Author Topic: Lexus no maintenance (Read 3041 times)

tpl · « **Reply #20 on:** April 27, 2005, 09:10:05 pm »

Jeff: BMWs supposedly had the rep of being expensive to maintain so they went to this long schedule...that might be fine in the southern US.
I am prepared to trust that an 8000 km oil chnage interval will do no harm and a two year schedule for other fluids should keep the car alive for ever.
My A4, a 2000, had service coverage as yours...everything done without argument.

Accordingly: Yep those services would satisfy the lease which was discussed at length in another thread about why would anyone buy an off lease BMW which would have had so little attention.

articsteve · « **Reply #21 on:** April 27, 2005, 09:14:02 pm »

You're assuming "house bag" refers to the wife and not the hubby.

johngenx · « **Reply #22 on:** April 27, 2005, 09:27:22 pm »

FREE service? Who thinks it's FREE? It's INCLUDED. Don't bother selling it to me. Lower the price a few bucks and forget the 25K oil changes.

Lexus needs no gimmicks to sell their cars. Sure, the ES330 is not moving like mad, but those new GS's will run hard with the new Infiniti M-series in beating on the E-Class and 5-series. Anyone still wondering why BMW is bringing the 525 to Canada? Hello? GS and M.

Brigitte · « **Reply #23 on:** April 27, 2005, 09:48:20 pm »

Right, Steve. My reading skills are atrocious, as are my writing skills.

Hope you and the bag enjoy the A4.

JSCC · « **Reply #24 on:** April 27, 2005, 09:58:44 pm »

525i coming to Canada?
Man! it's about time.

I have no idea why they offered it in the US but not in Canada.
Should be the other way around.

At least they got the 320i option right.

Giant Dwarf · « **Reply #25 on:** April 27, 2005, 10:35:33 pm »

Thank you Johngenx. Accordingly established the "nothing is free" sentiment in the fourth post. The appeal of "free" maintenance is not having to worry about having an extra $600 bill some month when there are a lot of other expenditures.

ArticSteve, the 100% synthetic was not mandated by VAG until '04 I believe.

Mine will bathe in only synthetic.

tpl · « **Reply #26 on:** April 28, 2005, 06:39:38 am »

jpd: you can "build your 525" on bmw.ca right now.
and the 320 is gone for now I think with the new 3 series.

The 525i is not much of a bargain unless you take the basic car with no options...as soon as you add anything you may as well get the 530, but it meets a sub $60,000 price point and that is what they are after.

JSCC · « **Reply #27 on:** April 28, 2005, 11:03:54 am »

I don't mind smaller engines.
320i, 525i, 630ci, 730i, SL350

Less power, lower price, same car!

sirAQUAMAN64 · « **Reply #28 on:** April 28, 2005, 11:43:25 am »

I think that with leasing, a lot of luxury brands were finding that people just didn't want to put out the expense to maintain their cars.

They treated them like crap, were poorly maintained, and they saw the results when the cars came back. On top of that were the new owners complaining about how much the servicing costs were.

I think it's a great move to cover scheduled maintenance. Works for me. Even if it's not 'free', I don't think the Audis are really any more expensive than anything else of comparable value, and for me the ease and joy of not having to whip out cash or a card for servicing every time pays for itself.

johngenx · « **Reply #29 on:** April 28, 2005, 12:43:16 pm »

MB USA offered it for a few years in the States. Most MB "Nuts" despised it since it only covered the services as per the FSS computer. Most of us service our cars with much greater frequency, and that was not covered. Now, it did cover brake pads/discs and so on, but only if they wore out before the end of the warranty. Heck, in Canada, MB used to (not sure if they still do, but did when I bought my car) have a 40K complete warranty that covered every single thing, including brake pads/etc. Just not fluids/filters, which are not expensive.

I don't find routine maintenance a significant cost and I am LOATHE to be forced to return to the dealer.

I wonder if included service might be a strong selling point in the one-post-above entry level, the Mazda3 and Corolla slot? Many of those buyers are buying a new car to simply control expenses. They find a monthly payment and warranty giving peace-of-mind. Of course, the sticker would have to rise in a price sensitive category, but you then would be able to roll up all your service costs into your financing/lease.

Food for thought...

Serniter · « **Reply #30 on:** April 28, 2005, 11:01:15 pm »

People with economy cars might want to go to places like AAA certified garages to get servicing done to save costs. These are cheaper than the dealers. The increase in cost by including service at dealers may be greater than the cost of servicing at economical places. I do like the idea of free maintenance, and from what I've read on these posts, Audi owners seem to be satisfied.

johngenx · « **Reply #31 on:** April 29, 2005, 12:38:27 am »

Our Mazda dealer has a $25 oil/filter to keep the business from going to quick lube and indie shops. They're working hard to compete.

Giant Dwarf · « **Reply #32 on:** April 29, 2005, 09:52:22 am »

And BMW Canada subsidizes brake jobs for Bimmers... makes it considerably cheaper to get them done at the dealer than a private mechanic.

articsteve · « **Reply #33 on:** April 29, 2005, 11:23:23 am »

makes it considerably cheaper to get them done at the dealer than a private mechanic.

citydude · « **Reply #34 on:** May 02, 2005, 08:34:26 am »

> And BMW Canada subsidizes brake jobs for Bimmers... makes it considerably cheaper to get them done at the dealer than a private mechanic.

I always wondered why it was so inexpensive! So, does this only apply to BMW that are under warranty or does that include those that are out of warranty?

Citydude

Giant Dwarf · « **Reply #35 on:** May 02, 2005, 02:43:25 pm »

Artic, laugh all you want, I was told this by a private mechanic that otherwise serviced my car once it was out of warranty. For everything else it was much cheaper to go with him, but he said that he couldn't even buy the hardware for the price that BMW dealers were selling it for. I suppose there are always other, aftermarket parts, but I'm just tellin' ya what he told me.

Citydude, warranty or not.

articsteve · « **Reply #36 on:** May 03, 2005, 01:12:56 am »

I don't know what brand is the OEM supplier for your 98 328i, but Brembos are practically giving your series rotors away. In fact good pads are either the same cost of slightly higher.

You should be able to get front Brembos for $65. and rears for about $50. plus shipping. Good pads like PAGID (top of the line German) sell for $75. rear and $50 rear.

With those on your car you will get well over 100k; rears probably 150K (rotors).

I've seen some brake service from Bimmer dealers and they are way more than that on parts alone and they will certainly not exceed the quality listed above. Wouldn't surprise me BMW in Canada is using PBR pads and Bosch rotors as replacement which suck.

citydude · « **Reply #37 on:** May 11, 2005, 09:30:36 am »

Ok, this is kind of a late reply, but I just checked to make sure. On my 01 A4, the service interval is every 16000KM.

Citydude