Maintenance Schedule

[jorg]

Maintenance Schedule

I recently took my car in for service to my local dealer. I asked if they had a comprehensive list of service intervals for my RX-350H that are not in the owners manual. She said no, that some fluids like the tranny and differential are checked and the fluid color is analyzed by their highly trained technician, and depending on that the decision is made. I was wondering if anybody had that info.

I’m particularly looking for tranny service, front and rear differential, brake fluid, power steering, plugs/wires, Anti-freeze and any other high mileage maintenance requirements, besides the obvious oil change.

[maseace]

Those things are in the maintenance guide supplement to the owners manual. Also available online at My Lexus

[RX400h]

....an RX350H? I didn't know that particular model existed! Are you referring to the RX400h?

[jorg]

Unless I'm missing them in the maintenance manual I don’t see everything I mentioned…any ideas??

Yes…sorry I meant 400H

[maseace]

Here is the maintenance schedule. Certain things you mentioned don't apply to this car, such as plug wires (the high voltage igniters are directly on top of each plug). Brake fluid is every 30k miles, timing belt change at 90k, engine and inverter coolant change at 100k, Spark plugs 120k.

RX400h Maint Sched.pdf

[rcomeau]

Hi,

On this topic, I'd like to get some general feedback on maintenance costs. My RX450h is now one year old, and while I am very happy with the rig, I am not so sure about my dealer where I get the service done. First, I feel that it is expensive. They always seem to have a long list of things to do for each scheduled visit. Inspections, clean this, check that. I never seem to get a bill less than $500 for what started out as a scheduled maintenance. Also, they are a bit sloppy. They NEVER change the oil change reminder sticker on the windshield and made a sloppy mistake of getting overspray on my fender when I had the front bumper repainted. They buffed it out, but I would expect better from a premium service centre.

Is the cost just part of being the owner of a premium car? I had a Ford Escape Hybrid and found the service at my Ford dealer worse, but neither the Ford or Lexus dealer match the VW dealer I dealt with 10 years ado when I had a GTI.

Cheers!

[lenore]

Frankly the dealerships are overpriced....That list of stuff they give you quite frankly takes 5 minutes to do...The only things done that takes time are the oil changes, brake fluid changes, timing belt change(90k miles) Spark plugs at 120k miles... THe transmission fluid change should fairly not cost more than $90 tops...It is all to snow the customer into thinking they are getting a lot of service for their dollar. A good, trusted independent garage would probably better serve you. And hopefully they would not talk over your head, and treat you with respect but do a thorough job.

[lemon]

Hi,

On this topic, I'd like to get some general feedback on maintenance costs. My RX450h is now one year old, and while I am very happy with the rig, I am not so sure about my dealer where I get the service done. First, I feel that it is expensive. They always seem to have a long list of things to do for each scheduled visit. Inspections, clean this, check that. I never seem to get a bill less than $500 for what started out as a scheduled maintenance. Also, they are a bit sloppy. They NEVER change the oil change reminder sticker on the windshield and made a sloppy mistake of getting overspray on my fender when I had the front bumper repainted. They buffed it out, but I would expect better from a premium service centre.

Is the cost just part of being the owner of a premium car? I had a Ford Escape Hybrid and found the service at my Ford dealer worse, but neither the Ford or Lexus dealer match the VW dealer I dealt with 10 years ado when I had a GTI.

Cheers!

If there is more than one Lexus dealer in Montreal, you should try another one - dealership experience varies widely between dealerships. Your other options (especially if you find the Lexus dealer expensive) is to try a Toyota dealership. The Highlander hybrid is very similar to the RX hybrid (at least the previous generation was) and the Toyota dealer is well equipped to work on the Lexus. I had my timing belt done at the Toyota dealer, for example - it was cheaper, but they misquoted me on the price. Even without the misquote, it would have been cheaper than the Lexus dealer - same goes for certain parts - cheaper at Toyota than Lexus, same part.

[RX400h]

Hi,

On this topic, I'd like to get some general feedback on maintenance costs. My RX450h is now one year old, and while I am very happy with the rig, I am not so sure about my dealer where I get the service done. First, I feel that it is expensive. They always seem to have a long list of things to do for each scheduled visit. Inspections, clean this, check that. I never seem to get a bill less than $500 for what started out as a scheduled maintenance. Also, they are a bit sloppy. They NEVER change the oil change reminder sticker on the windshield and made a sloppy mistake of getting overspray on my fender when I had the front bumper repainted. They buffed it out, but I would expect better from a premium service centre.

Is the cost just part of being the owner of a premium car? I had a Ford Escape Hybrid and found the service at my Ford dealer worse, but neither the Ford or Lexus dealer match the VW dealer I dealt with 10 years ado when I had a GTI.

Cheers!

I have found that dealerships in general will (at times) lower their prices. That being said, I must also mention that it really pays well to do your homework before taking your car in. For example, many dealerships will suggest services that are NOT specified in the owner's or maintenance manual for the current odometer reading. If you know what SHOULD be done, you can make sure that only those services are performed.

As far as using local repair garages, whether I use them or not depends upon the difference in cost of service and the complexity of the task. I would certainly not want a local garage to do anything related to the hybrid system. I'm sure very few independent shops work on RX400hs or RX450hs on a regular basis. Tires, brakes, oil changes and related services are very simple, so if I can't do them, myself, I wouldn't mind taking the vehicle in to a local shop.

[importrix]

... That being said, I must also mention that it really pays well to do your homework before taking your car in. For example, many dealerships will suggest services that are NOT specified in the owner's or maintenance manual for the current odometer reading. If you know what SHOULD be done, you can make sure that only those services are performed...

I found this out the hard way: took the car for inspection at the dealarship where I moved. They said sparks-replacement is due, so I had them changed. It wsa at 40k miles. They charged a fortune and I was not sure they even opened up the hood. Lesson learned, I am having everything done at the local garage since. (Car is not under warranty anymore.) A quick question: is it conceiveable that I need to change the front breakpads at 60k?

[lenore]

... That being said, I must also mention that it really pays well to do your homework before taking your car in. For example, many dealerships will suggest services that are NOT specified in the owner's or maintenance manual for the current odometer reading. If you know what SHOULD be done, you can make sure that only those services are performed...

I found this out the hard way: took the car for inspection at the dealarship where I moved. They said sparks-replacement is due, so I had them changed. It wsa at 40k miles. They charged a fortune and I was not sure they even opened up the hood. Lesson learned, I am having everything done at the local garage since. (Car is not under warranty anymore.) A quick question: is it conceiveable that I need to change the front breakpads at 60k?

The spark plugs are good for 125k miles....As for the front breakpads, you need to look at them and see how much pad is left.

[rcomeau]

If there is more than one Lexus dealer in Montreal, you should try another one - dealership experience varies widely between dealerships. Your other options (especially if you find the Lexus dealer expensive) is to try a Toyota dealership. The Highlander hybrid is very similar to the RX hybrid (at least the previous generation was) and the Toyota dealer is well equipped to work on the Lexus. I had my timing belt done at the Toyota dealer, for example - it was cheaper, but they misquoted me on the price. Even without the misquote, it would have been cheaper than the Lexus dealer - same goes for certain parts - cheaper at Toyota than Lexus, same part.

Unfortunately, 2/3 of the Lexus dealers in Montreal are owned by the same company, and the two are pretty far from me. I used to drive 30 minutes in traffic to go to the VW dealer where I bought my car because of the great service. They changed managers at one point and the pace went downhill fast. I always thought it would be best to build a good relationship with the dealer for service, but my experience with that is mixed. I'll keep going to my dealer, but as you suggest, I'll do my homework now and be stricter about what they do for scheduled maintenance. Would have liked to build up some trust, but that does not exist anymore.

Thanks.

[mrjuanch]

On 3/29/2011 at 3:14 PM, maseace said:

Here is the maintenance schedule. Certain things you mentioned don't apply to this car, such as plug wires (the high voltage igniters are directly on top of each plug). Brake fluid is every 30k miles, timing belt change at 90k, engine and inverter coolant change at 100k, Spark plugs 120k.

RX400h Maint Sched.pdf

Hi I try to download this pdf but tells me I'm not allow it. Can you share it via dropbox or something public?

[lenore]

If you go to mylexus.com and join and put your vin number in there are maintenance manuals listed.  Also you can create your own service history on this site. 

[Steve]

On 1/19/2016 at 7:37 AM, mrjuanch said:

Hi I try to download this pdf but tells me I'm not allow it. Can you share it via dropbox or something public?

@mrjuanch I did change some settings, please tell me if you still get this issue