DmitryLS430

Greetings!
My first Lexus. Just acquired a 2002 LS430 Base with 80K miles, a purchase made long distance and delivered to me. The car spent its entire 22 years in the Southwest and is rust-free, which is very appealing for a New Englander. The car appears to have been up on Lexus dealer maintenance, as per the Lexus on-line log and supplied maintenance logbook. Just noticed a small leak on the ground, "from somewhere". There are a plethora of choices for repair PLUS the local Lexus dealer.
Over the years I've had a very mixed success with the local independants, ranging from incompetence to dishonesty bordering on fraud. Dealer has a stellar Google reviews reputation.
Would you recommend acquainting myself with the dealer's service department first, or going to an independant? What would you do?

TominPT

For all the routine maintenance, if you have modest skills and some tools you can do most of it yourself, such as oil changes, transmission drain and fills, brake fluid change, coolant change, brakes, differential service, spark plugs etc. ITs a great way to become familiar with the vehicle and appreciate all the build quality details, they really shine when you start working on the car. If that is not your thing, then I would suggest using a Toyota dealer if you can find one with a good, honest service department. The 3UZ-FE engine is very similar to the 2UZ-FE found in many Toyota truck products from the late 90s to 2000s, and so their technicians can handle pretty much anything (including timing belt job), at lower labor rates, than a Lexus dealer. I would also continue a search around for a reliable honest independent garage with a strong Lexus or Toyota familiarity, keep looking, they are out there. The local Lexus dealer may have a stellar reputation but chances are their service charges will be very very high, much more so than with an independent shop or a Toyota dealer. If money is no object, just continue with Lexus dealer service and don't look back. For me, I live a very long ways away from a Lexus dealer. My '05, now at 144,500 miles, has needed NOTHING other than routine maintenance or an easy repair I did myself and has never had to visit a shop since I bought it 6+ years ago.

slightreturn

These are pretty simple cars, and there's lots of room to work. You can probably do some of it yourself easily. But if you don't want to, or don't have time, even a basic indie who works on Toyotas can do most of the work.

The one exception is, to me, fluids. I always go to a Toyota or Lexus dealer for any fluid change other than motor oil. Indies never seem to use the exact right thing.

At any rate, use all OEM parts, all the time, no exceptions. You have one of the most reliabie cars known to man, so treat it right!

JffGRY706

I bought mine in Pennsylvania and had it delivered to Lubbock Texas.
had 65,000 miles and took to dealer for fluids.
oil, brake differential coolant and transmission service was just under $1,000
delivery was $1,300 register in Texas another $880

DrVlikhell

Congratulations on buying an amazing car, and one with very low mileage to boot! To answer your exact question, I service my LS430 in my driveway. These cars are notoriously reliable and, as mentioned above, they are generally not hard to work on. Standard maintenance is easy to do yourself with a quality socket and wrench set. Doing work yourself is also the only way to repair these cars cheaply.

If you have money to spend, and your local Lexus dealer has a legitimately good reputation then that would be your safest bet, but it's also the most expensive. Not all dealers are created equal though. My local Lexus dealer has a good rating as well, 4.6 stars out of 1,136 Google reviews, but if you've lived in this area for a while or had to deal with them for anything, you'd learn that they are horribly overpriced at best, and a scam at worst. If you compare their prices to any other Lexus dealer that is known to be fair, their prices are 20% to 40% higher. So make sure you do cost comparisons before you choose a shop, even if it's the dealer.

As for independents, my family and I have also had very bad luck with them and I would rather buy a second car to drive while I figure out how to fix the first one instead of playing Russian Roulette with local independents. Not that they are all bad, but so many of them are horribly bad. That said, there are two local Lexus specialty independent shops that I would consider. Of course their prices are higher than a regular independent, but they are also cheaper than the dealer. The previous owner of my car had it serviced at one of them for many years, so I know at least that particular one does reliable work. If you can find a shop like that, or as mentioned above, a reliable Toyota dealer or Toyota specific shop, that would be a decent alternative.

Your car will need its first timing belt service in 10k miles, unless the previous owner did it early, so that would be a good item to cross reference prices for. Also, as stated above, OEM parts for everything, all of the time (with a few possible exceptions). The car was built with OEM parts and those parts are one reason why these cars are so reliable.

CA2WALS430

I went to an independent mechanic for years in Bothell, Washington who specilaized in Toyota and Lexus. Then COVID hit and I couldn't be in the waiting area but the dealer would let you as long as you were masked up. Then I moved to Salt Lake City and didn't know any names and the dealer labor rate was lower here and they run really competitive oil change specials, so I became a dealer junkie. They now honor my thousands spent and usually cut me some discounting and the car always feels tighter and smoother coming out of there so I think they are being very careful. As a single, dealers are certainly easier. So yeah, I'm a dealer junkie now.

weldthedif

i do 100% of all my own maintenance. If i don't know how to do something, I watch a YouTube video of how to do it. I but must of my tools from Harbor Freight