10 year old service cost plus warranty

[Ala Larj]

Hi all,

My GS has now reached its 10th birthday. An intermediate service is immediately due. According to the Lexus website this should cost £340. However, this is for a vehicle less than 10 years old and includes the extra year relax warranty. Of course, I am no longer able to get the relax warranty and will have to pay for the next year of warranty and roadside assistance. I cannot find any information about how much my service will cost bearing in mind I am no longer eligible for the relax  warranty. 
 

What have others done when in the same predicament? Is it worth staying with Lexus and paying for the warranty and roadside assistance or go independent and buy the warranty and AA separately. The AA roadside assistance is very good value through Lexus but the warranty seems expensive. 
 

I know it’s reliable (so far) but if something does go wrong it could be very expensive. I have had recourse to Lexus warranty before and have found them very amendable with no quibbles. I do not want to change the car as it’s probably the best I have owned and can’t think of anything suitable to replace it. I’ve heard of independent warranty companies being very difficult to deal with and try everything to get out of paying for any issues. 
 

Has anyone here had experience with independent warranty companies and/or what would you do in my situation?

Thanks very much. 
 

 

[Linas.P]

Nothing you can do - service cost the same regardless if your car is eligible for Relax or not... this is one thing that really bugs me and I really hate they have discontinued what was called "Lexus Essential Care", that was amazing value for money as all services for cars over 5 years old was about 50% discounted (not exactly half, but near that). I mean sure - it made no sense to continue it for car under 10 years old once "Lexus Relax" was introduced. Why would you discount service by 50%, when you also offering industry leading warranty? So I get why they did it, but in my opinion they really should have kept discounted service for cars that do not qualify for Relax e.g. my car has only 80k miles, but it is nearly 17 years old, so I just don't benefit from Relax and now I have to pay full price for services as if I do.

As to why they did it... I would speculate they don't really see people who drive cars over 10 years / 100k miles as their customers, little benefit, a lot of trouble (to service rust buckets), besides whereas you can expect somebody with 3 years old car to be interested in upgrade to new model, and somebody with 6 years old car to be interested in 3 years old car that was just traded in by previous guy... it is clear that people that drive 15 years old 150k cars are not interested in anything else. I know it sounds cynical, but they not offering Relax or service plans out of kindness of their heart, it is calculated business decision to bring you into dealership with intent of maybe interesting you into upgrading, that is core idea behind courtesy car as well - they give you their latest model to drive, whilst your old car is in for service... and then they ask you "how was it, maybe you interested in buying it". Sadly they kind of stopped doing it, it used to be the case that they always give you slightly better car than you have, but since introduction of CT all courtesy cars became CTs, later UXs, and obviously now ES. Anyhow - long story short, I think they don't really want to work on cars above 10 years / 100k, it is more of liability so they just structured it in such way that you drop off the cliff after 10 years. 

At least my local dealer does discount service when I mention "Essential Care" and that is good will 20% discount, but it is still rip off to pay basically £280 for glorified filter + oil change.

If I were you, I would honestly ignore warranty and roadside assistance. Just think about how many times you actually needed it and used it in Lexus... In total I had it probably for 8 years, have never used roadside assistance and I have used warranty once on RC and it was a biggie... BUT... it was a biggie because they wanted it to be. It was seat repair and they went to town on it, replaced everything apart of leather and foam, every electrical and mechanical part was replaced for £4,200 and a lot of that was labour. On one hand you may say "sure it is worth £300/year" for warranty even if it happens once in 10 years... on other hand - the used seat would have costed me maybe £300. And once you have car over 10 years old, I think it is resonable enough just to find used seat at breakers and replace it. Perhaps pay another £100 for the leather to be transferred from your seat if you can't find matching colour.

What other concerns do you have? 300h are more or less bullet proof, if they are anything like GS450h of previous gen (which they are unlikely to be) and there are issues with Battery, then it costs £600 to repair... likelihood of it happening is low and even then hybrid warranty is up-to 150k and 15 years if I am not mistaken, also long as you keep doing hybrid check with them. So I really cannot see any reason to have warranty on Lexus that is over 10 years old. I know it may comfort you to have it, but it is just not rational. Not because they never go wrong, but because even when they do you end-up paying less for repair than it would have costed to have warranty, having warranty on Lexus is kind of false economy. Other things that could go wrong on older car are like shocks and suspension, but they are not covered by Lexus (or really any) warranty anyway.

What to do with service - sadly I don't know, I prefer having it service by proper service centre but paying £280 (with 20% off) for just oil change is steep.

[Notamech]

9 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

Hi all,

My GS has now reached its 10th birthday. An intermediate service is immediately due. According to the Lexus website this should cost £340. However, this is for a vehicle less than 10 years old and includes the extra year relax warranty. Of course, I am no longer able to get the relax warranty and will have to pay for the next year of warranty and roadside assistance. I cannot find any information about how much my service will cost bearing in mind I am no longer eligible for the relax  warranty. 
 

What have others done when in the same predicament? Is it worth staying with Lexus and paying for the warranty and roadside assistance or go independent and buy the warranty and AA separately. The AA roadside assistance is very good value through Lexus but the warranty seems expensive. 
 

I know it’s reliable (so far) but if something does go wrong it could be very expensive. I have had recourse to Lexus warranty before and have found them very amendable with no quibbles. I do not want to change the car as it’s probably the best I have owned and can’t think of anything suitable to replace it. I’ve heard of independent warranty companies being very difficult to deal with and try everything to get out of paying for any issues. 
 

Has anyone here had experience with independent warranty companies and/or what would you do in my situation?

Thanks very much. 
 

 

Unfortunately lexus service costs are fixed. Also had you serviced your car just before its 10th birthday you could have eeked out another year of relax warranty. So if your car is registered on the 15th of oct 2014 for example servicing it on the 10th or so of oct 2024 would give you relax cover for another 10k miles / 1 year.

Also i dont think servicing your car gave you roadside assistance for free. At least i am not aware of it. So i reckon you would have to pay for that either way. Also you are still covered by the hybrid bettery warranty if you continue get a hybrid health check done every year. Other than that typically the IS and GS are fairly reliable and if in your place i would risk going without the 10year +  cover as its quite expensive as you say ~500 or so annually. Other than the ac servo motors failing on some IS's and rear calipers seizing i havent heard of may other issues.  Some have had struts leaking on the GS. But these cases are few and far in-between.So reckon if something does go wrong you could potentially just use the 500 you saved on warranty towards repairs. 

However some would argue you cant put a pricetag on peace of mind and hence would fork out the 500 for the 10 year + cover.

[GMB]

I have had both cars serviced this year and the experiences were quite different. ISF minor service normally about £340 but they discounted it to £250 because of no warranty cover and a "special" deal. So that's OK.  The 200T fixed price full service about £550 ( plus MOT £55 ) includes a year's relax warranty. New spark plugs ( made of solid gold looking at the price of them ). A couple of jobs not needed but charged anyway because it was fixed price. New pollen filter - always a rip-off and such unnecessary items.   Overall, not cheap but well done as usual.  Tax, insurance MOT, servicing, depreciation, fuel, tyres etc motoring is getting pretty pricey😔

[Linas.P]

4 hours ago, Notamech said:

Also i dont think servicing your car gave you roadside assistance for free.

Other than the ac servo motors failing on some IS's and rear calipers seizing i havent heard of may other issues.  Some have had struts leaking on the GS.

Some dealers include it if you get service plans for 2-3 years in advance, but otherwise you are correct, it is separate cost. I just assumed OP opted to buy it from Lexus. Whenever it is good deal - questionable, it is AA cover after all and when it used to be £110/year or £180 if you get it for 2 years, sure it was decent, but now I think one year costs £189... nah, sorry I can get same thing from AA for less (apart of Lexus covering you in any car you driving, which I am not sure AA offers). 

Most importantly - none of that would be covered under warranty either way, callipers not covered, struts not covered (only the springs are) and servos are not explicitly covered, unless they fall under some other name in A/C and Heating (perhaps "Heater Flaps and Motors"). So there is another thing people need to check carefully - extended warranty does not cover same things are manufacturers warranty, and many items that go wrong are things that are not in warranty. 

[Notamech]

5 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Some dealers include it if you get service plans for 2-3 years in advance, but otherwise you are correct, it is separate cost. I just assumed OP opted to buy it from Lexus. Whenever it is good deal - questionable, it is AA cover after all and when it used to be £110/year or £180 if you get it for 2 years, sure it was decent, but now I think one year costs £189... nah, sorry I can get same thing from AA for less (apart of Lexus covering you in any car you driving, which I am not sure AA offers). 

Most importantly - none of that would be covered under warranty either way, callipers not covered, struts not covered (only the springs are) and servos are not explicitly covered, unless they fall under some other name in A/C and Heating (perhaps "Heater Flaps and Motors"). So there is another thing people need to check carefully - extended warranty does not cover same things are manufacturers warranty, and many items that go wrong are things that are not in warranty. 

Calipers not covered? Why? Thats news to me. I am pretty sure someone on the forum had a rear caliper changed under warranty. Also pretty sure the heater flap servo motors should be covered as well again vaguely remember someone getting it done under relax. I could be wrong.

[Linas.P]

25 minutes ago, Notamech said:

Calipers not covered? Why? Thats news to me. I am pretty sure someone on the forum had a rear caliper changed under warranty. Also pretty sure the heater flap servo motors should be covered as well again vaguely remember someone getting it done under relax. I could be wrong.

https://www.lexus.com.cy/owners/warranty/lexus-relax/terms-and-conditions-lexus-relax

Sorry - you are correct, I looked under suspension and there were no brake components mentioned, so I assumed brakes are not covered at all... but it turns out there is separate section just for brakes:

Quote

Brakes: ABS Control Unit; ABS Components; Speed Sensors; Brake Booster; Brake Pipes; Disc Brake Calipers; Brake Discs; Brake Drums; Linkages; Limiter Valves; Brake Master Cylinder; Brake Fluid Reservoir; Wheel Cylinders; Vacuum Pump

That said I just can't see how would they warranty brake discs, when in other part they say "wear and tear" is not covered, so I guess all the things mentioned are also judged whenever they are likely defective from the factory or simply worn out.

As for servos - I assume they fall under "Heater Flaps and Motors".

Shocks certainly are not warranted...  

[Spock66]

You still have warranty cover for the Hybrid Battery up to 15-years if you get serviced at Lexus.

[ColinBarber]

15 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

I cannot find any information about how much my service will cost bearing in mind I am no longer eligible for the relax  warranty. 

Service pricing is the same. Relax warranty is 'free' so there isn't a discount to be applied if you don't benefit from it. Your specific dealer might offer reduced rates.

15 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

Is it worth staying with Lexus and paying for the warranty and roadside assistance or go independent and buy the warranty and AA separately. The AA roadside assistance is very good value through Lexus but the warranty seems expensive. 

Lexus warranty is good and at least guarantees you get work carried out by Lexus. Any independent warranty is very unlikely to cover Lexus hourly rates so work would need to be done outside the main dealer network.

[Notamech]

1 hour ago, Spock66 said:

You still have warranty cover for the Hybrid battery up to 15-years if you get serviced at Lexus.

You dont need to service your car at lexus for that you just need the hybrid heath check which costs ~£50ish. You can service the car independently or by yourself after 10 years. Lexus want £350 for a minor service which is essentially just an oil change. Wayyy too much is you ask me.

[johnatg]

10 minutes ago, Notamech said:

You dont need to service your car at lexus for that you just need the hybrid heath check which costs ~£50ish. You can service the car independently or by yourself after 10 years. Lexus want £350 for a minor service which is essentially just an oil change. Wayyy too much is you ask me.

Indeed it is too much. I do my own servicing - I use the checklists at https://www.kbb.com/lexus/gs/2014/maintenance-schedules/?vehicleid=392660&mileage=100000  - Kelley Blue Book. You can navigate to your car and mileage - GS means GS450h but the schedules apply equally to GS300h. OK they are US service schedules, but hey - these are the same cars - why should the schedules be any different from UK. They give a recommended list for every 5000 miles.

PS to see the pages you may need to turn off any ad blocker if you use one - or open the link in something like Brave browser.

10 years = 100000 miles usually - here's Kelley's list for that service:

Replace engine oil and oil filter

Rotate tires and adjust tire pressures as required

Replace air conditioner filter

Replace engine coolant

Reset maintenance reminder light

Check installation of driver's floor mat

Inspect wiper blades

Visually inspect brake pads, calipers and rotors

Road test vehicle

 

US drivers are obsessed with tyre rotation - I try and equalise tyre wear so I replace all tyres at once but I don't do it religiously at set intervals. Do we even have 'maintenance reminder light'? I've never seen it.

 

You can price the consumables needed - oil, oil filter, aircon (cabin/pollen) filter, coolant.  I'd say approx £150 for premium brands but you can do it for much less depending on brands used. The rest is Lexus's premium for labour (and posh surroundings and coffee!)

 

If you want the hybrid health check you'd need to pay Lexus as Notamech says. (I think they just do a bit of jiggery pokey with Techstream - it's the warranty they really charge for)

[GMB]

1 hour ago, johnatg said:

10 years = 100000 miles usually - here's Kelley's list for that service:

Replace engine oil and oil filter

Rotate tires and adjust tire pressures as required

Replace air conditioner filter

Replace engine coolant

Reset maintenance reminder light

Check installation of driver's floor mat

Inspect wiper blades

Visually inspect brake pads, calipers and rotors

Road test vehicle

That's quite comprehensive. I looked up the list for a Vauxhall Corsa:

There was only one item on it.

10 years or 100,000 miles:

Replace car.

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, johnatg said:

Do we even have 'maintenance reminder light'?

You can set one-up, my assumption dealers in amurica do that because people expect to be nannied there and would simply forget that their car needs maintenance until 40k miles later engine blows-up (to be fair UK is not that much better).

So if one was not set, then it will not turn on. Otherwise, depending on the model it may be that it will trigger engine light + message "check service". Which again for somebody who understands nothing about cars could be quite scarry. That said reading on US forums it is quite funny really... stories like are "I bought this car for cheap with service light on... and turns out all it needed was just to clear the code" or "I had engine light, took it to local mechanic and it resolved my problem for just $100 (basically deleted reminder), whereas dealer wanted $500 from me (for the actual service)". oohhh my... they are gullible there!

[wharfhouse]

6 hours ago, Notamech said:

Calipers not covered? Why? Thats news to me. I am pretty sure someone on the forum had a rear caliper changed under warranty. Also pretty sure the heater flap servo motors should be covered as well again vaguely remember someone getting it done under relax. I could be wrong.

It was me. Had a rear caliper replaced under the Lexus 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty (car was actually just under 10 years old but had covered 149k miles when it was replaced). 

[Mike Hartland]

On the topic of servicing, I recently had my GS300h serviced with Lexus. Prior to the service I received an email detailing things spotted previously that I may wish to have put right. One of these was the replacement of a weeping shock absorber for (I think) £540. After the service the workshop guy was going through everything and reminded me of the shock absorber. I said "I am pretty sure that I had one of these replaced (on a previous Lexus) under warranty". He said "Oh yes, when it gets bad enough we will replace it". So be careful what you volunteer to pay for.

[GMB]

19 hours ago, Spock66 said:

You still have warranty cover for the Hybrid battery up to 15-years if you get serviced at Lexus

Lexus sent me a post service email telling me that the hybrid Battery is covered for another year. Whoopee!, Hang on,  The car has no hybrid Battery, but hey, it's covered by warranty!

On another point mentioned - the reminders. I only discovered it recently when I got one saying my brake oil (sic) needs replacing.  No it doesn't.  You can turn individual messages off or turn off all messages in the car's menu. They are usually set by a dealer who sometimes forgets to reset them. They are generally of no importance to the driver of a regularly serviced car unless you do an unusual amount of miles in a period or miss a service.

[Sherra]

On my previous GS 450h I had a shock absorber changed which was knocking under load and weeks before selling it had the heater matrix replaced which came out at over £600 all using the 10yr+ warranty which cost £480 and includes roadside assistance which would have cost £125 so I came out on top. Previously had bonnet struts under previous years 10yr+ so I would personally recommend it but just my opinion.