Just thought i would share this with everyone. What a mark up!!

 

If you're mechanicaly inclined you can get it done for less than $100.00 for parts.

 

Spark plugs are pretty labor intensive, at least for the 250 it is.

 

On the sedond gen it is time consuming. The markup is not there as much as you might think.

 

Buy the plugs and filter from Sewell and have them install.

 

There are countless threads on this. By dealer standards, $600 is actually on the low end. The dealer will charge $25 per plug, so that's $150 right there. Probably another $30-40 in parts for air filters. Then add in the 4-5 labor hours for the spark plug change at $120 per hour, which comes to between $480-600 by itself.

Add these up and you get $150 + $30 + $480 = $660, so you're actually a bit below.

I recently hit 60k and needed the plugs changed and called about 6-7 dealers in the 1-2 hour radius of me, and their quotes for the spark plug change alone (parts + labor) ranged from $400-800. Do a search for "60k service" or "spark plug quote" and you'll get threads with even higher quotes than that.

In truth the only unreasonable part about a $600 quote for a spark plug change is the parts. You can get plugs on Sewell for $13 each, but most dealers will charge $25. That's at least a 100% markup, since you know if you can get them from a dealer for $13 then you know dealers can get them for less.

The labor for a spark plug change really will take 3-5 hours of time, that's not really an overstatement or way they're screwing you. And all dealers charge an hourly labor rate of somewhere between $100-150, so doing the math gets you up in the hundreds of dollars pretty quickly.

Here's my advice to all on the spark plug change:

1) No matter where you go to get it done, buy the plugs on Sewell for $13 each (unless the dealer or shop is already quoting you that price). Regardless of what dealers say, you CAN bring your own parts in. If they refuse, go to another dealership. Stress that these are OEM Denso iridium pre-gapped plugs bought from a Lexus dealer.

2) USE OEM PLUGS. A lot of people have come on here asking if there are better plugs to use, or saying they found some non-OEM plugs on eBay for cheaper. I have seen at least 3 threads of people who used non-OEM plugs, put everything back together and turned the car on only to find it misfiring or not working properly. That meant they had to not only tear the car apart again, but also spend the $75 on OEM plugs they should have just spent in the first place.

3) If at all possible, have the spark plug service done at the same time you're getting one of the following services done:

- Cam gear TSIB
- Carbon build-up TSIB
- Fuel pressure sensor recall
- Valve spring recall

That's because in the above cases, almost all the pre-work (removing parts, gaining access) is the same as for the spark plugs, and that's really where the labor cost comes from for the spark plugs. I had my spark plugs changed at the same time as the cam gear TSIB, and instead of charging me 4-5 hours labor, they charged me only a half hour's labor of $57 since they were already in there and had removed all the necessary parts.

 

+1 Calvin. Great answer.

 

Quote from the dealer?

I got my spark plugs done by a local shop...

$800 got me
Pair of brand new hankook v12s for the rear mounted and balanced
brake fluid flush
6 oem spark plugs
engine oil and oil filter change

then I did the engine filter and cabin filter myself

 

damn...I paid 250 for my spark plug job :S

 

i have already checked on sewell for the parts. i have a local import shop where i live and they specialize in honda, lexus, infinity's and so on.

$341.62 for parts and labor
$155.56 for labor and i can bring my own parts

 

I avoid the dealership if i can. But when you do you have to make sure your mechanic is reputable. For something like spark plug changes i think a mechanice is capable of doing this being that its something technical. Now for an electrical problem most mechanics cant afford to buy the machines that manufactures supply dealers to diagnose and fix and to my understanding toyota does not train outside technicians.

 

if you were local I'll let you buy the parts and I'll install em for you for $100

anyways, if you have a 350 it's really not that hard, just follow the DIY. good luck

 

spark plugs change + injectors cleaning + intake cleaning + air sensor cleaning cost me around 200$ in some garage... if you can do it yourself will save you a lot, dealer prices are always high.

 

I'm doing it on my own today. I started yesterday but ran out of light when I stripped my Allen key. Still trying to finish today. I've never undertaken anything mechanical but I'd say it's going great so far. I bought the gaskets and plugs from Sewell and followed a DIY a member on here did. It's on PDF and really detailed!!

 

Great post except for the part about the 4-5 hours in labor. I recently did the spark plug change on my 350 following the DIY on here and it took me a little over 2 hours. I think if I had to do it again I could do it in under 90 minutes without breaking a sweat. If dealers are charging more than 2 hours to change the spark plugs on a 350, they are seriously ripping people off.