New owner again...I have read where one poster is( to save money) taking his car in to Toyota for this work. What seems to be what most are paying for this service and is there any considerations involved with the warentee when doing this?

Not sure what Toyota (or Lexus) charges, but if you're willing to pay to have Toyota change your oil/filter...it won't affect your warranty in any way. It is against the law for Lexus or anyone else to threaten to void your warranty in any way because you had your vehicle serviced elsewhere.

I know it may be a matter of convenience, but I gotta say...changing the oil/filter on my wife's 09 RX350 is so simple, I wouldn't consider paying anyone to do it for me.

I just changed the oil in our rig for $30, not including the beer I drank while I was waiting for the oil to drain. The coolest thing is, I spent less time than if I would have taken it to a dealer for the same service AND I got to drink a beer in the front yard on a Sunday afternoon.

But yeah, I'd definitely take it to Toyota before Lexus if I was going to take it in for a service. Even better, I'd find an independent mechanic I trusted.

edit: After re-reading my post, I realize it probably came off as smug. For the record I completely understand NOT wanting to do your own oil changes and I also understand that some folks live under circumstances where it is impractical or even illegal!

I have my oil changed on my RX400h at a local Toyota dealership whenever I can and was told that the service information can be retrieved by Lexus dealerships. The Toyota dealership does the same service 5k, 10k, etc at a fraction of the cost of the Lexus dealership.

I used to take mine to my local mechanic to have the oil changed. I missed my last appointment and decided to do it myself. It wound up being much easier than I expected. I heard that you need special filter removal tools and such, however nothing could have been further from the truth, at least on an 07. I admit that I was intimidated, however after doing it once, it'll never go anywhere else for an oil change.

Good luck in whatever you decide..

RMB350,
Do yourself a favor and order the oil filter tool and make sure you have a socket big enough for it (15/16", iirc). The first time I changed the oil on our vehicle, I didn't need the filter tool. The second time, I did. Last thing you want is to have a vehicle with no oil and need a tool to finish the job!

What "oil filter tool" are you talking about that is 15/16"???

I bought a combo 65/67 mm oil filter end-cap wrench at Walmart and sawed off the larger 67mm portion so it would be shallow enough to correctly fit the oil filter housing to spin it off. No other "special" tools needed...at least not for my wife's 09.

I had to get a socket to fit on the oil filter wrench. My eye ball said it was 7/8's but my eye ball was wrong and I had to walk to the hardware store to buy the correct socket!

Yeah, I'm not quite sure what everyone is talking about either..

On my 07, the filter element sits inside an allum. housing. The housing is removed with a standard socket wrench, I just can't remember if it's 3/8 or 3/4.. No other sockets or tools are needed. In addition, there is nothing to drain and therefore do not need the white plastic piece. Once the housing has broken loose, there are fingers (for the lack of a better term) to grab onto to spin the housing off.

I do have a small mess though when I first unscrew the allum. housing, as it's filled with oil. I just make sure that it's cleaned out real good before dropping the new element and gasket in. Other than that, unless I'm doing something wrong, it's pretty straight forward.

There are two pieces to the aluminum housing. The 3/8 inch drive will sometimes take both off as one, or it may just take the bottom off which won't allow you to change out the filter element. Stupid design, imho.

A two piece housing, that's interesting. Thanks for the info and I agree, it's a stupid design..

The bottom piece allows you to drain the oil accumulated in the filter prior to unscrewing the larger housing for the filter unit.

The 5000 mile service for our 2009 RX350 was included in the purchase price. Yesterday, I took it to the Lexus dealer for the 10,000 mile service. Fortunately I had the sense to ask how much before they started. I just about vomited on the service adviser when he told me $130.00 including tax for an oil change. I asked him if they used synthetic oil and was told no. I left, took it to a trusted independent shop, and received a bill for $58.00. This included, six quarts of Mobile 1, all the same inspections, but not a tire rotation (On long lasting tires I do that every 10,000 miles, not every 5000).

This again proves my philosophy, refined after forty years of dealing with dealers, that one has to be nuts to use a dealership for anything other than warranty repairs. That being said, I have to be fair and say that this particular dealer, Treasure Coast Lexus in Ft. Pierce Florida, provided us with the most pleasant and easiest experience I ever had buying a new car when we purchased the RX350 last winter.

Just did the 5k (25kmiles) service at the local Toyota dealer, $60 this includes the tire rotation, brake check, air filter check and toping off all fluids. I did the air filter and cabin filter myself. The bill only charges me for 5 qts of oil but they always fill it up with the 6+qts. It took 1hr 10 min. Free coffee and a nice place to read my book. 5 min. from my house, Lexus dealer is 45 miles.
Jeff

Completely agree, and I do the same. IMHO, there is no logical reason to take it to the Lexus dealership (except maybe for warranty work); unless you just like shelling out three times as much for the same work and parts.