I agree. Obviously if you do your own maintenance, you will significantly cut your costs down a lot since you are only paying for parts. Lexus parts in general are more expensive than Honda parts, but for the most common parts like brake pads and such they aren't that much more.

However, you also have to consider if you are the type of person that does ALL scheduled maintenance according to the maintenance book. If so, Lexus in the long run will be a lot more expensive because their recommended service intervals are closer together. Honda I believe still uses 7500 miles intervals, while Lexus uses 5000 mile intervals.

 

The Goodyear "Integrity" tires that came from Lexus on our RX300 were the worst tires I've ever had.

 

Get a Lexus from Lexus with the certified pre-owned warranty. They were going to give my sister a 6 year warranty on an 06 IS350 with NAV with 10k miles... but then they found an 07 in the dark blue they wanted without nav for a REALLY good price and got it instead. One thing is for certain; the dealership experience at Lexus is FAR ahead of anything Honda has. She recently drove there to get a tire checked; turns out it wasnt inflated properly since it sat on the showroom floor; they never checked them. Well in the service center, they helped her out of her car, another opened the other door and got her purse, assisted her inside and she went and sat down on a comfy couch and was given a Caramel Latte and watched TV. 15min later someone quietly came in and tapped her on the shoulder to tell her she was ready to go. She was amazed by the experience; and its one of the major reasons she's ecstatic that she owns a Lexus.

She was going in to buy a GM Acadia at a GM dealership actually and they treated her like crap; acted like she wasnt able to make decisions without her husband around (even though she is an RN and makes just as much money as he does). She was so pissed off and upset. And the next day her husband went to the Lexus dealership and saw the car they had been looking for (the reason they went with the Acadia instead was because they couldnt find it), traded in her RSX Type-S on it; and brought it home and wrapped it up in a bow. And she came home from work and it was like one of those Lexus commercials

 

It really is not that a Lexus costs more to maintain than a Honda due to design, it is the dealers that are upping the cost. They pack in the loaner car, all that food in the service department, etc.

I get my work done at the local Toyota dealer for half the price of the Lexus dealer. Just go to Lexus for warranty work.

 

Well the issue is low profile tires that come with cars today. Your 04 Accord probably has 15 or 16" tires, which are abundant and cheap to buy.

The IS comes with 17s stock, most have the optional 18s, and they are staggered, in other words, 2 different sizes front and rear. This will cost more.

Amazingly, the new 07+ Accord and Accord coupe have 17s and optional 18s as well, so you would pretty much encounter a similar issue with new Accords.

Taking your car to the dealer will cost more. I am assuming a Honda dealer charges $65 an hr for service, Lexus is $80 plus. Also oil pans are bigger and oil filters cost more etc.

You will simply pay more paying for the Lexus, but its not too, too bad, as for the most part they are very reliable, which you are used to with Honda.

 

well duh, the Starbucks coffee machine wins lots of yuppie points.
ok ok, i kid.

 

What you guys are saying about routine maintenance done somewhere other
than the Lexus dealers is true. The difference in price is not that big.

But if something major breaks on you and it is not under warranty, run for the
hills, since it will be 2-3X the price to get that fixed in an Accord.

The other thing is tires. The ultra crappy Michelin MVX4 tires probably run
you $400 a set, while the low profile tires on the IS350 will push $1000
easy.

Having said that, between an IS350 and a 4 cylinder Accord, there really
is NO comparison. The IS beats it in every way. Spend away

 

Yes, I know I was quoting dealer prices, thats why I mentioned that. I also suspect the dealer my parents service there cars at is a little bit shady (I balked at the 02 sensor price).

Its true, DIY on any car will be much much cheaper. In addition to avoiding dealer labor, you can many times get parts without dealer markup as well.

However, some people are not as mechanically inclined. Others also have responsibilities/jobs (remember time=money) to where it is not worth it to spend the time to DIY... or "lazy" as some call it. Others may live in a house or apartment where they do not have a good place to jack the car up and work on it. Still yet, not everyone is fortunate enough to live in a place with an independent Toyota mechanic nearby.

The relevant question here should be, how much, if any, maintenance his/herself?

 

I do my own oil changes, I've reassembled brake pads before, but how about rotors. Are rotor changes a DIY type maintenance? Fluid refills should be easy. Are air filter/cabin filter changes simple too?

 

Filters/fluids are just as easy as any other car. Suspension and brake work is even easier than most other cars - you'll be hard pressed to find something rusted or stubborn in a Lexus.

 

Yes, yes, and yes.

 

Hondas are not exactly the lowest maintenance cars. For example, a lot of old Hondas have timing belts on the engines while many Toyotas for years have used timing chains.

Even right now, Honda still uses a timing chain in their J Series V6 engines. Honda's K Series and R Series 4 cylinders have finally moved to timing chains.

The biggest cost difference between Lexus and Honda will be dealer/labor costs. The part costs should not be that different. You also have to take into account things such as you never have to really change the tranny fluid on most Lexus models and Lexus parts are built for higher quality than Honda parts.

 

Most of the parts on Lexus vehicles are shared with their Toyota cousins. The box that the parts come in are labled "Toyota". I had to replace the throttle assembly on my GS400 a few years back. Got the part form one of our vendors & was told that, the part number and the part itself is shared with my 02 Rav4. I am sure the same holds true for Acura/Honda parts..

One can get their Lexus serviced at a Toyota dealer and save on the labor costs. Some Toyota dealers have Lexus certified mechanics.

 

A better comparison would be Acura vs. Lexus. I currently own an Acura and my mechanic says that alot of the parts are almost identical but the markup is so much higher on the Acura parts vs Honda. I would think it's a similar situation with Toyota and Lexus.

 

I'm sure many will say "But that's not the point!" but, the Lexus dealerships cost more because they give you more.

My dealership's service department is open from 6am to 11pm....EVERY day of the year. That's nice. None of this closing-at-6-on-Sunday crap.

They have a huge fleet of Lexus loaner cars. I've never been told that they've run out of cars, I've never made an appointment...I just show up and they take care of whatever.

I almost always take the loaner car option. I always grab a soda and a snack. And I ALWAYS get treated like I'm someone special.

The whole experience makes it worthwhile, to me. And, let me be clear here...I'm not "rich". I'm sure a lot of folks here say that but, it's a relative term. I own a used Lexus and it's my first REAL car. Before this, I drove a older Mitsubishi Lancer. It took about everything I had to get my Lexus. And I still feel that the Lexus dealership experience as a whole is worthwhile.

Life's too short.