remas1974

My 20000 is almost due now and I was thinking, do I have to do the full service at the dealership or I can just change the oil without the other stuff (rotation, ….)? If I just change the oil will this affect the warratny?

Please advice.

VroomVroom

You're not obligated to have your car serviced at the dealer. Just keep the receipts/invoices for any independent work you have done, just in case.

Pheonix

use the checklist from the maintenance manual and kep a diary of everything in it, along with all records, reciepts, etc. i'm not saying write down "checked V joint boots" if you didn't do it, but you know...


Dude once sold a 25-30K vette on barrett's last year for over 90K simply because he kept a diary of all maintenance, and short entries of every drive he ever took.


at any rate... if you keep good records of you doing your own maintenance, you'll save a boatload of money & you'll never have any warranty complaints if you blow it up at the track. (and yes you must keep with warranty intervals under warranty - even if your synthetic oil & filter change intervals test OK out to 15,000 miles lol!)

garsarno

I intend to service the car at my local Gulf station. Their computer system keeps track of the service dates, mileage etc. Will just read the required service and have them do it.

Pheonix

have them print out the history next time, and print out the services when you have them done.

kingofire

All you need is a oil change and a tire rotation. You can get your tires rotated for free at any giant tire place so why not get them done. The ES350are simple when it comes to maintenance. The tranny fluid is rated as "life time" but i would still get it done at 30k intervals and the coolant is listed as 100,000 miles and I think the coolant in this cars can go that long without a problem. So pretty much its oil changes and tire rotations and at every 30k interval also change tranny fluid and brake fluid until 90k. At 90k I would change the water pump and timing belt(not sure if ES350 has a chain, if yes then it could go much longer) Get new Spark plugs and you are set.

DallasLex

iTrader: (1)

I was wondering about that also. I know the TL has a timing belt. Does the ES350/Camry V6 engine use a timing chain? If yes, what would the maintenance be? To change or replace the chain or just check it for integrity?

Macklin

The scheduled maintenance items are a joke. Call me stupid, but I've been using my local Lexus dealership for all my service to date. They are just down the street from work so it's very convenient for me. A very pricey convenience! Just had them do my 15000. $300 and that was after the $50 coupon they sent me.

Oil and filter, tire rotation, engine air filter, cabin air filter, AC recharge, fluid check, belt check....brain check....

I asked them if the $50 cabin air filter was really necessary at this point. They said I didn't want my car smelling like dirty gym clothes. Well...I don't work out in my car!

garsarno

I would think a AC recharge would be a n/c warranty item. You can buy your own engine air filter too. The cabin filter, in my opinion, is needed as it does get very dirty in a year.

AlexusES50

I will be doing my service at Toyota deal in my town as i llive about 45 min from nearest Lexus Dealer.

MD350

Packed in that cost is the loaner car, all the food in the waiting room, free wi-fi, etc. The car could go for at least 30-40 K miles with just oil changes and tire rotations. Depends on how long you keep your cars, whether it is worth to do the preventive maint.

codex57

There might be a law that requires car manufacturers/dealers to honor a warranty even if a car hasn't been serviced at a dealer.

I hardly ever take my car to get serviced at the dealer. I've only done just started doing with my current two cars. 1 is cuz scheduled maintenance is free. All my extra preventative maintenance is done outside of the dealer. The other one is a new car so it's just been oil changes at the dealer cuz they charge the same as a regular outside shop. It recently also required a differential fluid change but I had a mechanic relative do that for me instead of the dealer.