Lexus’ service experience is legendary. The brand has been ranked number one in JD Power’s Customer Satisfaction Index for multiple years, and if you talk with Lexus owners, they’ll tell you all about it. Owners drop their vehicles off at the dealership — who valets the vehicle and offers coffee and a seamless experience — and then go about their day in a nice loaner, only to return, pay the bill, and then drive around in a car that never breaks. I just experienced a Lexus service first-hand, and yeah, it’s pretty damn good. But also a bit painful — at least, for me.
Here’s a quote from JD Power’s study from last year:
Highest-Ranking Brands and Segments
Lexus ranks highest in satisfaction with dealer service among all brands for a second consecutive year, with a score of 900. Porsche (880) ranks second in the premium segment, followed by Cadillac (879) and Infiniti (878).
So when my girlfriend invited me along for a visit to her dealer, I decided to check it out.
Though I haven’t spent much time experiencing dealership service (since I do my own work), I will say that the whole thing was short and sweet. My girlfriend had called the dealership, they’d scheduled her for an appointment, and we arrived at the dealer Friday morning l.
There was a guard shack; the man inside let us in with a smile and a wave:
My girlfriend pulled up to the Lexus store, a gentleman valeted her RX, and we met our service advisor, who guided us in.
He took us to his desk, where he showed us the RX’s service schedule. “Here’s what your car is going to have done the next few times you come in,” he told us, “and here’s how much it’s going to cost.”
It was incredibly transparent. He told us which parts were going to be replaced, how much those parts would cost, how much labor would cost, and when Lexus recommends it all gets done.
By the way, the vehicle’s full maintenance schedule is available online. You just type in your car, choose whether it’s four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive in a drop-down menu, specify how many miles are on the vehicle, and you’ll get a list of items Lexus recommends doing/checking:
This is all fairly straightforward stuff, here; it’s a lot of inspection, replacement of easy stuff like filters and oil, and tire rotations. It’s worth mentioning that not every dealer visit is that simple; the 60,000 mile visit involves a sparkplug change (rather expensive given replacing plugs on a transverse-engine V6 is such a chore, requiring intake manifold removal):
Anyway, my girlfriend and I spent maybe five minutes at the service advisor’s desk, where we nodded our heads, agreed to the service, and then left to get some free snacks in front of the greatest television of all time: a transparent wall into the service bay.
I raided the snacks counter and grabbed a can of early-morning Coca-Cola, much to the chagrin of my girlfriend, who would prefer I not ingest sugary carbonated beverages so that I, you know, don’t die earlier than necessary.
With my teeth actively rotting, I joined my girlfriend at the “Courtesy Vehicles” counter, where we were handed the reins to a nice Lexus NX:
The dealer did a quick inspection of the vehicle, handed us the keys, and we were off to do whatever we had planned for the day. Looking at the timestamps on my photos, the whole thing in-and-out took 20 minutes, and that was with us eating snacks, taking photos of the inside, and gazing at the cars being serviced through that glass wall.
After a day at work, my girlfriend and I swung by the dealership, handed over the NX keys to the service advisor in exchange for the RX keys, my girlfriend signed some papers and shoved her card into a card-reader. And boom, we were done. But of course, I wanted to have a bit of a look around. Turns out, they have computers for customers — both PCs and Macs:
They also have a little children’s section, though it’s smaller than the one at Galpin Honda:
But the best part of the dealership is the glass window (Porsche Santa Clarita has one, too; I’ll need to show you that sometime, because that place makes even this Lexus dealer look like straw-roofed shack):
I sat there for a while, staring at cars, drinking a hot chocolate (a free one; those taste better than not-free ones) that my silly self later spilled all over the table and floor. It was honestly quite pleasant. The dealer even vacuumed and washed the vehicle, and left this little note inside:
“They make it a really nice seamless experience in a comfortable environment, and I usually get a really nice loaner, which is fun. It’s just really easy to go there,” my girlfriend tells me, going on to say that the people who work there are always really nice.
She’d for months been talking about how she actually enjoys taking her car to her Lexus dealer, so I had to tag along this time to see what the heck she was talking about. Nobody enjoys having their car serviced!
But now that I’ve seen the process myself: I get it. It’s so clean. So simple. So quick. So transparent. If you’re not tight on funds, I could see how you might enjoy it.
Speaking of transparency, here’s everything that the dealer inspected:
The front brake pads that I replaced are looking good. I haven’t yet replaced the rears, and that’s noted in the inspection document.
If anything is unclear, there’s this app that my girlfriend uses to check out what’s been serviced and what it all costs:
On some level, I have to admit, this experience was a bit painful. The service isn’t cheap, and it involves some really basic stuff that I can do myself. I can replace a cabin air filter with my hands tied behind my back, and I can do it for probably $35. I can inspect suspension and clean battery terminals and rotate tires and change oil. I can do it all for probably $100. I could save us $300:
Luckily, I was able to convince my girlfriend to let me change the 12-volt battery, which the dealer had tested and found to be marginal. $260 for a 12-volt battery replacement? Screw that. I’ll do it for $150, and we’ll spend the $110 on some toys for our Jeep kittens.
But alas, my girlfriend likes having the car serviced at the dealer, and from a resale standpoint, I get that. She plans to part ways with this machine in a couple of years, and it will be the most incredible maintained vehicle I’ve ever known, and that’ll all be documented in Lexus’ computers for the next prospective buyer to see. The car will probably only have 60,000 miles on the clock by then, and will likely remain on America’s roads until we all make the Great Hovercraft Changeover in a century or so.
So it’s not cheap, and I have to grit my teeth seeing her pay for things that I could do for a song, but the overall experience is pretty damn pleasant otherwise. Zero bullshit. So if this were Mythbusters, and the myth was “Taking your car in for service at a Lexus dealership is actually a pretty seamless experience,” the myth would be: Confirmed. Well, maybe because this was just a singular data point, we’ll drop it to “Plausible.”
When I took my spouse’s Mercedes SUV in for service, they provided a Mercedes four-door sedan as a loaner. Great timing as our youngest and boldest was in their drive-with-an-adult driver training phase. We took that car out and drove the hell out of it on some nice twisty turny roads, both of us of course. Nice loaner! BTW, whoever bought that SUV from the lease-turn-in got a great deal, low mileage, detailed far too often, and lightly driven by my spouse.
As a fleet maintenance supervisor for a very cheapskate taxi service running lexus/ toyota I recommend doing nothing, never going to the dealer and only fixing what breaks
It gets my vehicles to 400k pretty easy.
I did the coil packs on my highlander hybrid at 260k… and it was a day of work… i never changed my plugs
But most of my other cars make it past 350k on original coil packs.
Change your air filter and oil. Replace your tires when the metal cords are showing if you aren’t afraid of a Lil hydroplamning action. Obviously drive cautiously if going that route.
Skip rotating your tires, changing out fluids other then oil and all that nonsense
I can only speak for hybrid reliability for this recommended service plan
Lexus service is nice though. My gf uses it and won’t let me touch her car other then oil changes
Taxi Maniac, that is terrible advice. It does speak well of Lexus reliability, though. A set of plugs will pay for themselves in increased fuel economy. Rotating your tires will let them wear more evenly and last longer. You don’t need to take it to the dealer for most basic maintenance. The timing belt/water pump kit is a definite requirement if you want to make it to 400K.
I agree it is terrible advice. It’s just what works good for me.
I have too many vehicles to do every little thing. I just replace the tires when they wear out. If alignment and suspension is good i can get 80-90k outta rear tires sometimes.
I get 40mpg out of my avalon hybrid with a fussy battery pack that is tiiiiired and wishing I replaced it instead of rebuilding it myself with a single cell swap out.
Im just not convinced new spark plugs would make a difference. The ones I’ve pulled look perfect charcoal brown.
But I could be very wrong. I should change them and evaluate.
This confirms every stereotyped view that most of us have about taxis: they are poorly maintained, and pretty sketchy in general.
This bit was especially stupid, even if you’re not running a shitty taxi service:
I figured that was gonna get more hate then just one person calling it out.
Com’mon dead Elvis. Have you alwaaaay replaced your tires when they made it to the wear bars?
Not going to lie, one bone dry summer I did exactly this with one of our cars. They hit the wear bars and I kept driving them. It was kind of fun driving on effectively semi-slicks for a few weeks. Any time the road was damp I took the other car. Then replaced the tires before autumn began.
Can’t speak for Dead Elvis (and who wants advice from a dead guy anyway), but personally I can answer this in the affirmative. As soon as my tires are down to the wear bars, it’s out with the old and in with the new – alwaaaaays.
No, I haven’t; showing cords isn’t when the wear bars appear, either. That’s a nice bit of goalpost-shifting bullshit.
If you run tires that long, you’re an asshole taking unneccessary risks & endangering other drivers – doubly so if you’re doing it as a taxi/rideshare driver.
That’s cold.
Ride shares are worse. And everybody loves ride shares
But all the really bad stuff happens in ride shares.
Any joker can show up in a ride share that just started moonlighting as a professional driver that night.
Taxi drivers are dedicated professionals.
I guess I’m a Lil biased though!
You seem determined to prove that false.
This is how I treat my lawn mower
I have avoided service at dealerships for, oh, 35 years. But I went to one sort of out of necessity and they were very professional (though not as fancy as that Lexus dealer) and not as expensive as I feared. It was a multi-day job and they kept me informed of the status. The part I liked best was, without me asking, the service advisor took me into the shop so the mechanic could show what he had done and explained the remaining steps (one of which involved removing and replacing a stripped stud where the exhaust manifold bolts to the Y pipe). Since I understand car stuff we had a good informative discussion. And I got to check out some other things while the car was on the lift. Your girlfriend might like the clean and easy aspect of dealer service, but I love getting in there with the guys doing the work and looking at the old and new parts.
Inspect installation of driver’s floor mat?
Get a life Lexus
This is because of the “unintended acceleration” stuff. A LOOOOOT of it was just floor mats getting wedged in the pedals.
Yeah, that’s what I figured but thought it was funny…I never use dealerships
And the rest of it was mostly people hitting the wrong pedal, panicking, and doubling down
…and a problem with the accelerator pedal position sensor (APPS), which they fixed under a recall.
More like a lawsuit….I believe there was one at the time.
Unfortunately was NOT as simple as that. Stuck throttles were ALSO involved…
Go and prove me wrong.
Back when they were new, we had a 7-series Volvo Turbo that came with a pre-Lexus version of a “service experience”: assigned service manager, loaner car or 2-way shuttle, mechanics with business cards so you knew that Bob adjusted your brakes, nice waiting area, etc.
The problem was that the mechanics weren’t great at preventive maintenance, and for any unusual issues, the service manager usually started her end of the conversation with “we never see that (problem).” So everyone was nice, they just weren’t good. So the issue was whether to continue with pleasant but irritating (and expensive) dealer service or find a better mechanic.
Later in the long life of the car, we switched to an independent who had been one of that dealership’s master mechanics before starting his own shop. No waiting room or shuttles, no snacks, just a few mechanics who knew everything about the car and were expert at doing things right the first time for the lowest cost.
The independent mechanic also had a good laugh at a couple of the “we never see that” problems. His response: “Come on! they all do that!”
Yep… if I’m taking my car in for service, I’d rather have no snacks or shuttles and instead have a group of mechanics that know their stuff and diagnose/fix things right the first time.
Why not both?
I likes these stories of David and his girlfriend. Flo and Eddy singing Happy Together ( position #1,034 on my playlist) comes to mind, irrespective of “possesiveness issues” in the lyrics, which was the fashion in those days. That’s all, really, no satirical references or back- handed, post valentines day jibes bourn of personnal remorse. I simply hope they’re happy together.
Sunset Audi’s not half bad either.
I once took a Lexus in for warranty work.
Left a big bud in the closed ashtray. When I picked up the car the bud was GONE.
But some nice person had rolled it into 3 joints. No issues…YMMV
Now that’s service for ya!
Man I’m Jonesing just reading about this. For a Hot Chocolate and snacks maybe 20 bucks you are paying premium retail at the dealer. Does your girlfriend pay sticker when she buys a car. You better not let her next time. I never experienced premiumbut Isuzu Las Vegas had a nice little waiting room. They were doing a warranty repair, love that 10 year 100,000 mile warranty. Told me I needed a rear differential fluid change. Having recently done one I asked are you sure did you check the fluid? YES SIR. SHOW ME. Well we opened and checked and don’t you know it was the sweetest little clear red you can imagine. Well service manager back pedaled and blamed the guy who did the work, me because it was left impeccably clean so they assumed it was never touched. So recheck those checked items and see if they actually did the work.
Ive had 2 lexuses and I also loved the service experience. However, I lived 3 hours away from the nearest Lexus dealer so it was always an all day committme t for me. I had an Infiniti before and at the dealer I bought it at, south of boston, I always had a great experience too. Except as the car got older I had to have the experience TOO often, which is why I switched to Lexus.
Meanwhile I made my girlfriend buy an older BMW (an E46 330i ZHP) so that I can service it myself with all the knowledge I’ve gotten from being a BMW tech. No better service experience than just fixing and maintaining it in the comfort of my own driveway.
Can we see a satisfaction survey from the girlfriend?
That’s funny…
Also he’s gotta be young if he finds concrete comfortable…
I’ll take the message chair at the Lexus dealership, please and thank you.
My dad had owned a 2009 LX570 since new, and loved the thing. He recently got to a point where it was borderline if he could drive anymore, so I brought it into the shop for him because the suspension was having issues. Turns out all the components were rotted out from new england roads, but the dealership was fantastic. They not only texted me video of all the issues going on underneath, and a summary of their best guess on what the initial repair cost would be, they also let me keep the loaner for 3 days while we figured out what to do next. As it ended up, we decided it was time for the car to go, and for my dad to stop driving in general, so they offered to just pay him a very fair price in cash for it (even though, I can tell you, that thing was TRASHED underneath). The service manager was also sincerely concerned about my dad and wanted to know how he was doing, and since he couldn’t come down to the dealership, they sent someone up with me to my parents house (half an hour away) so he could sign the paperwork and and hand him a check in person. All in all, they were just very caring and wonderful to deal with in what was a really tough few days. I told the guy that, should I ever find myself buying a Lexus, I’d be coming their way. (Or if Lexus ever comes out with a car with a manual transmission, which we both laughed about.)
If they had better rust protection I would be impressed.. The sad thing is that they DO NOT.
Otherwise they are fine….but too expensive for us.
I love the idea of being able to see into the service area. I’m not even a wrencher and can appreciate that. Even more impressive is the service bay floor is TILE. Now that’s luxe.
Well here at Verissimo Auto Works we have floor boards.
(Which I got for free and every board is mismatched. Luxury)
There was a really cool import mechanic near where I used to live that had hardwood floors. That takes some serious confidence.
Hey David do you have a girlfriend? Wasn’t quite clear.
Also this part got me good: “Though I haven’t spent much time experiencing dealership service (since I do my own work)”
That’s one reason, also no dealership would touch almost any of your vehicles.
He’s being clear about it because he’s got a lot of shit from us in the past for being vague about it. Great job acting like a dick for no reason, though.
It was more a jab at using the word 12 times in a 1200 word article. But I should’ve maybe put a tongue-out face or something to show it was more playful, without any qualifiers like that it definitely comes off more rude yes.
Appreciate the clarification. No sarcasm meant, you didn’t have to come back politely and you did, and I respect that.
No worries, Peasant. It’s sometimes easy to overlook how your comment comes across, and I don’t mind that reality check wheen I deserve it. I also like to think that the Autopian commentariat is nicer-than-average, especially for internet spaces. I don’t want to just be bringing the negativity here.
It’s possibly as much as a surprise to him as it was to us. 🙂
He’s clearly got himself a real good one too, as she can’t enjoy being discussed in the comments section as much as she is.
I have a 2002 IS300, I noticed the other day they have a new IS500 on the lot, if I take old Lexi in for an oil change do you think I could get new Lexi as a loaner? I may go by Monday to check it out regardless.
I’ve seen people take in beat up Lexus’ from the 90s and they get new loaners as long as they have full coverage insurance.
Time for the best ever car commercial – The Porsche P111 Diesel Cabriolet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8-9oIq1hxw
I should show up at the Lexus dealer with my Harrier Zagato when I’m back in Ohio. It will be fun to see what happens. And get some free coffee.
Please blog what happens.
Just rebadge it the ‘Lexus RX 300 by Zagato‘, then they can’t say no!
It’s a good time with any import, to be honest. When I had a Nissan Laurel, my local dealer (who works on a lot of vintage Zs) got a huge kick out of it, and had comments by the local Nissan rep since they were in town. Similarly, when I had my Crown Majesta V8 and needed a last minute oil change, the Lexus dealer got a laugh out of me saying “well…it’s kind of like an LS400…but not”.
You used to be beautiful man…
The old life was unsustainable!
They’re putting lipstick on a pig. But, they do give you a kiss while they’re doing you just like a Hyundai dealer, only for even more $$$$.
Brought them a 2014 gs450h that juddering between traction and ICE operation. Juddering would be accentuated after a high speed pass and would go to “check engine” within 100 miles. Thousands of $$$$ for various overpriced sensors and VVT hardware and months sitting on their lot. Even told me Lexus engineers visited to diagnose. Nope, $3500, 50 more miles and same result. Get a Honda at least there are a ton of repair options and some are honest.
The best part is that you get this treatment with a brand new LS or a 20 year old GX. My kids love coming with my to drop it off on the rare occasion I decide to take it in. (once for a replacement CV, once for the timing belt/water pump service, once or twice for other small things like parts). Free sandwiches, hot chocolate, snacks, etc. The service is the exact same price as the Toyota dealer next door and so much better.
I take my 20 year old GX in for oil changes, as they send me coupons in the mail for oil changes that make them less than I can do it myself for. Dealing with Lexus dealers have ruined me for all other dealerships.
This is what money is for (gets kicked out of Autopian membership).
P.S. got my shirt and pin today and I love them! (Redeemed?).
Longo is in El Monte, which is thirty miles across the LA Basin from the Santa Monica T-Mobile store I used as a proxy, or 55 Google Maps minutes at about 11:30 am PST today. Does she go there because she bought the Lexus there? Because otherwise, yikes!
That said. between this endorsement (although I didn’t have bad experiences with my local Ford and Mazda dealer, just substituted a shuttle for the loaner) and your RX on-road evaluation, I’ll consider a micro-Lexus (certified at best on my budget) when it comes time for me to get something recent and reliable.
Bought the last beater (camry) from Longo mid covid. Had the best dealership experience I’ve ever had there. Would recommend if someone is buying something they sell. Had the deal negotiated and inked from 150 miles away and toyota beat my local CU financing and had absolutely no bullshit experience. Wasn’t there more than 45 minutes. I know this is purely anecdotal and not worth much but that place was running like clockwork and enormous even for an LA dealership.
As an LA native I was wondering about this too, especially since the Santa Monica Lexus dealer is supposed to be quite good. Longo has always had a reputation as one of the best dealers around through, both Toyota and Lexus.
On the other hand, I’ll schlep myself from the south bay to Huntington Beach for my trusted indy Land Rover guy, and to OC for my indy BMW guy, even though there are closer options. So there you go…
Longo is a massive volume selling store, they can do real good deals.
Plus they are decent too, go see Fred Williams for your used car needs.
We service our 15 year old Sportage at the local Kia dealer here in Crete. We get fresh baked cookies and a complete selection of drinks. Floors in the service area are polished travertine and the north wall of the service department is floor to ceiling windows directly overlooking the Mediterranean. Pricing is just a bit less than we’d pay at reasonably priced independent shop in the States with none of the above amenities or ambiance. And the people are very nice. Again, this is a Kia dealer.
I just want to say I can’t wait to finally get to Crete. I’ve been a Minoan nerd since I was a child, and I’m heading to 70.
Knossos is about an hour from our house. Been there a couple dozen times and it still amazes me. Make sure to check out the archeological museum in Heraklion where the real treasures are held.
I know the palace is partly Arthur Evan’s fever dream, but I want to see it (those frescoes!). Phaistos too. I’ve been to the Cyclades (40 years ago), and nowhere I’ve ever been is more beautiful than the islands in the Aegean. I’ve been to Akrotiri, and the level of technological expertise is amazing. Plus no need for fortification they were so powerful!
To be fair, y’all kind of invented western civilization, so it makes sense your dealers would be civilized.
Not until women shaving is a thing.
Just bought a beater at a Ford Dealership. While talking to the greeter, my salesman, the bored salesman in the next office, and the sales manager they used to have beer for service customers. I wonder about the decision of liquorice up customers and letting them drive but hey my mechanic keeps rolling rock in the fridge in which I am welcome to 3 foot hoagie for employee free lunch or beer, they seem to like me. Butblet me tell you they had new Broncos on the showroom floor but my 2001 Vehicross brought employees and customers outside with below zero Temps and a long conversation. My salesman was so young he didn’t even know what an Isuzu was let alone Vehicross. I felt educated not old.
You got me curious…
Assuming I found the right one (1 out of 4 Kia dealers on Crete), the dealership building itself isn’t pretty; but it does have a great view!
https://maps.app.goo.gl/aBiuhciCaF3RZV8y8
That’s the one. Service department is on the level below the sales showroom with entrance on the side.
I had a first generation RX300 I bought in the late nineties in Seattle (from the same dealership Bill Gates used, supposedly). Service was always first rate, with a wash and clean that was pretty rare back then. I moved across the continent to the Boston area, found another Lexus dealership to do the service and found it to be of the same high standards.
I suspect Lexus corporate sets the standards and does spot checks, because I can’t imagine all dealerships behaving this way by choice.
A Lexus dealership provides the value-added customer experience that all dealers claim they exist for.
Minor nit: An Apple computer is not called a “MAC.” It’s a “Mac,” short for “Macintosh.” The operating system that runs on Apple computer is called “macOS.”
https://www.apple.com/mac/
I guess it was only a matter of time before computer needs appeared on car sites. Welcome.
I assure you, we been here.
But accepted? Now you are. With some some jokes.
Does anyone have first hand experience with a Saturn Dealer when they first launched? It was suppose to feel like you walked into a mom ‘n pop business.
It was great, they were courteous, kind and cheap. No loaners though. I never owned a better, lower cost car. I had an SL1 and SL2.
We test drove a SL1. They were nice, gave us the quote, and said thank you for coming.