Service cost ~~~

[chrisdior]

Hello everyone ,

 I wonder, what is the difference between a CT200h service plan between £435 and £235.

 Why do I have to pay for both of them?

 Is it served twice?

[NemesisUK]

1 hour ago, chrisdior said:

大家好 ，

我想知道，CT200h 服務計劃在 435 英鎊和 235 英鎊之間有什麼不同。

為什麼我必須支付他們兩個？

是兩次服務嗎？

Probably best posted in English?

Hello everyone ,

 I wonder, what is the difference between a CT200h service plan between £435 and £235.

 Why do I have to pay for both of them?

 Is it served twice?

[Spock66]

5 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

 I wonder, what is the difference between a CT200h service plan between £435 and £235.

They alternate between an intermediate and full service every 12-months or 10,000 miles.

[chrisdior]

15 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Probably best posted in English?

Hello everyone ,

 I wonder, what is the difference between a CT200h service plan between £435 and £235.

 Why do I have to pay for both of them?

 Is it served twice?

Thanks for your help, I typed in English I don't know what does it happeded. Sorry about that 😵

[chrisdior]

8 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

它們每 12 個月或 10,000 英里在中間服務和全面服務之間交替。

Thanks for your reply , I felt odd why are they charge me both...

[Spock66]

50 minutes ago, chrisdior said:

Thanks for your reply , I felt odd why are they charge me both...

It states plan which implies you have paid up front for two services, but I'd suggest asking the dealer for a definitive answer.

[Poundy]

I have a 3year plan 2 full 80k and 100k and 1 intermediate 90k services, it fixes the price at current rates, so in itself a kind of discount. £1155 paid off at £35 a month x33

[Barry A]

I currently have a similar plan covering 2 intermediate services plus one full service at a total price of £905.  I also took out a payment plan, paying an up front deposit of £110.40 and have paid 29 instalments of £27.40.  Given that the vehicle has not needed any further work in between services, it has been good to have the facility of monthly payments for personal budgetting.

 

[royoftherovers]

I took out a 10 year plan 9 years ago @ £34 pm. Exceptional value as Barry implies.

[bigglesfllesundone]

You should be able to get at least a 10% discount if the plan is taken out to only use the local dealer, not a nationwide plan.

[mediaeasier]

I just bought genuine service parts via eBay and amazon, plugs, oil and all filters came to £140. Did the service myself, took less than an hour. All good but cannot for the life of me work out how to reset service light. Any guides? 

[SonnyA85]

On 6/5/2022 at 7:34 PM, royoftherovers said:

I took out a 10 year plan 9 years ago @ £34 pm. Exceptional value as Barry implies.

I must live in a different world if you think oil changes are worth £408 a year.

 

Majority of what is on the "service" plan is checks not actually doing anything but looking at stuff. I do the following which is a much better service plan than whatever lexus does and much cheaper too and I use much better fluids.

 

Brake fluid for instance is only done once every 4 years by lexus I'll do it once every 2 years. That's why you get calipers that seize on a lot of lexus cars.

 

Oil and 3 filters is £100. Labour - £40

Thats a normal service for me. £140

 

Every second year add on brake fluid -£20 and another £40 labour. So £200 service every second year.

 

Every fourth year add on new spark plugs. £40 plus another £40 labour so £280 service every 4 years.

 

Every 6th year add on new transmission fluid, new engine coolant and new inverter coolant. £350 service every 6 years.

 

Spending £400+ per year for their service plan you may as well be setting fire to money.

[ColinBarber]

8 hours ago, SonnyA85 said:

Brake fluid for instance is only done once every 4 years by lexus I'll do it once every 2 years. That's why you get calipers that seize on a lot of lexus cars.

Brake fluid change is every 2 years, not 4. But as they won’t touch the pistons or sliding pins it will make no difference to seizing - condition of the fluid doesn’t contribute to that. 
 

Take your point about service costs, always cheaper to DIY (although you have to be careful of fake parts being sold on eBay) but not everyone has the skill/experience, tools, time, space or desire to do that. An independent is a good option as they aren’t charging £150+ per hour nor have 200%+ markup on oil.

But for hybrid owners a Lexus service includes the hybrid check for Battery warranty, and now you get a 12 month/10k miles Relax warranty with every service, so for piece of mind it is still a good option for people who’s vehicle is under 10 years old. 

[royoftherovers]

8 hours ago, SonnyA85 said:

I must live in a different world if you think oil changes are worth £408 a year.

 

Majority of what is on the "service" plan is checks not actually doing anything but looking at stuff. I do the following which is a much better service plan than whatever lexus does and much cheaper too and I use much better fluids.

 

Brake fluid for instance is only done once every 4 years by lexus I'll do it once every 2 years. That's why you get calipers that seize on a lot of lexus cars.

 

Oil and 3 filters is £100. Labour - £40

Thats a normal service for me. £140

 

Every second year add on brake fluid -£20 and another £40 labour. So £200 service every second year.

 

Every fourth year add on new spark plugs. £40 plus another £40 labour so £280 service every 4 years.

 

Every 6th year add on new transmission fluid, new engine coolant and new inverter coolant. £350 service every 6 years.

 

Spending £400+ per year for their service plan you may as well be setting fire to money.

Thank you for that Sonny. I cannot argue with your logic or calculations, nor would I wish to. Your approach to vehicle ownership is more than commendable and I wish you much success with your hands on and value for money approach. I take it that it is not just luck that you have/own what is arguably one of the two most reliable used cars on the Planet ? Your relationship with it should stand you in good stead for many, many years.

My relationship with my car provides very good value to me. I cannot perform practical tasks. I can afford to pay Lexus. I have good relationships with the key people at my Dealership and I participate in one of the best, if not the best warranty schemes this side of Alpha Centuri. I have had ownership for 10 years and nothing other than consumables has cost me a penny.

We have different perspectives borne out of our respective ages, knowledge,experiences, desires and abilities and that is as it should be.

Sonny, I don`t recall "speaking" to you previously, so welcome to the Lexus Owners Club.

[SonnyA85]

58 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Brake fluid change is every 2 years, not 4. But as they won’t touch the pistons or sliding pins it will make no difference to seizing - condition of the fluid doesn’t contribute to that. 
 

Take your point about service costs, always cheaper to DIY (although you have to be careful of fake parts being sold on eBay) but not everyone has the skill/experience, tools, time, space or desire to do that. An independent is a good option as they aren’t charging £150+ per hour nor have 200%+ markup on oil.

But for hybrid owners a Lexus service includes the hybrid check for battery warranty, and now you get a 12 month/10k miles Relax warranty with every service, so for piece of mind it is still a good option for people who’s vehicle is under 10 years old. 

I buy all my parts from autodoc and I wait for them to have a sale on. Usually 30-40% off and they are already miles cheaper than anywhere in the UK.

 

I will also compare them directly with Opie Oils that offers free delivery Vs the £8 autodoc charge as it comes from Germany.

 

Also I use an independent mechanic who is mobile. He comes to your home and does the work. All for £40 per hour. Used to be £30 per hour but increase in fuel prices meant he had to jack up his price as he comes to you and he's using a large heavy van.

 

He has 30 years experience and trained at Nissan. He has experience with hybrid systems. He done the Nissan training on them.

 

He also works on my BMW. He's worked on my dad's jaguar. The guy is a true professional and I'm lucky to know him.

 

He recently cleaned out the full egr system, changed the pcv valve and I asked him to take pics of it all before and after which he agreed to no bother. I don't think egr issues are as bad in the UK we use much better fuel than America however this new E10 stuff potentially could ruin that. I would say in the UK you only need to do an EGR clean every 150k miles. I done mine at 90k miles and it was still pretty clean. I probably won't ever hit 250k miles in it so I won't bother getting it done again.

 

If I was buying from eBay I'd make sure it was an OEM supplier like a Toyota dealer or BMW dealer.

 

I did have the warranty and service plan with lexus to begin with but the stuff that goes wrong with these cars is never covered by the warranty. Heat shields underneath the car is a common issue every few years. Brake calipers seizing. That's it apart from EGR valve the car is bulletproof if the oil is changed yearly.

 

The £400 per year. I'll be saving £200 of that across the average of 10 years that's £2000. Enough to pay for minor repairs here and there.

 

What's the suspension like on these? I've had to change mine on the BMW and the rear twice in my ownership. I have the f sport. It's going to be a decade old next year so I'm thinking I should do a full suspension refresh. The shocks will likely need replacing at bare minimum as well as top mounts and bushes and possibly anti roll bars.

 

This kind of stuff would cost a fortune at a dealer. With my mechanic 25% of the price.

 

[SonnyA85]

1 hour ago, royoftherovers said:

Thank you for that Sonny. I cannot argue with your logic or calculations, nor would I wish to. Your approach to vehicle ownership is more than commendable and I wish you much success with your hands on and value for money approach. I take it that it is not just luck that you have/own what is arguably one of the two most reliable used cars on the Planet ? Your relationship with it should stand you in good stead for many, many years.

My relationship with my car provides very good value to me. I cannot perform practical tasks. I can afford to pay Lexus. I have good relationships with the key people at my Dealership and I participate in one of the best, if not the best warranty schemes this side of Alpha Centuri. I have had ownership for 10 years and nothing other than consumables has cost me a penny.

We have different perspectives borne out of our respective ages, knowledge,experiences, desires and abilities and that is as it should be.

Sonny, I don`t recall "speaking" to you previously, so welcome to the Lexus Owners Club.

Thanks. I don't do the work myself as above got a mechanic.

 

I forgot to say Brake Caliper Specialist give a lifetime warranty on brakes. However you need to remove from car and post to them. Their service isn't cheap cost me around £600 for my BMW but that's with their top lifetime paint job as well. I'd be hoping for around £400 to do the Lexus £100 a corner for their lifetime warranty refurb and paint job. The paint job also has lifetime warranty. They do work for McLaren HyperCars a £1m car. Their warranty also covers collection and delivery costs if the paint or caliper fails in future they are so confident of the quality of parts and paint used.

 

I'm pretty sure my ct200h says brake fluid every 40k miles which would be 5 years for us. Or 4 years I'm pretty confident of that. The Lexus service plan imo is a joke. A visual check of the hybrid Battery system is just them inspecting the fan intake and plugging a obd reader in and doing a quick check on voltages. I can do that at home myself as could anyone. Dealers honestly don't provide a great service. I had my BMW inspection 2 done at a main dealer as well as transmission fluid it was a £850 service and that was 6 years ago probably £1200 now at today's prices. I changed the spark plugs myself this year. Guess what. Main dealer never changed them 6 years ago. They weren't the ones I provided to them. When you leave your car at a garage and walk away you donyknow what they actually do or don't do. I spoke with several BMW enthusiasts and they said the same thing. A friend of mine owns an M car as well their top end which services cost double of their normal cars extortionate. He took it to 3 other places who were specialists across the country trying to solve a problem the dealer couldn't. One of them checked and plugs were old they were supposed to have been replaced 3 months prior and he showed him them and there is no way they could be that bad after 3 months.

 

Unless you sit in the garage and watch them service your car you have no idea how good they actually are. You are basing off the marketing and public relations. Basically the customer service from the nice receptionist usually a sexy female and the free coffee and leather seats. Perception matters more than quality of service in their field.

 

Mechanics at the back will take shortcuts wherever they can at the end of the day it's not their car.

 

 

 

[ColinBarber]

38 minutes ago, SonnyA85 said:

What's the suspension like on these? I've had to change mine on the BMW and the rear twice in my ownership. I have the f sport. It's going to be a decade old next year so I'm thinking I should do a full suspension refresh. The shocks will likely need replacing at bare minimum as well as top mounts and bushes and possibly anti roll bars.

No major issues commonly reported but the shocks will start to leak and rubbers degrade with age. Springs are fine as long as the paint hasn't been chipped off and allowed to rust.

 

27 minutes ago, SonnyA85 said:

I'm pretty sure my ct200h says brake fluid every 40k miles which would be 5 years for us.

Lexus have altered the interval to 20k miles/2 years so will go above and beyond what your service book states.

 

28 minutes ago, SonnyA85 said:

A visual check of the hybrid battery system is just them inspecting the fan intake and plugging a obd reader in and doing a quick check on voltages. I can do that at home myself as could anyone.

They run the fans up, check the hybrid coolant pump operation and load the motor with a stall test whist checking voltages so it is a little more involved than you suggest but it isn't anything too difficult with the correct equipment. But you miss the point, a successful test registers the vehicle for an additional 12 month warranty on the Battery - no individual or independent can do this. The Battery is very reliable so you could argue it isn't needed, or you can just get the hybrid check done separately without a service.

[Las Palmas]

Like John (royoftherovers) never saw you posting anything before so, welcome to the forum.

Like you I do not think that all Lexus service and all Lexus service personnel are best in the world, most reliable and things like that.

Now I have mentioned where I agree with you.

A reliable car like the CT (Prius in disguise) should have OEM replacement parts when needed. So far none on the one we have.

[Bluemarlin]

After the discount minor services work out at around £270 on my 5 year service plan.

I paid just over £2k for 3 full (one included spark plugs), and 2 intermediate, which I don't think is too bad. Good synthetic is around £100, the hybrid health check £60; so just over a hundred for labour, fluid top ups, a courtesy car, valeting, and the video inspection, doesn't seem unreasonable.

I could possibly shave a few quid off by using an independent but, given that I need it done by Lexus for the 10yr+ extended warranty, it's not really worth it.

[SonnyA85]

Thanks. I do agree the warranty is decent but those parts hardly ever fail on an up to 10 year old Lexus. It's the exhaust, EGR, heat shields, calipers, etc. All the stuff that isn't covered that will usually fail but it's nice to have for peace of mind, that is essentially what you are paying for now with their service plans. It's why I bought the car several years ago. Lexus and Toyota 9 times out of 10 are bulletproof. Especially the petrol engines and their hybrid system is now what 20+ years old and been refined and finely tuned. I love Lexus and Toyota. I won't always use OEM parts but I will use quality parts. I won't ever use cheap parts on a vehicle my family sits in. Safety is the number 1 priority. I will always buy good tyres, etc. I use goodyear eagle F1 on all my cars. The wife wants an SUV so I have been looking at the RAV 4, C-HR and the Lexus range too but they aren't cheap. Money isn't the issue but it's a depreciating asset it's not a priority at this moment in time. The CT200H does everything really well the only negatives I can say about it are;

 

F Sport lower ride height gives a terrible ride especially given this isn't a hot hatch there was no need for this apart from aesthetics but I already drive a sports convertible as well I didn't need another low car albeit the sports convertible is much much lower.

 

The CVT is extremely noisy. I think they improved this from the facelift but mine is a 2013. There is no need for it to be that noisy but it gives the impression the engine is under a lot of strain. When my other car has 6 cylinders and a sports mode also you don't really want to hear this type of soundtrack in a luxury hatchback especially if it doesn't have minimum 180+ bhp to match.

 

Large rims making the ride harsh. It's not a hot hatch. Large rims do look nice but I would ideally like to go down a size. But now I have 4 new'ish Eagle F1's on the car there is no point in me downsizing. I would have liked them to focus on ride quality given it's more of a city car and not really for taking on the track.

 

That's all I can say negative about the car. Everything else I think it does amazingly well for the money. I love all the gadgets and toys you get with an F Sport. I think F Sport is the must have model albeit it also then has the worse ride too.

 

I'll need to look at my receipt. I used a Meyle Pollen, activated carbon filter insert with NOx absorbing filter and particulate filter PM2.5 for my cabin filter this year it was £25 (there were normal pollen filters available for half the price or less I opted for the best. Mann Air filter - £13. Mann Oil filter - £6. The oil I got from Opie Oils. PETRONAS Syntium 7000 Hybrid 0W-20 Fully Synthetic Car Engine Oil - 5 Litres was only £28. This is the same company that makes oil for Mercedes F1 Team (Lewis Hamilton), granted it's not the same oil as going into his F1 car but it's not a cheap option this is a premium oil and I was shocked at how cheap it was. Cheaper than the oil I use in the BMW by quite some margin probably half the price or less as the BMW uses significantly more oil. I'd say oil for the BMW costs me £75 easy per oil change so £28 and plenty left over is nothing for the little Ct200h engine.

 

I don't think it's worth it getting it serviced there any more. My lexus had a full dealer history until this year. Albeit we got the service plan when we initially bought it until I was more clued up with the car then got the last 2 done just to keep it in warranty. Now I'll be getting it serviced elsewhere using quality parts and quality fluids and it's going to save a lot of money in the long run. I just don't think £400+ is great value for money unless something breaks and is fixed under warranty. Then you will be glad you have it. Next year my car will cost less than £100 to service as an example because everything has been done on it. I will probably however need to change the shocks as the car will be 10 years old and nearly 100K miles. I think the shocks will benefit from being changed but I'll see what the mechanic says as he has to do the rear shocks on my BMW next month. He's worked on all types of cars and hopefully he's done a few prius or another ct200h so will know how long they tend to last. I'll leave the springs until they snap but I'll probably get new mounts, bushes and anti roll bushes / links. I plan on keeping this car now until I'm forced into electric. If the hybrid Battery dies or has issues there are now cheap options available in terms of repair and replacement. Last time I checked it was £800 for a refurb Battery. So I think repairing the one you have should cost £300-£400 tops. I have seen there was a guy who specialises in these in Dublin but I'll need to find someone a bit more local to me and across the pond.

[SonnyA85]

2 minutes ago, Bluemarlin said:

After the discount minor services work out at around £270 on my 5 year service plan.

I paid just over £2k for 3 full (one included spark plugs), and 2 intermediate, which I don't think is too bad. Good synthetic is around £100, the hybrid health check £60; so just over a hundred for labour, fluid top ups, a courtesy car, valeting, and the video inspection, doesn't seem unreasonable.

I could possibly shave a few quid off by using an independent but, given that I need it done by Lexus for the 10yr+ extended warranty, it's not really worth it.

Good synthetic is £20 see my post above. 5 litres of premium is £28 and it doesn't take 5 litres nowhere near it. Spark plugs again are cheap as chips.

 

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/denso-spark-plug-408540010

 

£12.50 each and it only takes 4 so £50. Unlike my BMW which takes 6. Luckily these only really need changed every 6 years or so it's only £50 every 6 years. If you break down lexus services. The profit margin must be enormous. Labour shouldn't be any more than £60 an hour, you can bet the mechanic is only being paid £20 of that. Independent Labour shouldn't be more than £40 an hour. Some places charge stupid money though I once had a garage try and tell me a rocker cover gasket which is a £40 part and maximum half an hour labour would be £500. I told them I wouldn't bring my car here again if they were the last garage in the country and told all my family to do the same.

[SonnyA85]

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-218908-petronas-syntium-7000-hybrid-0w-20-fully-synthetic-car-engine-oil.aspx

 

Here's a link to the oil. There is a discount code from some youtube channel that gets you 10% off too. So I use that on every order. Can't recall but a google will help you find it.

 

Specifications:

Meets or exceeds the requirements of:

• API SP
• ILSAC GF-6A
• Dexos1 Gen 2
• FCA 955535SCR-1 Perf
• MS 6395 Perf.

If you are paying £100 for oil then you are paying 5 times the going rate. The Ct200H only uses 4 litres. I also throw in some Castrol gtx engine shampoo to flush the old oil out before draining. That stuff is really good at flushing all the sludge and old oil out. I noticed my BMW took 2 full litres more than a normal change after using it but my BMW does use circa 6 litres normally and this time took nearly 8 maybe 7.5 after using the engine shampoo so it got rid of everything.

[Bluemarlin]

Thanks for the link to the oil, mine uses almost 7 litres, so will check it out for an interim oil change.

Independent labour charges down here are around £80 an hour, +vat.

[SonnyA85]

39 minutes ago, Bluemarlin said:

Thanks for the link to the oil, mine uses almost 7 litres, so will check it out for an interim oil change.

Independent labour charges down here are around £80 an hour, +vat.

That's expensive. I suppose it depends on how expensive rent and rates are as well so will vary massively by area.

 

I actually think it's a misprice possibly on the Petronas oil. As that oil should be at least £10-£15 dearer IMO per 5l container. It's a very very good price. I might get some and another oil filter now for next year's oil change because it will only go up.

[Spock66]

17 minutes ago, SonnyA85 said:

That's expensive. I suppose it depends on how expensive rent and rates are as well so will vary massively by area.

I think it's fairly typical.

So although the garage charges per hour, the costs of running a garage are largely fixed, staff have to be paid whether they are working or not, so the hourly charge will need to cover all of those costs, not just the 30-mins it might take for an oil change.

The previous example of the mobile mechanic with a much lower charge rate works because his overheads will be much lower and I assume is a self-employed one man business.