Are service plans worth it??

Poundy · November 10, 2018

Lexus have just offered me a 3 year service plan for the coming year 5 @ £172, year 6 @ £356.25 and year 7 @ £161.25. Plus 3 MOT's @ £39 each plus 3 fuel treatments @ £15 each. all inclusive of vat

They are saying this is a saving of £278.05 or 23.98% but I am not sure if that is kosher, looking at these prices, Any comments appreciated, it is my intention to have regular Lexus service every year although the car will only do 5k or less per year. Just not keen on direct debits unless the savings are really worthwhile lol!

rayaans · November 10, 2018

Seems good value to me.

Remember that the service prices are going up again in January 2019 so either way its going to be worth it as your service plan will be fixed.

Chef1969 · November 11, 2018

I'm on a service plan with Chester Lexus and its fantastic. It spreads the cost and the prices are fixed at the start and as I do 15-18k miles a year for work it has been well worth it. I pay £40 a month, a 2 year deal that's gives 4 services..2 are full and 2 are interim and 2 Mots. Then Chester do the courtesy car for free when mine is in, so that's great service for me. I know full service alone is about £450 so I wouldn't hesitate at taking a plan out.

Chef1969 · November 11, 2018

I have a CT200H 2013..!

Poundy · November 12, 2018

Thanks guy's I was out getting a new Battery fitted today as per my other post and signed up for the 3 service and MOT deal, seemed a no brainer considering the future price rises thay may be on the horizon plus 10% discount on anything I need.

Depending on Traffic my nearest Lexus at Fort Dunlop is between 30 & 40mins away so the fact that they are happy to come and pick up the car do the required work and then bring it back, which means a minimum of 2 hrs travel time for them takes some pressure off me. If I needed a car I could drop it off and get a loner until it was sorted, but that's something I am unlikely to need, so all good.

me140 · November 18, 2018

I paid £150 for an interim service and £265 for a major service at a Lexus dealer. Mot is £30 if you look around. Another thing is my sister has a Mercedes service plan on her A Class and they don't change everything thing they are meant to as I checked. I used to work for a major retail motor dealers and cars on service plans were always short changed. I am not saying Lexus are like this, just making a point.

Poundy · November 18, 2018

8 hours ago, me140 said:

I paid £150 for an interim service and £265 for a major service at a Lexus dealer. Mot is £30 if you look around. Another thing is my sister has a Mercedes service plan on her A Class and they don't change everything thing they are meant to as I checked. I used to work for a major retail motor dealers and cars on service plans were always short changed. I am not saying Lexus are like this, just making a point.

There is a Lexus Essentials Care service available for cars over 5 years old that is around the prices you posted currently £165 interim & £290 major. You don't get the full service though so hence the reduction in price. Our Ct is a very low usage car and the one we use for local town use etc, it will probably be lucky to see 4k a year but it still has nigh on 2.5years warranty, breakdown cover etc. Also being zero tax and having great fuel economy I will just keep it to a high standard of repair and run it indefinitely. My wife loves the practicality and ease of parking of it and it keeps her out of my Jag lol! so all good for now, I have done the deal and will see what is on offer when this one finishes. They did do a free puncture repair while it was in for a Battery change so that was a bonus 🙂

me140 · November 18, 2018

It's funny cos my wife won't drive it as it beeps and has funny lights on the dash that come on at random times. I hope you enjoy your car as much as I have and you have trouble free motoring.

If you find a dealer you are happy with stick with them, I travel over 100 miles to use Lexus Lincoln as I find them very helpful.

Wass · December 23, 2018

There's a school of thought which goes along the path of there being a defined amount of work to be done and an expected time to do it in. Cheaper prices mean either the person carrying out the work is paid less, the premises overheads are lower, or some of the work isn't getting done.IE pay less, get less. I prefer to pay the minimum amount it takes to get a stamp in the service book and continue with completing the service work myself to to make sure that everything gets done ; since I am all too aware of the things which happen when bosses and share holders start making noises about "efficiency savings" (only doing half the job) and "streamlining" ( getting rid of some of the lower paid workers) whilst "maintaining standards" ( providing showroom comfy customer sofas and free coffees and biscuits ) and "putting the customer first" ( since it is the customers who the company must concentrate on fleecing) "improving quality assurance and governance" ( getting easily replaceable people to tick and sign boxes to say they have completed works--- even if they haven't been given the time and resources to do so).

"Pay less , get less" is a good rule of thumb but one which has to be combined with common sense and savvy.

mandon75 · December 27, 2018

On 11/18/2018 at 10:35 PM, me140 said:

It's funny cos my wife won't drive it as it beeps and has funny lights on the dash that come on at random times. I hope you enjoy your car as much as I have and you have trouble free motoring.

If you find a dealer you are happy with stick with them, I travel over 100 miles to use Lexus Lincoln as I find them very helpful.

Lincoln Lexus is my local dealer, I to would recommend the dealer. I have their service plan and extended warranty on my CT, their level of customer service is outstanding.

royoftherovers · December 27, 2018

On 11/11/2018 at 5:33 PM, Chef1969 said:

I'm on a service plan with Chester Lexus and its fantastic. It spreads the cost and the prices are fixed at the start and as I do 15-18k miles a year for work it has been well worth it. I pay £40 a month, a 2 year deal that's gives 4 services..2 are full and 2 are interim and 2 Mots. Then Chester do the courtesy car for free when mine is in, so that's great service for me. I know full service alone is about £450 so I wouldn't hesitate at taking a plan out.

Me too.

Took out a 10 year plan with Chester with fixed monthly payments. Have had it for 5 years and not paid one penny extra so far.A no-brainer.

Hadrian · December 28, 2018

What happens if you take out a service plan, and change your car (for another Lexus) mid term ?

royoftherovers · December 28, 2018

41 minutes ago, Hadrian said:

What happens if you take out a service plan, and change your car (for another Lexus) mid term ?

Terminate the Plan or transfer it to the new Lexus vehicle.

Hadrian · December 28, 2018

So I take it, that a service plan is just that, service costs and MOT's (?) are covered. I assume you pay parts and labour costs for any repairs or

replacement parts not covered while it's being serviced.? Or does that depend on the plan ?

royoftherovers · December 28, 2018

11 minutes ago, Hadrian said:

So I take it, that a service plan is just that, service costs and MOT's (?) are covered. I assume you pay parts and labour costs for any repairs or

replacement parts not covered while it's being serviced.? Or does that depend on the plan ?

The Plan covers everything required by the manufacturers service schedule and MOT`s. I (the customer ) pays for everything else. To date (5 years) I have not had to pay anything over my £34 per month.

Chef1969 · December 28, 2018

Same for me.. so far I haven't needed any additional work so it feels like having a company car as I just driving away paying nothing!.. if I did need brakes for example, I use a local garage who I have used with my previous cars if I needed to..but I think there is labour charge discount at Lexus for additional work or maybe its on parts? I would cross that bridge at the time.. Mine is a high miler so always aware of stuff that needs doing that comes with bigger mileage.. on 144K now.

Beduffshirl · January 8, 2019

I had a CT 5 years ago and took out the service plan. Had all my regular Services at Lexus Bham and they were great (bonus that I work 5 mins walk from there!!). 3 years later I moved to BMW and then last August came back to Lexus with another CT. Madly a couple of weeks before I had a call from Lexus in Preston I think saying that I had paid for my services than I had taken and they had spotted it in their records and a refund would be on the way. A nice surprise just before I went and bought my new CT 🙂

Eggie · January 8, 2019

On 12/28/2018 at 7:48 AM, Hadrian said:

What happens if you take out a service plan, and change your car (for another Lexus) mid term ?

I had a service plan on my first nx which I had for 10 months. Was paying £35pcm. When I exchanged it to the updated nx I transferred it to the new one. No penalty. In fact my monthly payment dropped to £15pcm due to what I had paid but had never used for a service.

Poundy · January 11, 2019

On 12/23/2018 at 10:57 AM, Wass said:

There's a school of thought which goes along the path of there being a defined amount of work to be done and an expected time to do it in. Cheaper prices mean either the person carrying out the work is paid less, the premises overheads are lower, or some of the work isn't getting done.IE pay less, get less. I prefer to pay the minimum amount it takes to get a stamp in the service book and continue with completing the service work myself to to make sure that everything gets done ; since I am all too aware of the things which happen when bosses and share holders start making noises about "efficiency savings" (only doing half the job) and "streamlining" ( getting rid of some of the lower paid workers) whilst "maintaining standards" ( providing showroom comfy customer sofas and free coffees and biscuits ) and "putting the customer first" ( since it is the customers who the company must concentrate on fleecing) "improving quality assurance and governance" ( getting easily replaceable people to tick and sign boxes to say they have completed works--- even if they haven't been given the time and resources to do so).

"Pay less , get less" is a good rule of thumb but one which has to be combined with common sense and savvy.

Very valued comment's I have spent many years in the motor trade and am aware of most of the failings in it.lol! I have done many ground up renovations on higher end classic cars in my time. This is my Australian 1992 MB V8 500sl Convertible, pictured being the most recent. Having retired now and spending most of my time back here in the UK and leaving others to do the bulk of the work I still have a habit of checking the work that's been done afterwards 😉☺️