My 90k Scheduled Maintenance Story

[abackhus]

i found my mechanic through these forums and came highly recommended (i actually had him replace an o2 censor last year). he worked for the dealer here in kc for 10 years, then started his own shop, only works on acura, lexus, and infiniti. i thought the price of 1271.00 (90k scheduled maintenance including timing belt and water pump) too high for a private mechanic so i decided to call around to some of the dealers:

superior of KC - 1679

lexus of omaha - 1226

lexus of wichita - 1450

it's surprising the difference for the region. omaha and wichita are both only a 3 hour drive from kc, yet the difference in price in the midwest is crazy.

[Toysrme]

i found my mechanic through these forums and came highly recommended (i actually had him replace an o2 censor last year). he worked for the dealer here in kc for 10 years, then started his own shop, only works on acura, lexus, and infiniti. i thought the price of 1271.00 (90k scheduled maintenance including timing belt and water pump) too high for a private mechanic so i decided to call around to some of the dealers:

superior of KC - 1679

lexus of omaha - 1226

lexus of wichita - 1450

it's surprising the difference for the region. omaha and wichita are both only a 3 hour drive from kc, yet the difference in price in the midwest is crazy.

No different that anywhere else. Quit going to lexus for maintenance. That's the problem!

[backwoods lex]

I went to a local toyota dealer and got the timing belt, water pump, drive belts, and new coolant for around $525 and it took less than 1 day. Try a local toyota dealer. Good luck!

[abackhus]

my car worked for lexus for 10 years, then started his own shop. isn't that what i'm supposed to do? or is it better going to a toyta dealership?

side note - need to replace brake pads, can i just got to advanced auto parts, or pepboys and buy any or do i need official lexus pads?

[anthonyiez]

it always amazes me what people are willing to pay the lexus dealers for this major service. considering the actual cost of the parts for this service these dealers are really making out.

[abrarcool]

go to a toyota dealer same work right equipment cheaper price and they have the tools to do a good job

[total1]

I'll second, third and fourth the local Toyota dealership. They won't do warranty work - unless you want to pay for it - but they're a lot less expensive and, IMHO, a lot more, well, what's the PC word for believable! ? :-) :)

Also, I have '97 ES300 with the front brakes from a local "brake-shop" type dealership (I think it was Monroe Muffler). Make sure that the brakes will actually stand the heat of a "Lexus-type" brake. What I mean is that initially they put on some types of brakes that couldn't stand the high temperatures encountered during braking. Subsequently, they had to replace these brakes (fronts) with a better quality (right type?) of secondary market Lexus brake. I've taken my other Lexus (98 ES300) to the Toyota dealership and had them do a brake job also. Difference in price was, in the end, negligible. The difference being my 97 ES300 has a very slight connect/release sound when I brake and the 98 ES300 has no sound. Whether this difference is due to installer or whatever, I don't know. [My wife drives the 97 once in a while and she never comments on the 'noise' as it's very, very slight.] But I do know that given another 50K+ miles, I'll take my 97 ES300 to my local Toyota dealership for the brake job - they DID do the rears recently at 140Kish. Oh, I've purchased 2+ Camry's from this dealership. After all, the 97-01 ES300 model is essentially a 'luxury Camry' - same transmission too!

[Geo]

I just asked the dealer for the price of the 60,000 mile maintance on my 2001 ES300. They wanted close to 600 bucks. This mantance schedule is basically changing fluids and filters. Suffice to say I'm doing some stuff myself and shopping the rest at a Toyota place. G

[Lexlogic]

I just asked the dealer for the price of the 60,000 mile maintance on my 2001 ES300. They wanted close to 600 bucks. This mantance schedule is basically changing fluids and filters. Suffice to say I'm doing some stuff myself and shopping the rest at a Toyota place. G

Lexus dealer wanted $987.00 for 60,000 mile maintenance on my 2000 ES300, so I took it to an toyota / Lexus Independent for $398.00. Shopping around or getting information from word of mouth can save alot.

[anthonyiez]

i always use oem parts when the price permits. i also buy the majority of my lexus parts from a toyota dealer. this works for most models.

when not using oem parts from toyota/lexus i try to source out the manufacturer that actually makes the parts. i use kyb for struts. most people know that kyb supplies the shocks and struts for most toyota/lexus products, this isn't a secret. what is a little known secret is that when you buy replacement parts from toyota/lexus, chances are you will be getting a strut made by gabriel.

also when it comes to brake rotors, brembo is the way to go.

look around, there has to be a toyota/lexus specialist in your area. if not that's a niche that needs to be filled.

[sleddog]

i always use oem parts when the price permits. i also buy the majority of my lexus parts from a toyota dealer. this works for most models.

when not using oem parts from toyota/lexus i try to source out the manufacturer that actually makes the parts. i use kyb for struts. most people know that kyb supplies the shocks and struts for most toyota/lexus products, this isn't a secret. what is a little known secret is that when you buy replacement parts from toyota/lexus, chances are you will be getting a strut made by gabriel.

also when it comes to brake rotors, brembo is the way to go.

look around, there has to be a toyota/lexus specialist in your area. if not that's a niche that needs to be filled.

Is there any downside to using Toyota for this maintenance?

[lenore]

The downside is that Lexus doesnt get your hard earned money. That is it pure and simple, As long as you have papers showing the maintenance, your warranty is valid.

[camlex]

Hello,

Here is my 210,000 miles service at my Mechanic shop:

1. Timing belt + 2 Drive belts

2. Water pump

3. Tensioner and Pully

4. 2 Cam seal + 1 Crank Shaft seal

5. Spark Plug (Denso) + Wire (NGK)

6. Thermostate + flush radiator

7. Fuel Filter

Total cost was $600.

All MXV4 Plus $500.

[abackhus]

Hello,

Here is my 210,000 miles service at my Mechanic shop:

1. Timing belt + 2 Drive belts

2. Water pump

3. Tensioner and Pully

4. 2 Cam seal + 1 Crank Shaft seal

5. Spark Plug (Denso) + Wire (NGK)

6. Thermostate + flush radiator

7. Fuel Filter

Total cost was $600.

All MXV4 Plus $500.

wow, that's a great deal. i just took my 98 back to the mechanic again this morning, COL for the spark plugs. another 200.00 out the door.