Servicing Experiences

[Fmrl]

My IS200 was back at Lexus yesterday for a 3 year service and MOT. They gave me a LOC Gold discount even though I couldn't prove I was a member yet which is nice, and the car passed the MOT without any problems so nothing to worry about there.

When I went to pick the car up, the servicing lady went through all the stuff they did as part of the service and then mentioned the fact that the both front tires are worn on the inside edges (down to 2mm).

I thought this was a bit odd as I only bought the car back in April and as part of the deal the garage were supposed to fit brand new tires all round. I asked about this and wondered if it could indicate tracking problems but I was told that "as you're driving a performance car, it's the sort of thing to be expected".

...shouldn't a rwd car wear down the rears quicker though?

As I'd already mentioned that the service was cheaper than I was expecting (thanks to the LOC discount), I was then told the price of the next service was going to be something like 400 quid, and seeing as the tires "were almost illegal" and "I should really think about changing them in less than a month" perhaps I should consider trading the car in and getting another one... and was I aware that Lexus are doing a special offer at the moment, I'd get a really good trade-in deal, now's the best time to buy, etc.

I wasn't really expecting a salespitch from Servicing!! I said I'd consider it but I'm not really interested in changing a car after only owning it for six months (and only because the tires were worn!) and left it at that.

When I got home I had a look at the fronts on full lock and they didn't look worn at all (I might pop into a local tire place this weekend for a second opinion though). Anyone else had this sort of experience after a service?

Unless the tires are very soft, I don't think they were new when I bought the car though. I'm guessing that the dealer fitted new rears though, loads of tread left there.

[ColinBarber]

Sounds like they were trying it on. I normally ask them to show me things like that.

The legal requirement for tyre tread needs to be 1.6mm across the centre 3/4 of the tyre and tread visible elsewhere. Personally though anything under 2mm will really reduce wet weather performance.

[squarehead]

If they put new tyres on have you checked the spare to see if that's new? If not then you have a case to argue......good luck.

imho the tyres do wear down quickly on the IS, what brand are you using? I have potenza's on mine when I bought it last year with 6k on the clock, in November last year with 17k on the clock I had to change the full set!!!! I changed to dunlop sp9000 and am still running on them and my mileage is 43k therefore 26k miles on the tyres so far with plenty left on them!!!

[Fmrl]

Spare is brand new, no worries there.

Mine's got Potenzas all round. I used to have some of these on a MR2 a few years back, I know they're not the same size as the IS but they did seem to wear out pretty quickly.

[Doodlebug]

My Bridgestone tyres wore out on the inner edge after about 8000 miles and I drive mostly on motorways.See here Had the 4 wheel alignment done after buying new tyres.