Tadich

I recently had my 07 RX in for its first service, which among other things includes a tire rotation. Shouldn't they have rotated the spare tire onto the car as per the owners manual instructions? I know that they didn't and I wanted some feedback before I brought it to their attention.

Thanks, Tom

Grumpa72

My '05 330 Owner's Manual specifically calls for a five tire rotation. My dealer gives the first oil change and tire rotation for free but when his techs did mine, they only did a four tire rotation. On top of that, had I paid for it, it would have been $150. Needless to say, I do my own, just like on my other cars.

Since your owner's manual states that a five tire rotation is standard, you can ask your service department why they didn't do it.

Gary

AM1

iTrader: (6)

dealers are lazzyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

mandyfig

Why do we have to dictate good sound practice to the service techs. They do not even read the manual. That sucks! That is why my spare is intact and has not seen a single mile. Lazy or indifferent?

Tadich

Thanks for the responses. It is pretty much what I figured and I am going to raise a bit of a stink with them. It kind of defeats the purpose of having a full sized spare in my opinion if you don't rotate it in. By doing so you get 20% more life on your tires.

VroomVroom

This is peculiar since the owner's manual calls for it...I'd be curious to hear a response to the, "How come you guys preach maintenance but don't follow the manufacturer's instructions?" question.

While you do extend tire life (is 20% realistic or just theoretical?) you do have to buy five tires come replacement time.

lexuslover

i don't think any dealer i have ever worked with has done it either (on any of my cars). i don't really know why, but it's not too much of an issue w/ me.

i recently blew out a tire and had AAA come to replace it w/ the spare so i could get home. the spare had never been touched in over 4.5 years and was just fine. i drove the 25 miles back home and then the next weekend took it to costco to put a new tire on and get my spare back under the trunk.

in any case i saw how the AAA tech took the spare off and it is defin a PITA. not that that is any excuse for the dealers, but i can see why most (if not all) don't do it. plus i have chrome wheels while the spare is alloy, so to rotate mine would entail ripping the tires off 2 wheels and rebalancing, etc. which is way more trouble/$$$ than it's worth IMHO. i'm more than happy w/ the condition of the spare actually - it looked brand new and appears to be well protected from the elements under the car all these years!

Grumpa72

I do five tire rotations at home and the procedure to lower the spare is not a fun job if you are dressed in office clothes but I would do that and get dirty before I would stay stranded on the side of the road while AAA or another towing company drive to where I am. Just my opinion. FWIW, I check tire pressures, including the spare, and this is the only set of alloy wheels that I have ever owned that don't lose pressure.

lexuslover

you must live in a deserted area then... i have only called on AAA a few times in my life but it took them 15 min to get to me that day. i'm fairly handy for a girl, but there is no way i would have figured out how to lower that spare for the first time after watching him do it! i applaud all you 5-tire rotaters

but i agree w/ you - these 18 inch wheels are fantastic. after he put the spare on he didn't even need to pump it up. it was ready to go, even though i never used it in 4.5 years. i am not sure if the dealer maybe checks the pressure at my 5k interval service, but i was surprised it wasn't underinflated.

Tadich

If anyone is interested, the official response from the dealer is that they only rotate the four tires because they never know how long it's been since the tires have been rotated. Thus if they put on a spare with zero miles next to tires that have 15k miles on them it would cause some drift.

mandyfig

The best thing to do is remind the dealer to do a 5 tire rotation....if given the chance to do it again. For the sum of money you are paying them, I do not understand that response.

Tadich

Dealer did say that I could request this to be done for an added fee. That's just silly. It is not that big of a deal to get out the spare. I had it out in less than five minutes including the time I spent reading the manual. The biggest issue is that my hands got a little dirty... that's what soap and water are for. I'm not sure how I will handle this in the future, but I've got six months to think about it.

Grumpa72

Fwiw, I live in Pittsburgh which may be a cultural desert but not a real one! Once I read the gender comment, I changed my mind. I had showed my wife, the primary Lexus driver, the "how to" on the spare tire. She watched carefully, took mental notes, and said "I'll lock the doors, call for service and let you know when THEY get it done."

Gary

tjain

I am new to the forums , but I thought Lexus provided free road side service for Battery Jump starts/Flat tire changing/ towing for 4 yrs or 50K miles?
Why do you use AAA?

lexuslover

LOL, smart woman! tell her that's exactly what i did. i don't mind getting my hands dirty and fixing things, but the the tire+wheel isn't exactly lightweight and then i would be deathly afraid that i didn't tighten it enough and the wheel falls off on the freeway at 70mph