What's your take on servicing after 12 years / 100k miles?

[A-Rod]

Hello All,

Just want to get some thoughts / opinions from you all.

As per the title, do you still continue to service your RX (or any other Lexus you may have had) at the main dealer after the 10th-12th anniversary / 100k+ miles? I'm in love with my RX400h, however I am not entirely sure how I'd benefit from continuing to utilise the main dealer for servicing, other than the 1 year Battery warranty (correct me if I am wrong)?

I have full history with Lexus with 12 stamps and cam belt / pump replaced at main dealer too, which was a very nice bonus and peace of mind. I am planning to own the car until it dies. Unsure if I should continue to use Lexus going forwards since the car is now relatively old and has 109k miles on the clock.

[Herbie]

Absolutely not.

The only thing you need to use the main dealer for is anything that only they can do, ie, hybrid stuff.

The rest of the car is just like any other car on the road - engine, brakes, radiator and cooling system etc., etc., can all be dealt with by a good garage (preferably recommended by others) anywhere.

I'm not having a pop at you but I have to say that it really annoys me when people just dismiss out of hand, anywhere other than the main dealers. 'Motor mechanic' is a recognised trade and people have to serve an apprenticeship and qualify to do the job. They put a lot of time, effort and money into learning their skills and they build up a reputation, only to be snubbed and ignored by some people who mistakenly think that only the main dealers will do a good job.

Plus, there's no point in spending over the odds (which you would be) just to get a Lexus stamp in the book. Other garages can legitimately stamp the book too.

[hprice1099]

24 minutes ago, A-Rod said:

Hello All,

Just want to get some thoughts / opinions from you all.

As per the title, do you still continue to service your RX (or any other Lexus you may have had) at the main dealer after the 10th-12th anniversary / 100k+ miles? I'm in love with my RX400h, however I am not entirely sure how I'd benefit from continuing to utilise the main dealer for servicing, other than the 1 year battery warranty (correct me if I am wrong)?

I have full history with Lexus with 12 stamps and cam belt / pump replaced at main dealer too, which was a very nice bonus and peace of mind. I am planning to own the car until it dies. Unsure if I should continue to use Lexus going forwards since the car is now relatively old and has 109k miles on the clock.

This depends on how OCD you are i guess, is it still under warranty? If so you have to get Lexus to service it, if not you don't need to do this. My RX450h is 10 years old and i still service it at Lexus, i just pay monthly so I don't really notice it. 

[Stevemak]

Id personally recommend lexus to service it there essential care service is a good price and comes with the Hybrid health check by the time you pay someone else to do a service using non genuine parts then if you want the warranty on the hybrid Battery you are gonna have to take it to a dealer anyway and pay about £60  just remember the hybrid Battery replacement would sent you back about £3000. 

[Mossypossy]

Keep Lexus servicing until hybrid warranty dies at 15 years old.

Then you are on your own.

[granadaman]

I pay for a service plan which works out cheaper than essential service based on what you get. 3 years of service which I pay £20 month 1 major 2 minor. 3 years ago when I started this Plan it needed spark plugs changing so if I’d kept the essential service this would have cost £600 on top for the spark plugs swapping out. Just had a major and they changed brake oil and air. Receipt said £288 inc but I’d prepaid

[Greisingel]

1 minute ago, granadaman said:

I pay for a service plan which works out cheaper than essential service based on what you get. 3 years of service which I pay £20 month 1 major 2 minor. 3 years ago when I started this Plan it needed spark plugs changing so if I’d kept the essential service this would have cost £600 on top for the spark plugs swapping out. Just had a major and they changed brake oil and air. Receipt said £288 inc but I’d prepaid

Can you give details of this service plan?  Like the sound of it. My 113K RX400H has no records. I bought it as Northern Ireland import. Don’t even know if belt done. Have done a bit myself. 

[granadaman]

I will take some photos of the plan and upload here.

[Greisingel]

2 hours ago, granadaman said:

I will take some photos of the plan and upload here.

That would be useful.

[Lydiamight]

I am fortunate that I have a very well respected and reviewed Lexus & Toyota specialist about six miles away. My Rx400h is now nearly thirteen years old and i took the car out of the main dealer network around five years ago. My Lexus specailist has performed superbly during that time.  OK--I don't get a loan car, Nespresso coffee and and attractive young lady on reception in a smart showroom. But I do pay a fraction of main dealer prices. If anyone is interested the outfit i use is http://www.tech-one.co.uk/  based in Sidcup.

No connections other than a very satisfied customer

 

 

[Friso]

2 hours ago, Lydiamight said:

I am fortunate that I have a very well respected and reviewed Lexus & Toyota specialist about six miles away. My Rx400h is now nearly thirteen years old and i took the car out of the main dealer network around five years ago. My Lexus specailist has performed superbly during that time.  OK--I don't get a loan car, Nespresso coffee and and attractive young lady on reception in a smart showroom. But I do pay a fraction of main dealer prices. If anyone is interested the outfit i use is http://www.tech-one.co.uk/  based in Sidcup.

No connections other than a very satisfied customer

 

 

That's where I go. Much prefer it as you get to speak to the guy doing the service. I'm not too bothered with the hybrid health check either. Will probably do it gain at some point though..

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, Greisingel said:

That would be useful.

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/lexus-essential-care/

[Las Palmas]

Just asked Lexus here if they have something similar.

[granadaman]

Keep getting error200 trying to upload photos. They are both under 10mb. Anybody got any advice. Both jpg

[Las Palmas]

On 2/20/2021 at 3:38 PM, Las Palmas said:

Just asked Lexus here if they have something similar.

Lexus in the islands here have no such service:

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/lexus-essential-care/

[royoftherovers]

5 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

Lexus in the islands here have no such service:

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/lexus-essential-care/

Any Toyota garage John?

[Linas.P]

My take was that Lexus Essential care is actually great value service if you compare around actually it is hard to beat and it keeps car FLSH. The only thing which can beat it is DIY or some nasty little garage which won't even stamp your book (not that it matters anyway) + then you have a question what to do with old oil etc. You can get essential care on the service plan as well, which further reduces it's cost if you want. 

So what I did was service every 6k miles, once in nasty dirty cheap garage where I can "supervise" the mechanics and I would do simple oil + filters services and just generally good look around and under the car myself. And then second one in Lexus dealership, just essential care - again oils filters + coffee for myself and always courtesy car to test and maintain my knowledge of what is on the market + chat of what deals are available and trying something nicer like LC or RC-F.

Now obviously if you look at service history of my car it seems like car was serviced (stamped) every 12-13k miles, but does it really matter on 12 years/100k miles car (mine was more like 190k). I doubt it... Secondly, I knew that 6k oil changes were best for the car even if undocumented, it gave me good opportunity to inspect the car myself and get second opinions (basically where mechanic just rattles the wheel a little bit or points out at something odd) and then at the end of the year having it serviced by Lexus so that they can point out anything I have missed and sort of "tidy-up" the ends.

This was as well convenient because before COVID I was doing 12-14k miles a year, nowadays I don't know what I would do... maybe just Lexus service once in 2 years, as I am doing 3k miles at most. I know this is not ideal as once oil is in the engine it ages without driving and driving little is actually even worse, but I cannot justify doing service for the car after just 3k miles. Maybe just doing oil change in cheap and dirty garage at the end of first year and then Lexus service at the end of second... not sure, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. 

[Las Palmas]

48 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Any Toyota garage John?

Lexus and Toyota here is same company. 3 and all owned by same company.

[Herbie]

5 hours ago, granadaman said:

Keep getting error200 trying to upload photos. They are both under 10mb. Anybody got any advice. Both jpg

Each photo has to definitely be below 5MB but may even be smaller.

That's the problem with smartphone cameras getting better - they take bigger pictures/file sizes by default. Great for most things but for upload to forums you now need to run it through some photo-manipulation software like Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for instance, where you can reduce image size by 50% and then use the "Save for web" which then gets the file size down to a more manageable 1MB or so, without any loss of detail.

[A-Rod]

Thanks all for the input. I think it would be wise for me to go with their essential plan as it offers 1x minor and 1x major service. I am now due for a major so it would come in handy as the local dealer wants around £450 for it.

[Las Palmas]

On 2/22/2021 at 2:22 PM, Herbie said:

Each photo has to definitely be below 5MB but may even be smaller.

That's the problem with smartphone cameras getting better - they take bigger pictures/file sizes by default. Great for most things but for upload to forums you now need to run it through some photo-manipulation software like Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for instance, where you can reduce image size by 50% and then use the "Save for web" which then gets the file size down to a more manageable 1MB or so, without any loss of detail.

You do not need to use a pro program like Photoshop to reduce picture size.

Faststone Image Viewer
Irfan View

Both do the same job exactly as good and that for free.

Photoshop is needed if you want to do more complicated things.

[Herbie]

41 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

You do not need to use a pro program like Photoshop to reduce picture size.

Faststone Image Viewer
Irfan View

Both do the same job exactly as good and that for free.

Photoshop is needed if you want to do more complicated things.

This is true - I just mentioned Photoshop because I have it and I don't have either of the two that you suggested.

[Phil xxkr]

13 hours ago, A-Rod said:

Thanks all for the input. I think it would be wise for me to go with their essential plan as it offers 1x minor and 1x major service. I am now due for a major so it would come in handy as the local dealer wants around £450 for it.

Look carefully at this Den, to my knowledge dealers will offer no discount on Essential service plans but if you have a LOC gold card some dealers will offer you the "full fat" service plan including Mot's with 20% off. So this works out to be approximately similar. In addition I used a 0% credit card which gives me additional Section 75 assurances. The other big advantages I feel over independents is that the plan is transferable should the need arise and the use of genuine parts. I have some experience of using non genuine parts in my XKR and you end up paying twice! 

[A-Rod]

Just booked my car for a service at Cambridge Lexus. They told me that they no longer carry out the old service (not sure what they were talking about, but I think they mentioned the essential service and something along those lines) scheme and it's now just a full service or an intermediate service; however they also said they'll give me a 20% discount on full service due to the change in the scheme - again, it's the first time I'm taking my car for a service so unsure what they meant but happily accepted the discount. So all in (including full valet) is £420 for my RX400h.

[Malc]

maybe check if the plugs are due coz for some reason that seems to often bump  the price up by a couple of hundred squid !

Malc