Lexus Essential Care Servicing Discontinued?

[wookee]

Yesterday I tried to book my IS300h (122k miles) in for a major Essential Care Service with Lexus Twickenham, only to be informed that Essential Care Servicing has been discontinued as of May 1st. Spoke to Lexus Hatfield, and they confirmed it has been discontinued nationwide. The option seems to have also been removed from the "Book a service" tool on lexus.co.uk. Any mention of Essential Care Servicing has also been dropped from https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/lexus-essential-care/. However other Essential Care repair items (brakes, shocks) remain on offer it seems.

Most of the franchisee websites still mention ECS (eg, RRG Group, Currie Motors etc). I had a brief exchange with Lexus UK on Twitter, and they said that Essential Care was still running, but they promised to look into the servicing further and get back to me.

So, has anyone else come across this? If ECS really is gone, that potentially means much higher servicing costs to keep your full Lexus service history. I was also planning to take out the Extended Warranty, but since this requires main dealer servicing, I'm not sure this makes sense financially any more.

It also raises the question of what the recommended servicing schedule should be for older >100k cars? Is it still 10k / 1yr? Do we just do intermediates now? Or start over on the 20k, 40k, 60k etc cycle?

So I'm thinking my alternative plan would be to take it to Toyotec (Redhill) for servicing and then maybe pay for the Hybrid Health Check separately (£59?) at Lexus Twickenham to try and keep the Hybrid battery under warranty at least. Possibly look into a 3rd party warranty.

Has anyone else come across this yet?

[Shahpor]

I mentioned it here:

It does indeed look like Lexus UK have discontinued it.  Shame really as it did represent very good value for money.

[Phil xxkr]

21 minutes ago, wookee said:

Yesterday I tried to book my IS300h (122k miles) in for a major Essential Care Service with Lexus Twickenham, only to be informed that Essential Care Servicing has been discontinued as of May 1st. Spoke to Lexus Hatfield, and they confirmed it has been discontinued nationwide. The option seems to have also been removed from the "Book a service" tool on lexus.co.uk. Any mention of Essential Care Servicing has also been dropped from https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/lexus-essential-care/. However other Essential Care repair items (brakes, shocks) remain on offer it seems.

Most of the franchisee websites still mention ECS (eg, RRG Group, Currie Motors etc). I had a brief exchange with Lexus UK on Twitter, and they said that Essential Care was still running, but they promised to look into the servicing further and get back to me.

So, has anyone else come across this? If ECS really is gone, that potentially means much higher servicing costs to keep your full Lexus service history. I was also planning to take out the Extended Warranty, but since this requires main dealer servicing, I'm not sure this makes sense financially any more.

It also raises the question of what the recommended servicing schedule should be for older >100k cars? Is it still 10k / 1yr? Do we just do intermediates now? Or start over on the 20k, 40k, 60k etc cycle?

So I'm thinking my alternative plan would be to take it to Toyotec (Redhill) for servicing and then maybe pay for the Hybrid Health Check separately (£59?) at Lexus Twickenham to try and keep the Hybrid battery under warranty at least. Possibly look into a 3rd party warranty.

Has anyone else come across this yet?

Generally speaking Will a firm won't just drop a revenue stream without explanation or replacing the proposition with another. If there is a temporary hiatus it probably means that the new proposition is better than the former. 

[Shahpor]

The other possibility is that it wasn't making them any money - or even costing them to keep it going - so Lexus UK have decided to allow the dealers themselves to work out what they want to do and set their own prices. 

[Herbie]

37 minutes ago, wookee said:

Possibly look into a 3rd party warranty.

You'll never find one as good as the Lexus offering but the requirement to have servicing done at Lexus does spoil it somewhat.

If I remember correctly, the extended warranty on my RX was £995 for two years, which I consider to be very good value when you consider the benefits:

• You can pay monthly to spread the cost
• It includes two MOTs
• It includes superb breakdown cover, even including full European cover, home start (some breakdown policies require you to be at least one mile from home), it also covers your spouse at no extra cost and it covers both of you even in other cars and even if that car is not a Lexus
• It covers MOT items if something causes it to fail

Given that parts for these cars are so expensive (eg. a single headlamp unit nearly a grand) you can get your money back on the first claim.

But then you have to take into account the requirement for servicing at Lexus and what that costs as well, but again you can pay monthly and lock in at today's prices.

[rayaans]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

You'll never find one as good as the Lexus offering but the requirement to have servicing done at Lexus does spoil it somewhat.

If I remember correctly, the extended warranty on my RX was £995 for two years, which I consider to be very good value when you consider the benefits:

• You can pay monthly to spread the cost
• It includes two MOTs
• It includes superb breakdown cover, even including full European cover, home start (some breakdown policies require you to be at least one mile from home), it also covers your spouse at no extra cost and it covers both of you even in other cars and even if that car is not a Lexus
• It covers MOT items if something causes it to fail

Given that parts for these cars are so expensive (eg. a single headlamp unit nearly a grand) you can get your money back on the first claim.

But then you have to take into account the requirement for servicing at Lexus and what that costs as well, but again you can pay monthly and lock in at today's prices.

The 3rd party warranties also genuinely try to wriggle out of most things. There used to be one called RAMP which was quite good but thats dealer only now. Warranty Direct have also been sold to another company. They were the better of a bad bunch. 

[Las Palmas]

2 hours ago, wookee said:

Yesterday I tried to book my IS300h (122k miles) in for a major Essential Care Service with Lexus Twickenham, only to be informed that Essential Care Servicing has been discontinued as of May 1st. Spoke to Lexus Hatfield, and they confirmed it has been discontinued nationwide. The option seems to have also been removed from the "Book a service" tool on lexus.co.uk. Any mention of Essential Care Servicing has also been dropped from https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/lexus-essential-care/. However other Essential Care repair items (brakes, shocks) remain on offer it seems.

Most of the franchisee websites still mention ECS (eg, RRG Group, Currie Motors etc). I had a brief exchange with Lexus UK on Twitter, and they said that Essential Care was still running, but they promised to look into the servicing further and get back to me.

So, has anyone else come across this? If ECS really is gone, that potentially means much higher servicing costs to keep your full Lexus service history. I was also planning to take out the Extended Warranty, but since this requires main dealer servicing, I'm not sure this makes sense financially any more.

It also raises the question of what the recommended servicing schedule should be for older >100k cars? Is it still 10k / 1yr? Do we just do intermediates now? Or start over on the 20k, 40k, 60k etc cycle?

So I'm thinking my alternative plan would be to take it to Toyotec (Redhill) for servicing and then maybe pay for the Hybrid Health Check separately (£59?) at Lexus Twickenham to try and keep the Hybrid battery under warranty at least. Possibly look into a 3rd party warranty.

Has anyone else come across this yet?

I read about this service here on the forum and asked where I live. Was told: no such thing exists here.

[Spacewagon52]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

You'll never find one as good as the Lexus offering but the requirement to have servicing done at Lexus does spoil it somewhat.

If I remember correctly, the extended warranty on my RX was £995 for two years, which I consider to be very good value when you consider the benefits:

• You can pay monthly to spread the cost
• It includes two MOTs
• It includes superb breakdown cover, even including full European cover, home start (some breakdown policies require you to be at least one mile from home), it also covers your spouse at no extra cost and it covers both of you even in other cars and even if that car is not a Lexus
• It covers MOT items if something causes it to fail

Given that parts for these cars are so expensive (eg. a single headlamp unit nearly a grand) you can get your money back on the first claim.

But then you have to take into account the requirement for servicing at Lexus and what that costs as well, but again you can pay monthly and lock in at today's prices.

You make a strong case for taking out the warranty. If you are paying a large sum of money on a car then you have the choice of whether to take the risk of expensive repairs or not. Also peace of mind that you will not have any big bills for three years.

[Shahpor]

If you want to see if it is worth getting a genuine Lexus warranty or not, have a look at this:

I can't imagine any other warranty company agreeing to pay for these things.  I also agree that the AA cover is an underappreciated benefit that a lot of people overlook.

[royoftherovers]

In my experience there is nothing to fear with the demise of Essential Care Servicing.

I bought my GS450h eight years ago. I took out a Service Plan and it is still running.

I pay £34 per month and have done for the last eight years (plus pads).

I also have had an Extended Warranty during that period and had to call on it once for new headlamps.

Best cost effective motoring I have ever had. SLAM DUNK!

[wookee]

A few updates worth sharing on this.

Several other dealers as well as Lexus UK on Twitter confirm that Essential Care Servicing has indeed been discontinued. It seems there is some sort of replacement offering on the way, to be announced on June 1st. Most reps I spoke to were pretty tight-lipped about what exactly that will be. But what I did get out of them was the new offering would be the same price and spec as the "full-fat" service, but with some sort of added benefits for owners of older vehicles. Hopefully more than a posh coffee and a valet.

The good news is I had multiple dealers offer to do an Essential Care Service for me at the current prices before June 1st. Better still, I managed to lock the current Essential Care Service prices in for the next couple years on a plan, saving ~£200. Because of this, I also went for the Extended Warranty (I checked - ECS won't invalidate the warranty).

Re: Essential Care vs Manufacturer Servicing - If you compare the checklist of items, there really isn't much difference. One notable exception are spark plugs at 120k. I'm happy to fit them myself (looks dead easy on the IS300h), so that suits me just fine. Will probably be doing brakes and rotors too in the coming weeks.

So all in all, I'm pretty happy. Your mileage may vary, but it's definitely worth shopping around a bit if your service is due any time soon.

[paulrnx]

On 5/16/2021 at 4:25 PM, royoftherovers said:

In my experience there is nothing to fear with the demise of Essential Care Servicing.

I bought my GS450h eight years ago. I took out a Service Plan and it is still running.

I pay £34 per month and have done for the last eight years (plus pads).

I also have had an Extended Warranty during that period and had to call on it once for new headlamps.

Best cost effective motoring I have ever had. SLAM DUNK!

Hi John

Any chance you could post up costs during this period. How much you’ve paid for the extended warranty versus the cost of the headlamps’ replacement. Not the servicing which is obvious anyway from your post.

Cheers

[royoftherovers]

9 minutes ago, paulrnx said:

Hi John

Any chance you could post up costs during this period. How much you’ve paid for the extended warranty versus the cost of the headlamps’ replacement. Not the servicing which is obvious anyway from your post.

Cheers

In broad terms, £900 every 2 years for the Extended Warranty and £1000 for the headlamps paid for by the warranty.

Say £450x 10=4500 less 1000=cost to me of 3500.

That do Paul ?

[Apoc101]

Intently watching this space for an update re the new essential servicing plans (tomorrow is 1 June !).  

[paulrnx]

11 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

In broad terms, £900 every 2 years for the Extended Warranty and £1000 for the headlamps paid for by the warranty.

Say £450x 10=4500 less 1000=cost to me of 3500.

That do Paul ?

Thanks John

[ColinBarber]

14 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

In broad terms, £900 every 2 years for the Extended Warranty and £1000 for the headlamps paid for by the warranty.

Say £450x 10=4500 less 1000=cost to me of 3500.

That do Paul ?

Cost is more though as you paying at least £200 per service more by having to use Lexus than you could get at an independent using the same genuine parts.

[pobrown]

New service offering “Lexus Relax”

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty/lexus-relax

Looks like each service extends your warranty by a year - up to 10 years. 

[royoftherovers]

1 minute ago, ColinBarber said:

Cost is more though as you paying at least £200 per service more by having to use Lexus than you could get at an independent using the same genuine parts.

Fair point Colin ,but for people like me, cost is merely part of the overall equation.

I am more than content with my overall package. Ten years without having to worry or find perhaps a very large sum of money which had not been budgeted for, means I could sleep well at night.

[Andy B]

24 minutes ago, pobrown said:

New service offering “Lexus Relax”

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty/lexus-relax

Looks like each service extends your warranty by a year - up to 10 years. 

At first glance the new offering seems pretty good to me - obviously only for those owners who have their car serviced at a Lexus dealer. I assume that the T&Cs for Lexus Relax (in respect to what's covered and what isn't) are the same as those for the first 3 years warranty. If so, then it's another advantage of Lexus dealership servicing.

[ColinBarber]

33 minutes ago, Andy B said:

I assume that the T&Cs for Lexus Relax (in respect to what's covered and what isn't) are the same as those for the first 3 years warranty.

No not at all. In fact they are much worse than the Extended warranty which itself isn't as good as the Manufacturer warranty.

Looking at what is included/excluded I assume they will still sell the extended warranty for those who want better cover.

[Phil xxkr]

13 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

No not at all. In fact they are much worse than the Extended warranty which itself isn't as good as the Manufacturer warranty.

Looking at what is included/excluded I assume they will still sell the extended warranty for those who want better cover.

Colin, apart from Roadside assistance what else is different to the extended warranty? 

[Shahpor]

3 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

No not at all. In fact they are much worse than the Extended warranty which itself isn't as good as the Manufacturer warranty.

Looking at what is included/excluded I assume they will still sell the extended warranty for those who want better cover.

It is much worse, and unfortunately, the extended warranty has also been discontinued 😞

I suppose it was too good to be true...

[Apoc101]

9 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

It is much worse, and unfortunately, the extended warranty has also been discontinued 😞

I suppose it was too good to be true...

So no coverage for over 100k mileage cars even if under 10 years old? I’m hoping the 1 year hybrid warranty will still be available 

[-Error-]

So what happens to those that have taken out the Extended Warranty recently and instead of a refund would like to run it until the end?

If I take my car for its next service which will automatically trigger the Lexus Relax will my extended warranty be overwritten? Looking at the list of inclusions I'm most worried about the shock absorbers as they have previously came up as "advisable replacement" about 15k miles ago during the service, something I've been told did not yet require replacement as there was only "slight misting" observed on the shocks.

[Shahpor]

From my understanding, if you have an extended warranty then you can keep it until it expires.

The dealer told me that mine will remain valid until Sept, when it runs out.