Car Servicing

[Steve]

How often do you service your car? Do you go to the main dealer or do you fo elsewhere? If you go elswhere is it cheaper and how much cheaper is it?

[nc211]

Oil every 5K miles - Brakes when needed - Plugs every 45K miles no matter what - Air filter replaced when needed, usually evey 10k miles. Everything else done per instuctions in the manual.

Usually I do my own servicing of this stuff because I like to use the highest quality fluids that most shops don't use. But, not always anymore due to time constraints, and my fading interest.

Dealership useage is dependent on the car (type), mileage, and type of repair. My VW, given it's extended warranty, must go to the dealership for all repairs and services to show documented history of proper care.

My aging 4runner, is no longer a "DIY" status vehicle, and goes to the Jiffy Lubes for most things. Changing the oil in that thing has become a bear, due to the process to remove the heavy steel engine guard.

Items that are critical to repair, always go to the dealer. I'll pay the premium price for the dealership backing of it being done right, or else. Fighting with a 3rd party repair shop for a bad job, usually costs twice as much as a trip to the dealer does in general. Been down that road in my old LS400, won't do it again.

[TA in KC]

I follow the maintenance schedule in my car's owners manual which usually means servicing the car every 5000 miles. I do some work myself and other times I use the dealership.

There are actually two Lexus dealerships in the Kansas City area although both are owned by the same company. I typically go to the one that is far north of the city where I can book an appointment on fairly short notice and wait times are shorter. I think they do a good job and their prices are reasonable.

If we had a decent (key word) independent Lexus shop I would likely have my car serviced there instead. We do have an "indie" Lexus place here, which I used on three seperate occasions (actually based on a recommendation from a forum member) but my experiences there were always mediocre at best.

Others have said the opposite so I guess the staff must just play favorites. If they treated every customer the way they treated me, I doubt they would still be in business. Their work was never finished when promised, quality was poor, my car was always returned dirty and prices for basic services like oil changes and brake work were higher than the dealership.

The last time I visited the shop, I received my car back and the floor mat was covered in what appeared to be used oil. I brought it back inside, gave it to the service writer where he took it back out into the shop and began screaming so loudly at the mechanic I could her him all the way inside. I couldn't even tell what he was saying- but eventually I got a clean floor mat back although I was rather disgusted at how he handled the situation.

After these experiences I'm very happy with the Lexus dealership.

[LEX-SV]

10K miles service intervals (Mobil 1 synthetic) at Lexus dealership, no problem w/IS350.

[craigc]

I service my once a year. After every 12,000 miles as it is professionally recommended.

[FEASTJAPAN]

Oil changes every 3000KM, not needed that early but I get bored hahaha. And do most stuff myself, save for wheel balancing and alignments. Then again I really havent had any trouble with the LS after a few years, most major was a PS hose repair and alternator swap.