular car is something else!

I don't know about the suck method really - I know it's in widespread use and some cars don't have drain plugs any more - incidentally the 'smart' bit of smartearlybird I've mentioned here is spares for Smart cars - and they do a replacement sump with a drain plug!

[Vintagesixtysix]

[Mylextoo]

Hi, is there a complete service schedule available for the is250? I have never asked Lexus about this but presumably depends on age and mileage. For instance, in some other makes the cam belt needs to be changed etc., I recently changed the oil in the differential. Has anybody done this? Wow, what a difference this made. The car is so quiet now, the only noise I have now is tyres on our awful roads!