wharfhouse

The interesting thing to me is that they are prepared to do the Essentials service on a 2016 car as everything I have seen says it is only for cars over 5 years old.

From those costs the dealer with the cheaper prices is quoting for the Essentials service and the dealer with the more expensive prices the standard service. Which is interesting as if your car is a 2016 model then Essentials pricing should not apply as it's for cars over 5 years old... I would ask the dealer with the cheaper pricing if they are actually quoting correctly or you are not comparing apples to apples...

Like you I have been happy with their performance and in particular the mileage they have achieved (I did have Yokohama on a Honda as OEM a few years back and found them OK then too but hard to source so switched to Michelin that car) - when I enquired as to the cost of replacing them on the Lexus I was pleasantly surprised on the price so decided to stick with them. Only time I had any problems was in the snow but to be fair it would probably have been similar with any summer orientated tyre.

Same tyres as you on my car and mine were changed at 30k miles for rears first time and 40k miles front first time then rears for second time at 60k miles and now done 73k miles so will expect to be doing fronts again at 80k miles - they really do last a lot of miles.

Don't get me wrong - I have seen similar but I have also seen my fair share of poor diagnosis, shoddy repair and lack of care leading to subsequent problems at independents too. There is no one "right" place and we have to select carefully and check thoroughly whilst finding what we each consider the right place. At one time I must have used most of the BMW franchised dealers in the South as I found them very poor. I then found a good franchised dealer and purchased four new cars through them and had all servicing done there. For a little more care, thought and customer service they made a good return from me. In fact that was one of my concerns changing to Lexus as I had good service from that BMW dealer. I have to date been happy with the Lexus dealer though.

Service schedule says to definitely replace at 40k miles - check more regularly and replace as necessary (but would be additional cost I assume) so yours would have been replaced next service by Lexus (4 years 40k miles).

That is not the specific service schedule for the IS 300h just a generic Lexus one. The Lexus website has the actual model specific service schedules that shows clearly when items are to be checked and changed. Whether any dealer or independent can be trusted to do what they say on paper carries the same risk but on balance I would believe a franchised dealer over an unknown independent selected at random. I have an independent garage I have used for many years for various cars (though not my Lexus at the moment) and trust them not to do any unnecessary repairs. However they do tend to the other end of the scale especially for older cars of wait for it to fail before replacing rather than replacing as a preventative step. For some of our cars that is absolutely fine though for others I would rather be more preventative. Horses for courses.

If you add up the service pricing on the Lexus website it would be £1,425 without the FoC MoT so the quoted cost is cheaper than the individual sum.

I do exactly same as Colin - my average over 2+ years of mixed driving (towns and motorway) is 48mpg on the car computer. I don't drive slowly but generally drive smoothly with good anticipation to avoid excessive braking.

That's good to hear - I have done 73K miles (64 reg) in mine to date and do about 15K miles a year - I have kept cars in the past to over 150K miles including a BMW 528i to over 200K miles which I purchased brand new (though don't do so many miles as I did these days) so your experiences will be valuable it helping time my (and I am sure others) next change.

How many miles do you plan on running it before trading in?

As they get used so little - especially rears - do a few high speed heavy braking runs - that should clean them up and stop the noise

Not sure why I put £70k - it didn't cost that much...! - 70k miles of course

I had my £70k service recently and still no brake pads needed and from the thickness left on the pads probably won't for a while longer yet

£535 for £40k miles is what is on the Lexus website (see my post earlier)

That's good to know - thanks

Yes - I did a similar exercise a few months back. On Essentials it looks like most parts are not included (filters and spark plugs etc.) - I looked at my previous invoices and reckoned on average over a few years the cost saving of opting for the Essentials servicing over a full servicing would probably come in at some £100 per service (I do about 15K miles a year so probably about a £150 a year saving). Also if you have Lexus Extended Warranty the car must be serviced by Lexus and I think that is just the full servicing and does include Essential servicing (but may be wrong about the Essential servicing as haven't asked about that yet).

Do report back with their prices - will be interesting to see if they are same as the website or not. The other servicing is Essential Service for cars over 5 years old. A bit cheaper with not quite so many checks and no service book stamp.

Servicing is 10K miles or 12 months whichever is sooner. The prices on the Lexus UK website for the IS 300h say the Full 60 service costs £625 and on the IS 300h that includes spark plugs at 60K miles (air filter is done at each 40K miles). If you are at 6 years but less than 60K miles I believe that the spark plugs don't in theory need replacing but how they account for the reduction in price not quite sure - maybe it reverts to the 20K mile price? Diff oil (for some reason) appears at every 20k miles. Either way, the max price for a 6 year or 60K mile service if you include spark plugs is £625 so don't know where they get the £735 from... Maybe ring another dealer and see what they say?

You can register with the My Lexus website and then after putting in your VIN can see any servicing carried out by Lexus and what was changed. The spark plugs are a 60K mile service item (not time based only mileage based) - I doubt Lexus would have changed them before that if it was serviced by Lexus previously. I would definitely check if they have or have not been replaced previously otherwise any future service will probably assume they were done at 60K miles and so they may not get changed until 120K miles...!

If you find out anything I would also be interested as I have a 2014 IS 300h too and was looking to fit a tow bar to pull a sailing dinghy (less than 300kg all up) . The IS 300h is rated for 750kg and when it was first released Lexus offered a tow bar as an accessory but since then it seems to have disappeared from the new car accessories and I have found no 3rd party tow bars (probably not surprising given the small numbers of IS 300h). When I was looking a couple of years back I guesstimated from the new car accessory price that if was supplied and fitted by a Lexus dealer there wouldn't be much (if any) change from £1,000...!

I have left my car for 7 days at an airport with no issues but never left it longer than this without being used. I carry one of the small jump start packs that can keep in the glove box just in case however. Given that you only have to have enough power for the 12v ancillary electrics to start the IS 300h then this should be perfectly adequate though haven't had the need to test it yet...

When this came to light I purchased one of the Mobile Phone and Key Signal Blocking Security Case Pouches (faraday pouches) - less than £5 - just pop the keys in there when I get home. Tested it to make sure it did indeed block the signal. I keep the spare keys for the cars in a tin hidden in a cupboard - again that works as well to block any signals. It's a well communicated issue but for a few pounds spent on pouch I sleep easy at night (I also take it with me when I stay away overnight at hotels) and can enjoy the convenience of the keyless entry.

Had this on a BMW a number of years sago - it was a blocked air con drain pipe as per a previous reply - compressed air can be used to clear it

My IS 300h is a 2014 model and done 72,000 miles - serviced by Lexus according to schedule (every 10k miles) and other than a replacement washer bottle sensor completely reliable. When mine goes in for a service I get a new IS 300h as a courtesy car and mine doesn't feel any different to drive. Only a few more toys in the latest ones.