Major Service Due, Exploring options...

[eleveneleven]

The 250 is due a service. (MY 08, 83K Miles)

this car has wanted for nothing mechanically, Its had a Full service history with Lexus so far from the 2 previous owners along with the extended warranty. Looking at the paperwork pretty much everything that's needed fixing/ replacing has been done by Lexus. 

so I'm just thinking out loud here, reviewing my options. 

A. Take it to Lexus: Lexus Bolton want £360 for a Major Service: The priciest option but certainly not the end of the world. They'll do what's required, use genuine parts and I get another Lexus stamp in the book. (and they'll give me something to drive for an extra twenny quid)

B. Take it to my local mechanic: I've been taking mine and the other half's cars to them for a while now, great bunch of guys, old school, honest and hard working. They'll get the job done at a better price but i'd have to supply the parts.

C. Find an independent specialist. They appear to be extremely thin on the ground here (I live just outside of Manchester) 
will be a hassle to find one but i'm going to assume they'll do just as good a job as any main dealer and i'd then have a specialist to hand should any issues occur later down the line. 

Doing it myself would be the ideal solution, I have the space but I'm terrible with a spanner, and I barely have time for anything else that's not work family related so not an option at the moment unfortunately. 

Is it worth it to keep the "Full Lexus service history" thing going?  I'm not particularly bothered about the Lexus stamp, I'm guessing it wont make much if any difference to the value at this point and I plan on keeping it for another 2 years at least. Would I be somewhat correct in thinking that if something major did go wrong with the car down the line I'd have some bargaining power with Lexus as it's only been looked after by them? 

What are key differences between a Minor and Major Service? would it be better to go with option B or C for the minors and let Lexus handle the Majors? 

Any thoughts/advice welcome 

thanks guys

Lee 

[Linas.P]

I would ask for essential service plan, because it is over 5 years old. I know Lexus no longer officially offers it, but I was able to convince my local Lexus to do it and they still had an option to book it as "essential" plan. In the past I was able to get 2 services for £400, which I consider to be good value. Is "full service history" valuable for 14 years old car - I doubt it, but if it comes at no extra cost then why not. And you will be hard pressed to get it done for under £200 in independent shop. And indeed you won't get courtesy car from independents, whereas hear you can get to try brand new Lexus. Note: £20 is for excess cover, you can say you don't need it and courtesy car is then completely free with £500-£1000 excess.

[LIJO151]

Hi Lee,

I would go with option B, take it to your local mechanic - old school, honest and hard working. It maybe a slight inconvenience sourcing for serivce pack online and supplying it to garage, but you have found a garage that is honest and I think you trust. 

Option A seems very cheap for major service. I was quoted £650 for Major service at Lexus Leicester. 

John

[Linas.P]

12 minutes ago, LIJO151 said:

Hi Lee,

I would go with option B, take it to your local mechanic - old school, honest and hard working. It maybe a slight inconvenience sourcing for serivce pack online and supplying it to garage, but you have found a garage that is honest and I think you trust. 

Option A seems very cheap for major service. I was quoted £650 for Major service at Lexus Leicester. 

John

It may already be Essential care price. I believe it is £360 for major and £180 for minor, but as I said if you get it as a package it is possible to negotiate the price further. 

[johnatg]

12 minutes ago, LIJO151 said:

Hi Lee,

I would go with option B, take it to your local mechanic - old school, honest 

Option A seems very cheap for major service. I was quoted £650 for Major service at Lexus Leicester. 

John

I guess that would have included change spark plugs. Only needed at 60k intervals and actually they are good for way more than that. 

[cadman2k]

The used car market is certainly not flooded with vehicles that have a full main dealer history and for buyers that can be a stand out when you come to sell it (privately). There's a wide range of arguments over folk even going to a main dealer for any service. I know one private company who do not even service their cars anywhere and simply only carry out an oil and filter change when they feel like it. They believe that they save about 1500 over 5 years then just trade the car in regardless, getting whatever the book price is at the time. If your going to save 150.00 by not going to lexus for the service then perhaps consider 1 year,2 years down the line, are you going to sell privately or trade it in or are you going to run it forever till the end. If it's going to be sold privately then you may get your additional cost back by adding a few hundred quid to your asking price.

I guess what's really important in all of this is that whoever services your car carries out the work to a high standard and that your comfortable with their work.

[wharfhouse]

If it still has Extended Warranty running and / or you wanted to retain the 10 Year Plus Warranty it would have to be serviced by a Lexus dealer. 

[bernieeccles]

For the cost of a Lexus service, what do you actually get for your money besides a new oil and air filter and some new oil? A new Battery in your key fob? All the rest is just inspection and if anything is needed, then you are going to pay top money.

I always do my own, do it right and save a lot of money but I do know not everyone wants to or can do it themselves. Lexus service stamp for an IS250 is over rated and over priced and is mostly a tick box exercise.

[Herbie]

Service books can be legitimately stamped by any garage anyway, but there's also the age to take into account. By the time the car is 10 years old a fully-stamped book doesn't mean much.

Before my back injury I did all my own servicing to any car I've had. I even wrote "Serviced by me" in the book and kept all receipts for oil, filters, and so on to prove it had been done and I never had a problem selling or part-exing. Looking at it the other way, a lack of service stamps wouldn't put me off buying a car.

[Spock66]

2 hours ago, eleveneleven said:

A. Take it to Lexus: Lexus Bolton want £360 for a Major Service: The priciest option but certainly not the end of the world. They'll do what's required, use genuine parts and I get another Lexus stamp in the book. (and they'll give me something to drive for an extra twenny quid)

If they find something wrong you may end up paying top dollar for Lexus parts and labour charges, an independent will give you more options around parts etc.

[Texas]

Do you intend actually selling the car anytime soon ( with its so far totally Lexus servicing history) or are you gonna keep this 14 year old car until it falls apart! ( like I intend to 😀) if the latter then do not pay ££££’s for Simple servicing to keep the car in a healthy state.

[J Henderson]

Well, the dealer stamp will have a certain amount of value.

If I was looking to buy an IS250, a service book full of Lexus stamps would definitely be an influencing factor and possibly make me choose your car over another. Or, maybe convince me that a car with FLSH was worth paying a few hundred quid more for.

This was the reasoning I had for continuing to have Lexus Edinburgh service & MOT my car up until 2019, but eventually the additional cost outweighs any real benefits as the car gets older. Especially if you don't plan to sell anytime soon.

Now, I get a local garage that I trust to look after the car. I would rather pay those guys 50-60% of what Lexus charge, and then put the savings into another area that might be a prudent move for long-term ownership - eg: water pump replacement.

 

[Mr Vlad]

That quote of £360 for a major service is a grab their hands off price. Major service price is more like £650. That's what I remember Stockport telling me last August. Major service does a complete oil service, except gearbox and diff. Engine oil and filter, coolant change, brake fluid change. Cabin filter changed. Spark plugs is chargeable. 

[Linas.P]

I would say FLSH is not worth much in 10+ years old car, but it adds same value as say ML, or sunroof, or good cosmetic condition - it just makes easier to sell car and as result indirectly adds value. One is more likely to get the price they asking for and quicker. 

As well as I said - it is not like you going to save much money going independent. Genuine maintenance kit depending on what you include costs ~ £100-£280 and any garage will charge between £80-160 to do the work. So even going independent one will be paying £180-£440 for the service (£440 includes spark plugs and Lexus charges ~£540 for similar service). So depending on what you doing one may be saving £50-£100, but not much more. But one will be losing some convenience and adding a bit of risk as well. 

Now if one has Lexus specialist, which does amazing job and they trust, and one does not need courtesy car - fair enough even that £50-£100 can be saved, but if one just take car to any independent garage and they do some junk job (say scrap injector driver when changing water pump) the damages could easily be £500 and £1000 on IS250. It seems like cheap car, but parts for it are not cheap and if somebody does less then great job it could quickly escalate. Obviously, Lexus does make mistakes as well, but you can rest assured Lexus will get you sorted if they mess something-up, I am not so sure independent garage will, they might, or they might say you brought the car to them like that already - what you going to do? sue them?

So here is the thing - if the saving is large, say you want replace 2 shock absorbers and it is simple job just needs a lift... yeah I would absolutely go for independent garage. Shocks from Lexus if I am not mistaken are £660 a piece + like 4 hours labour, so we talking about £2000. This is stupid price. In such case I would definitely go independent route get myself 2 shocks for £660 and pay them £120 to put them in under my supervision. Cool that saved £1200 right there. But to skimp on £50 for a service and then find that some twisthand broke some sensor for £400 is just not worth it. Lexus servicing prices are really competitive if you can get essential care and really not worth inventing anything.

[wharfhouse]

36 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

I would say FLSH is not worth much in 10+ years old car, but it adds same value as say ML, or sunroof, or good cosmetic condition - it just makes easier to sell car and as result indirectly adds value. One is more likely to get the price they asking for and quicker. 

As well as I said - it is not like you going to save much money going independent. Genuine maintenance kit depending on what you include costs ~ £100-£280 and any garage will charge between £80-160 to do the work. So even going independent one will be paying £180-£440 for the service (£440 includes spark plugs and Lexus charges ~£540 for similar service). So depending on what you doing one may be saving £50-£100, but not much more. But one will be losing some convenience and adding a bit of risk as well. 

Now if one has Lexus specialist, which does amazing job and they trust, and one does not need courtesy car - fair enough even that £50-£100 can be saved, but if one just take car to any independent garage and they do some junk job (say scrap injector driver when changing water pump) the damages could easily be £500 and £1000 on IS250. It seems like cheap car, but parts for it are not cheap and if somebody does less then great job it could quickly escalate. Obviously, Lexus does make mistakes as well, but you can rest assured Lexus will get you sorted if they mess something-up, I am not so sure independent garage will, they might, or they might say you brought the car to them like that already - what you going to do? sue them?

So here is the thing - if the saving is large, say you want replace 2 shock absorbers and it is simple job just needs a lift... yeah I would absolutely go for independent garage. Shocks from Lexus if I am not mistaken are £660 a piece + like 4 hours labour, so we talking about £2000. This is stupid price. In such case I would definitely go independent route get myself 2 shocks for £660 and pay them £120 to put them in under my supervision. Cool that saved £1200 right there. But to skimp on £50 for a service and then find that some twisthand broke some sensor for £400 is just not worth it. Lexus servicing prices are really competitive if you can get essential care and really not worth inventing anything.

Essentials Maintenance on Lexus website for IS250 list front shock absorber at £325 and rear at £295 (that's parts and fitted all in at Lexus) - I thought that was quite reasonable. 

[Linas.P]

18 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

Essentials Maintenance on Lexus website for IS250 list front shock absorber at £325 and rear at £295 (that's parts and fitted all in at Lexus) - I thought that was quite reasonable. 

That is good price. Again essential care is kind of partly there, partly not there so I don't know whenever one could get this price. I remember that outright price for front shock was £660 from Lexus, but genuine part costed like £600 for a pair, so Lexus was charging almost double.

[wharfhouse]

1 minute ago, Linas.P said:

That is good price. Again essential care is kind of partly there, partly not there so I don't know whenever one could get this price. I remember that outright price for front shock was £660 from Lexus, but genuine part costed like £600 for a pair, so Lexus was charging almost double.

I believe that the Essential Services (major and minor annual services) have been discontinued but the Essential Maintence (such as brake discs and shock absorbers) for cars over 5 years old is still in place. Haven't had an opportunity to confrm this recently though as last parts I had fitted were front discs / pads a few years ago which I did  get for the Essentials pricing at the time. Certainly hoping the prices shown on the website as examples are valid as they are reasonable and not much more than using an independent with genuine Lexus parts. 

[Linas.P]

As I said, I was still able to get Essential maintenance service in December, but it is fair to say they don't automatically offered me a deal on getting service plan. So it was kind of under the counter discount and I got impression they don't want to advertise it too much.

[wharfhouse]

7 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

As I said, I was still able to get Essential maintenance service in December, but it is fair to say they don't automatically offered me a deal on getting service plan. So it was kind of under the counter discount and I got impression they don't want to advertise it too much.

Yes I think that is now the case - the dealers may do their own thing regards discounting the service costs from the Lexus standard servicing costs but it's not the overall Lexus policy any more as it was with the Essentials Service plans. 

[eleveneleven]

Thanks for the input guys much appreciated.  

Certainly pros/cons to each as you've all pointed out. but The current price Lexus are asking for a Major service along with the additional convenience of a hire car and not having to source parts is a very tempting proposition albeit slightly more expensive. I know how stealerships operate and I wont be paying for anything more than a service despite what they find. 

@Linas.P £400 for 2 services is amazing value, I'll be having a chat with someone about this essential care whilst I'm there. Car was with Lexus a few months back for a gearbox drain, I asked if they could offer me the extended warranty. I made the case that it's only Lexus who have touched the car so far... they weren't having any of it.🤣 🤦‍♂️

Anyway thanks again everyone, I'll let you know what car they give me 😃

 

 

 

 

[Linas.P]

9 minutes ago, eleveneleven said:

I asked if they could offer me the extended warranty. I made the case that it's only Lexus who have touched the car so far... they weren't having any of it.🤣 🤦‍♂️

Yes, this is sadly no longer an option so they have no choice even if they wanted to do anything. Besides even when it was available technically it was only up-to 10years/100k miles, so you would not qualify anyway. There was a loophole, where you could extend it if you already had it for extra 4 years, but even that would end of it by now.

Yes ~£400 was what I paid last time (but that was like 5 years ago), it was basically £340+£180=£520, but they discounted it because I was paying it all upfront to £440 or £420 I believe. 

[wharfhouse]

32 minutes ago, eleveneleven said:

Thanks for the input guys much appreciated.  

Certainly pros/cons to each as you've all pointed out. but The current price Lexus are asking for a Major service along with the additional convenience of a hire car and not having to source parts is a very tempting proposition albeit slightly more expensive. I know how stealerships operate and I wont be paying for anything more than a service despite what they find. 

@Linas.P £400 for 2 services is amazing value, I'll be having a chat with someone about this essential care whilst I'm there. Car was with Lexus a few months back for a gearbox drain, I asked if they could offer me the extended warranty. I made the case that it's only Lexus who have touched the car so far... they weren't having any of it.🤣 🤦‍♂️

Anyway thanks again everyone, I'll let you know what car they give me 😃

 

 

 

 

When the new Relax warranty came in (10 years / 100K miles) the old Extended Warranty was discontinued, but a new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty was established for cars that were over 10 years old but under 15 years old or were over 100K miles but under 150K miles. When my 2014 reg IS 300h went over 100K miles I took this out as have others (it's an annual policy, includes full roadside assistance, has pretty much the same T&Cs as the old Extended Warranty and cost me under £500 - the car has to be serviced at Lexus dealer throughout the warranty period). Your dealer should have known about this, my dealer was certainly up to speed about it when I enquired. 

[eleveneleven]

8 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

When the new Relax warranty came in (10 years / 100K miles) the old Extended Warranty was discontinued, but a new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty was established for cars that were over 10 years old but under 15 years old or were over 100K miles but under 150K miles. When my 2014 reg IS 300h went over 100K miles I took this out as have others (it's an annual policy, includes full roadside assistance, has pretty much the same T&Cs as the old Extended Warranty and cost me under £500 - the car has to be serviced at Lexus dealer throughout the warranty period). Your dealer should have known about this, my dealer was certainly up to speed about it when I enquired. 

Thanks mate, didn't know that, My car just about qualifies then with it being 14. 😃 Not a bad price either to be fair

[wharfhouse]

7 minutes ago, eleveneleven said:

Thanks mate, didn't know that, My car just about qualifies then with it being 14. 😃 Not a bad price either to be fair

Yes you should be good for this new Extended Warranty - I've not had any breaks in my Extended Warranties so each has simply run on from the next but if your car has been serviced regularly by Lexus I can't see why you wouldn't be able to reinstate this new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty, especially if you are about to have a service there now. 

[Linas.P]

41 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

When the new Relax warranty came in (10 years / 100K miles) the old Extended Warranty was discontinued, but a new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty was established for cars that were over 10 years old but under 15 years old or were over 100K miles but under 150K miles. When my 2014 reg IS 300h went over 100K miles I took this out as have others (it's an annual policy, includes full roadside assistance, has pretty much the same T&Cs as the old Extended Warranty and cost me under £500 - the car has to be serviced at Lexus dealer throughout the warranty period). Your dealer should have known about this, my dealer was certainly up to speed about it when I enquired. 

That is great news -I have long argued this should be done! Could you provide some more info on that as this is first time I am hearing about it.