HSPNC

I took my 2006 RX330 to the dealer for what I thought was a routine 5K service. This was at 48K miles. When I scheduled the appointment, I asked for a loaner as I needed to be somewhere that morning. The service guy called me back and confirmed..."we have you scheduled for the best service, and I have you set up with a loaner". I didn't know what "best" was. When I checked in he used the term again, so I asked about it. He showed me a pamphlet explaining three levels of service....good, better, and best. As you can imagaine each one offered a litted extra than the one before and increased in price. $250 later I left with what I thought was a routine 5K service. I am admittedly uninformed about cars and their maintenace, but this seems ridiculous to me. What do I say next time to get just an oil change?? I read a thread about costs of oil change and have seen nothing that compares to this.

mandyfig

Sorry to hear what happened. Was this the 1st time you had your car serviced? Always a good idea to have the estimates upfront. Some people do not want to be bothered with details. As a result, there's always a possible mis-understanding and later, somebody's not happy. It usually ends up that WE, the consumer is not happy.

1st line of defense...ask questions, do not assume you will be treated fair. They have to earn your business. Maybe the reason why Lexus is failing the grade, some dealers think Lexus Owners will forever put out....oh no, quite the contrary.....

ZIN

I am sure SERVICE is where most dealers make there money and Lexus is no exception. I think theres a ton of people driving very nice vehicles that get taken in buy the service department at there dealership.It is just like anything else in this world you have to do a little research or ask a few questions heck you could even become a member to a chat site. Good better or best in my mind tells me 3 different price ranges and I am going to find out what they all mean before you touch my car but that is just me. Many people just listen to the dealer and follow the service manual which in my mind is a book developed for your dealer to make the most money they can. Thats why a site like this is so important so you can ask peoples honest answers and opinions which can save you lots of $$.

salimshah

Please understand your rights.... the automotive industry is "very good" (my view) ... as compared to other services like dentistry and medical etc, where you are presented the bill afterwards.

Before you leave your vehicle, you sign a paper which tells you "what to expect as payment for service" and the shop has to call you for authorization for more work.

The problem is people simply sign the authorization to work and walk away. They dont realize that they are giving the shop a lien on their vehicles.


Is the price of repair too much or not, is a different question.

Salim

dhamaka127

I do agree they get to charge more money by saying SERVICE.

Recently I went to the Toyota dealer locally to get an oil change. And the person was happy to do this. But then he was like would you like to do a 5K service. I looked at was was done in the service and most of it was an inspection on top of the oil change. For this they wanted 20 to 30 bucks more. So I declined the offer and just got myself an oil change.

Personally I hate that word SERVICE. I like to know what is being done to my car and I am only going to pay for that much. Nothing else.

gsenthil

Buy a 5qt jug of Mobil 1 Long Life (not the regular) from Walmart for $30 and go to Toyota and ask for Express Lube service ($17)

ecount00

i haven't heard of the better, best thing at our dealer. I always ask for an estimate when i have even routine maintenance done and without anybody ever saying anything, they act like I'm the only one that does that. The implication being that most Lexus customers aren't so petty about that. (my words). All that said, you will never get solely an oil change unless you are very specific about that. They are going to do other things that are part of their program. It's not going to be a Jiffy Lube priced event. Build a relationship with a service rep and try to use the same one every time. For a standard 5k job, whatever the level, i imagine they dont routinely give loaners as that service is presumably pretty quick. Bond with someone there and you're more likely to get a few extras or favors at times like needing a loaner for a short service job.

cdnewton

I am curious why you are specifying the Long Life (EP) formula over the regular Mobil 1. Thoughts?

I ran Mobil 1 EP in our RX330 for 8611 miles and based upon the used oil analysis (UOA) the TBN was 2.0; a TBN of 1.0 means the additive is completely gone. I ran Mobil 1 (not EP) for 6900 miles and the TBN was 2.7. So, they were wearing at about the same rate.

So, despite Mobil 1's advertising that EP is good for "15000 miles", my real world results in our RX330 certainly didn't support it.

I have since switched to Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 and the results have been impressive. I need another UOA before I declare total victory.

As usual, YMMV.

Lexmex

I am not surprised on Mobil 1 and glad to see you gave Pennzoil Platinum a try. I plan to run that after finishing off my Castrol 0W30, which I can't seem to locate around here.

jfelbab

I signed up for the newsletter from Woodfield Lexus. www.woodfieldlexus.com. They send a monthly newsletter that has service coupons attached. I bring the coupons to my local Lexus dealership and he honors them. Typically an oil/lube/filter is $37.95.

Typical coupon looks like:
I could take the RX to a local Toyota dealer and get the same service for $32.95. I will not pay $250 for an oil change and fluid check. I don't need a loaner during this service as it usually takes 20-30 minutes. I also don't let them wash or clean my RX.

jfelbab

I'm a user and big fan of Pennzoil Platinum. I use this in most of my vehicles and also my garden tractor/snowblower, everything that uses motor oil. I found that I liked this synthetic better than Mobile 1. It seems to hold up longer and stay clean longer.

grouch

What did the dealer do? At 48000 miles, his service could have include brake fluid, trans fluid and coolant fluid change along with the oil change.

HSPNC

The invoice shows "50,000 mile service" as "cause". Then the first line item is 5K Mile "Interval Service" which was $161.50. With filter, oil, gasket, fuel additive and removing nail, which I didn't know was there, and repairing tire, the total then came to $223.92.

Below the pricing shows what was apparently included in the 50K maint service: checked tires, brakes, replace oil filter, rotate and balance, inspect brake pads and rotors, re torque drive shaft flange bolts, inspect ball joints and dust covers, inspect drive shaft boots, inspect steering linkage and boots, replace air cond. cabin filter, inspect/correct fluid levels and air pressure in tires, reset service light, road test, add BG MOA Oil conditioner, inspect wiper blades, inspect drive belts and hoses.

Finally there is a $25 charge for "customer pay shop supplies for repair order". Maybe this is the tire repair???

So maybe this 50K mile service is more than an oil change....I don't know. Although I did ask that question of my service advisor because I thought the price was so high. I was told that it is not different than the regular 5K service.

Grumpa72

I would ask the dealer why he is willing to do less than his best? I would also ask him to do the factory required maintenance - anything else is padding the bill, imho. For instance, I took my Acura in ONCE to the dealer for its first required service interval. He gave me an estimate that was over $300. I told him to do only those items required by the factory to preserve the warranty and got a comment similar to "why are you doing less than the optimum for your car?" I suggested that perhaps Acura/Honda knew how to maintain their cars much better than a dealer that was padding his service bill. The final bill was under $40. When it was done, I gave him a downgraded satisfaction report, which he didn't care for.

Gary