SILes300

My 5k mile service is approaching, what are your thoughts or experiences on taking it to a Toyota dealership for service? I just moved to Utah from Colorado and the nearest Lexus dealership is 70 miles away. I do not want to drive 140 mi just for an oil change and check up.

Payam

I went to Lexus for my 5000 because it was free but I went to Toyota for my 10,000 oil change. It was under $30 with tax and they did it in 20 minutes...

SILes300

Hmm, I guess theres no way to get the service for free at Toyota then? I guess I'll be making the trip early sat morning

flipside909

Toyota and Lexus services are different. You can have your Lexus serviced at a Toyota facility granted:

1) An emergency repair needs to be facilitated with Lexus Customer Care approval.
2) Toyota cannot warrant any Lexus repairs or warranty issues.

So lets say you have a mechanical failure due to a Toyota dealership making the mistake. Lexus will not pick up the tab unless it was pre-arranged from an emergency situation. Most Toyota dealers especially those regions with densly populated Toyota/Lexus facilities within a certain vicinity are instructed to turn customers away and point them to the nearest Lexus facility.

imho, it's not worth saving the 20-30 bucks and risk having a problem later down the road.

SILes300

I see your point, I just wanted to save time since I won't be able to go down to the Lexus dealership till next weekend and I'm sure I'll have over 5k miles by then. The Toyota dealership is only 8 miles round trip vs. 140 miles round trip for the Lexus.

ff_

What sort of problem? It's just an oil change + fluid level check. That's assumes they do actually check the fluids.

cmusic

You are lucky. My nearest Lexus dealer (where I bought my IS) is 139 miles one way. I checked the milage with the trip odo when I went in for my 5000 mile service. The nearest Toyota dealer is about 30. It took about an hour including a car wash and cleaning the interior.

The only problem I had was the service manager told me they rotated the tires, which they did not, but the tires can't be rotated on the IS250 RWD due to different front and rear tire sizes. They can be swapped side to side which I plan to do myself when I get time.

supaIS350

i don't know about the other tires, but if you have the dunlops, they cannot be rotated side to side because they are directional tires.

integlikew

Swaping tires from side to side would also be considerd rotating the tires. And if you like me the tires cant be moved front to rear or side to side due to directional tires. Im assuming winter tires are not right?

ff_

I don't really see any true, real-world benefit to rotating side-to-side anyhow. The main reason for rotating tires is to ensure more even tread wear between the front and back.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

if you have staggered you cant rotate period without dismounting and rebalancing, therefore you must pay very close attention to tire pressure and alignment if you want to get the most miles out of staggered tires.

take the 5K service to lexus (its free) later on you can do toyota oil changes if you wish

flipside909

Lets say the Toyota tech inadvertently does not put the right viscosity oil or the oil filter element isn't properly installed. Engine ceases and the motor is toast. The consumer may have a case with the Toyota dealer but if he/she is to present this to Lexus. They will basically tell them to go pound sand per their warranty coverage for powertrain. This would be an extreme case, but there have been problems where Toyota dealers would work on Lexus cars under warranty and have problems or issues with repair. That is why most all Toyota dealers in the US, especially in regions like here in SoCal, are instructed not to work on Lexus vehicles.

flipside909

As long as the tire pattern is symmetrical, you can most definitely "flip" the tires and have the tire removed and mounted on the tire from the opposite side. This is a very common thing for many of us Lexus owners with aftermarket staggered wheel setups. Due to the vehicle to have negative camber when lowered, we experience more inner tire wear than most. In order to help us prolong our treadlife, we will flip the tires when the inner tire wear is becoming excessive.

ff_

There's an equal chance of that happening at a Lexus dealership, though.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

i doubt wrong viscousity oil will do extreme things like seize your engine, anyways toyota and lexus have standardized all engine oil across their lineup wasnt it 5W20 so the chances of this are slim, maybe they only carry 5W20 now