riredale

This may be old news, but on a whim I called our local Toyota dealer today to inquire about a spark plug change on my RX450h. The powertrain is identical to the Toyota Highlander hybrid from that year.

The service tech said that other than oil changes and tires they were not allowed to work on Lexus! I guess I can understand that since a Lexus dealership has higher fixed costs (fancier waiting room and such) they don't want their cousins down the street taking away their customers with presumably lower labor rates.

By the way, the Lexus tech said, top of his head, it was about $650 to change the plugs. The rear three are a pain to access, and while YouTube videos show it can be done by a backyard mechanic, it's pretty involved.

jer

Does the Toyota dealership also own a Lexus dealership? Could be the reason. I've had work done at a Toyota dealership on my previous RX, as they were happy for my business. They would do anything but warranty work.

davyjordi

my local toyota dealership performs a lot of the maintenance work on my lexus without problem save for warranty work as noted by the member above.

coolsaber

Its their business if they dont work on your Lexus, drive down to the X number of other toyota dealership that do. My local Lexus dealerships all have a sign that reads "we do service on all cars and all brands".

For spark plugs, and if your outside the powertrain warranty find a good indy. Cheaper and I can see the work being done to my satisfaction.

davyjordi

even if he's inside warranty he can go to a good indie toyota/lexus shop. lexus cannot deny him warranty service based on where he had the car serviced. they can surely deny warranty service should he have not had the vehicle serviced at all or didn't follow the service schedule, but where? anywhere qualified mechanics are doing the work is fine. hell, he can even do the work himself and just save the receipts for materials purchased and they can't deny a warranty claim. that's a non-negotiable.

TriC

Here in Columbus, I had the timing belt/water pump on my LS 430 changed at a Toyota store that is owned by the same outfit that has the only 2 Lexus stores in town, so your experience is certainly not universal.

SW17LS

Typically this happens when the Toyota dealer and Lexus dealer share the same ownership. Plenty of Toyota dealers will work on Lexus.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Are they both owned by the same company (like Kendall)? It so it’s a money grab by the owner

find the price for the Highlander do the same work and ask the service manager if they can please do it for the same cost or if you should start going to another dealer. Put a post it note on the back of the vehicle that says Highlander.

coolsaber

Of course MM acts exists, I`m just not a fan of spelling out things to service folks who have all the time and scripts/training in the world to blame some external factor for denying warranty coverage. Dont get me wrong, I still get my maintenance intervals done either via Indy or DIY and have not been denied coverage but not the OP so YMMV.

davyjordi

i feel like a dealership might try to fight you if you do the maintenance yourself, but if you bring the car to a reputable indie shop with ase certified mechanics, you more than likely won't have any problems should you need warranty repair.

SW17LS

They can’t. Just keep records of the maintenance you did and they can’t deny you warranty repair.

davyjordi

no, i said that they might *try* to deny a warranty claim if you do the warranty yourself, but if you have adequate records that show appropriate materials purchased on dates, they won't win their battle. you just escalate to whoever appropriate and you'll have your warranty case approved without a doubt. i was responding to coolsaber and i believe you and i are on the same page here.

Toys4RJill

Appears to me the Toyota dealer and the Lexus dealer are trying to respect one another. Last thing the Toyota dealer wants is the Lexus dealer to offer a "Toyota" price for Toyota cars coming to the Lexus dealer....and vice versa...

SW17LS

Lets put it this way, when is the last time we saw a post on here that the dealer was trying to deny warranty repairs because they are saying the car wasn't maintained as per the maintenance schedule? This is a concern that people have a lot, but in reality its not really much of a concern at all.

Lexus provides an online maintenance history system, just put your maintenance in there after you complete it, and its all right there in Lexus' own database. Thats what I do when my independent mechanic does a maintenance service, I log it on there and it shows up right alongside the dealer reported service stops.

As for the Lexus dealer and the Toyota dealer "respecting" one another and working on keeping their prices where they want them, thats also known as collusion and price fixing, otherwise known as antitrust If its the same company, thats fine...but if an independent Lexus dealer and independent Toyota dealer have an agreement that the Toyota dealer won't service X customer so they have to fo to Lexus, and vice versa, thats legally problematic.

geko29

Agree with this. In the real world, these types of warranty denials are incredibly rare, and only in cases that are glaringly obvious. One might start with something like "we noticed your engine has almost no oil in it and quite a bit of sludge buildup. We don't have any record of oil changes in our system, when/where did you have them done?"