Lexus Service Package/dealer's Service Package Or Ad Hoc?

[Kit77]

okay so the IS250 SE-L still hasn't arrived but this gives me time to ask the important questions:

what I really want to know is, is it worth paying £1200 for 4 years servicing at the out (that's the 'additions' price - Edgware Road / Bromley / Croyden - dealerships) or should I get a quote from Lexus themselves (if thats possible) or should I just leave it and take the cost at each service?

what do people find they are paying for their services, particularly for the 2005 petrol automatic IS250s?

Do they cover all wear and tear (inc tyres) on some schemes? (the above 'additions' doesn't).

general opinions on lexus versus non-lexus servicing?

look forward to some informative replies people. :)

cheers

[Ian M]

When I bought my SportCross (second-hand), the dealer offered me a 3 year service package based on 36 fixed monthly payments. Routine work was included, any wear and tear or unscheduled stuff wasn’t. In order to try and see whether this represented good value, I asked what the price of those 3 scheduled annual services would be if I didn’t take the package deal, so that I could do a comparison. This, it seems, was a very difficult question, which they failed miserably to answer. So I didn’t bother.

One point to watch is the question of the Lexus warranty – getting the car service elsewhere might lead to arguments over any warranty claims you might need to make in future.

[Giblet]

i priced this for the IS300 and the GS300 and it worked out i'd save about £60 over 3 years but would have to start paying for next service 6 months before it was due, so I politely declined as it just wasn't worth it.

However the price i was quoted as being the price for the next service at the time, turned out to be much higher than it actually was, so i think a bit of scare mongering was going on when they tried selling it.

Also they promise if you sell before the service deal ends it will add value to the car. This really annoys me as I've never heard a car dealership do anything but find reason to drop the value of your car and certainly do not believe if i walked in off the street and got a part x price, that on telling them about the service deal they'd then add that to the price.

[Harrydavy]

I took out a 30 month pcp @ 35000m/pa to buy my IS220D SE and paid £65 per month extra to cover servicing only. This has turned out to be a bargain, as from what I briefly see of the separate service bills, I seem to be much better off!! Just a shame about all of the other wrong doings! :shutit:

[ihpj]

I priced a Service Plan up when we bought our RX. Worked out very competitive - the way I looked at it was that Labour Rates are always going to increase and these have a bearing on the overall cost of Service. With a pre-paid plan, you don't have to worry about price increases.

What I did to comapre the price was simple. Lexus Hanley have the best Servicing Rates available. I then totted up the costs for the relvant services from them and compared it to the cost of the Service Plan. Pre-Paid price came in a little cheaper than their price, so I knew I was getting a good deal and went for it.

When it came to deciding on whether I should go for the Dealer Specific or Lexus, I went with Lexus because that way I know I can take my car to ANY Lexus franchise for it to be serviced no matter where I am in the UK - rather than be stuck going to the nearest Dealer Group franchise that may (or may not) be close by.

[Kit77]

any other opinions on the service package versus pay at the time for servicing? any other experiences? sounds like the servicing can be from £170 -£370 (is this regional variation?)

[Tango]

any other opinions on the service package versus pay at the time for servicing? any other experiences? sounds like the servicing can be from £170 -£370 (is this regional variation?)

Bristol offered a three year service plan with my IS250 SE-L when I purchased it twenty-two months ago. I worked out at the time that with Gold discount I was only going to be marginally better off with the service plan, so turned the offer down....looking back over the bills for the same period proves I made the right decision....bearing in mind the car has only covered 15,000 miles in that time.

[Kit77]

any other opinions on the service package versus pay at the time for servicing? any other experiences? sounds like the servicing can be from £170 -£370 (is this regional variation?)

Bristol offered a three year service plan with my IS250 SE-L when I purchased it twenty-two months ago. I worked out at the time that with Gold discount I was only going to be marginally better off with the service plan, so turned the offer down....looking back over the bills for the same period proves I made the right decision....bearing in mind the car has only covered 15,000 miles in that time.

so on the whole I gather that lower mileage cars will service cheaper (in general) and so if I intend to keep the miles down better not to get stuck paying from the start?

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

It's the one area where Japanese cars are so far behind the Europeans ...

My previous Audi cost £775 over 3.4 years, 46000 miles, one set of 17"/215/55 tyres included too...

My Lex will cost me over £800 in servicing alone in 46000 miles...that's...expensive!

The cost of servicing varies dealer to dealer. Add your LOC Gold discount and it's not that different to any package they offer!! Maybe £50-100 tops. Is it worth it?

I would say shop around...you'll find that it's hardly worth worrying...Dealers charge different amounts for servcing. My 10k cost me £155 incl. LOC discount, whch is Lexus Cheap, but competition expensive (the Beemers, Audi and Merc are all variable servicing/2 years).

I think you'll find that the £1200 one includes all parts too. So if your miles are lowish, what'll go? Mines on 14500 miles, 18 months old, tyres are only 50% worn, everything else is like new...though the brake discs might need attention within 2 years...and if the cars out of warraanty I'll get some non OEM ones which might be cheaper and last longer!!

[marjohn]

It's the one area where Japanese cars are so far behind the Europeans ...

My previous Audi cost £775 over 3.4 years, 46000 miles, one set of 17"/215/55 tyres included too...

My Lex will cost me over £800 in servicing alone in 46000 miles...that's...expensive!

The cost of servicing varies dealer to dealer. Add your LOC Gold discount and it's not that different to any package they offer!! Maybe £50-100 tops. Is it worth it?

I would say shop around...you'll find that it's hardly worth worrying...Dealers charge different amounts for servcing. My 10k cost me £155 incl. LOC discount, whch is Lexus Cheap, but competition expension (the Beemsr, Audi and Merc are all variable servicing/2 years).

I think you'll find that the £1200 one includes all parts too. So if your miles are lowish, what'll go? Mines on 14500 miles, 18 months old, tyres are only 50% worn, everything else is like new...though the brake discs might need attention within 2 years...

Hmm... My 10K was £230 including Gold discount! Seems they saw me coming. That was Lexus Park Lane, it'll go back to Croydon for its 20k, which sadly will be next month.