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.”
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.
Nobody tell the GF about the shower spaghetti.
That water bottle tells me your GF is the pretty awesome! ???? ????❄ ????
With impeccable taste in cars, offset by questionable taste in men.
Putting a little work into something that’s worth the effort builds a bond, which is something to which I believe both David and his girlfriend can attest.
Not all Lexus dealers are built the same. The one in Valencia mis recorded my miles, sent data to Carfax, when i went up sell the car a few weeks later i discovered that, and the Carfax report had a warning for miles discrepancy. The dealer claimed they don’t do anything with Carfax, when it clearly showed the service I dropped it off for and their dealer name. There was also a trim that needed to be replaced, they apparently ordered the part, I havent heard back and it’s been about 2yrs.
I really enjoyed my Lexus ownership experience in the early aughts – including getting to try on different models as loaners.
I was in an IS300 Sport Cross, designed to pull youngins’ like me into the brand. But … at that time, they had no step-up vehicle. The range jumped from 30-Something Professional to Grandpa.
Fortunately, I was delighted to find that my dedicated Lexus service advisor was the person who first greeted me on the lane at the Acura store (with my successor vehicle). He’d been well trained. 🙂
Shoutout this dealer for providing 20+ matching cabinet sets. Does make it a bit more difficult to roll out the shop in anger when you quit though.
How many types of “milks” did the coffee bar offer? I’ll set the over/under at three.
Longo is the largest volume Toyota dealer in the country. I suspect they move a lotta’ Lexi as well.
Lexi? Lexuseseseses?
Plural of Lexus is Lexus. There was a press release.
Yeah the lexus store is the biggest in the world I think. They have a massive underground lot
This parallels the experience I get from the Jaguar Land Rover dealership, right down to what appears to be the coffee machine that mills the beans immediately before brewing. The sales folks come and go but I’ve had the same service advisor for seven years, which is nice.
However, there is a connection (intentional, I’m sure) between sales and service. When I had the Land Rover in for some warranty work, I was provided a Jaguar F-Pace courtesy car. When the time came to replace the LR, I bought… an F-Pace, largely as a result of the extended test drive. 🙂
So how did you spill the hot chocolate? 😀
It doesn’t top the experience at the classic car dealer where I bought my Corvair, that came with a free glass of Bourbon and a tour of the owner’s personal car and motorcycle collection. Good people, honestly.
I don’t like bourbon so that would be more like punishment, but the tour sounds nice. 🙂 What was your favorite exhibit?
He had a pretty predictable collection for his age, mostly Corvettes and Harleys, and an Apollo GT with an aluminum Buick V8, so I’d say that was the standout
With the exception of the loaner, my Honda dealer is like this. But I go to an independent mechanic for most things, so it’s few and far between that I experience it.
It’s important for JLR to offer a premium service experience seeing how much time you’ll spend there. Do they have luxury private cots and showers too?
David, what are you doing wasting sweet valuable wrenching time at a Lexus dealership?! You have a rust encrusted Jeep to be working on! 🙂
Given the vehicle prices and “seamlessness” of every other part of ownership, this is honestly how Tesla should be. The times I’ve taken mine in, it’s always:
Convincing them that the issue is covered under warranty 3 times via the app
Having to drive them and show them the issue, since if I don’t they’ll charge me for a diagnosis
Maybe getting a pretty clapped out loaner
not getting clapped out loaner and having to rely on Uber credits for the day
I try to never visit a dealership service department after I take delivery. I can do the full service myself faster than I can go there and back. My time means more to me than a free cup of coffee. Besides, my shop specializes in obscure brands and has beer.
I can barely change a light bulb, so I am thrilled to have a great mechanic. And money…
Yeah, having money is nice. Life is good…
It’s not just money. It’s time and solitude.
I’m quite happy with my BMW dealer service department. I schedule when I’ll bring the car in and whether I want a loaner. You pull your car into the service drive. (Indoors since we get winter here in Denver.) Your service advisor writes it up. (Usually the same person every time.) The best part is the tech does video while inspecting your car for additional work.
Yeah, I had our BMW in for it’s last complimentary service and was really impressed. They communicated well, drove me home and had the car done in just a few hours. A few days later I got a stone in my brakes (I suspected that, but couldn’t find it). Bmw towed my car from my house, the tow truck was there in under 15 minutes. They got my car in and fixed in under 3 hours, sent me a free code to Uber to the dealership to get my car back, and only charged me $100. Meanwhile, my Ram had to wait over a week for an appointment to look at a bad battery (it was under warranty) and they had it for 3 days to just tell me they reprogrammed something and the battery was fine (even though it had needed to be jumped while they had it and prior). Big contrast that week in service experiences.
I’ve tried three different Bimmer dealers post pandemic and service depts. at all three were staffed by a bunch of 20 year olds that really don’t know anything. They all really pushed new tires, brakes, etc. They all threw parts at the car rather than diagnosing the problem (alternator). I’ve tried REALLY hard to do everything on my car since then so I can know it’s done right. Currently a recall on the car that is not resolvable at the moment, so I’ll take in for that, but I have real low expectations for how well it will be addressed :-/
With probably only being 60k miles on a Lexus at what will be well under average mileage, is any potential buyer going to care about service history? Before 60k, there almost shouldn’t be any service history besides oil changes and tires and that’s on the cheapskate, worse reputation cars that I buy. Of course, in my case, that’s a max time of 2.5 years of mileage and things go much further in terms of mileage when it’s piled on, so maybe that’s why my experience is what it is.
> is any potential buyer going to care about service history
That’s the first thing I want to see regardless of mileage.
Yeah, I should have considered the vehicle in question. People looking to buy boring things like these with a high degree of desirability based in it being a Lexus and, therefore, unlikely to have any real trouble, probably do predominately look at service history. For the seller, though, is there enough additional potentially higher private sales price to offset the overcharges and annoyance of all the extra service (even with free hot chocolate, I can think of a lot of places I’d rather be than at a dealer service center or even just swapping to a loaner, but maybe I’m odd and these places are far more pleasant to others)? If the vehicles is traded in, is a dealer going to give them more for it for the service records to exceed the extra cost? And if so, would the dealer still offer more at the age this will presumably be when traded in (it’s already 7 years old)?
I bought two vintage cars and also wanted to look at the service history too :shrug:
I always ask for documentation, but I don’t really discriminate between stuff done-at-home, indy, or dealership.
The dude I bought my 4Runner from was purportedly a “decent mechanic,” but he left no receipts or documents behind. When I sold my BMW 318i, the new owner got a binder full of receipts and a chronology, including part numbers and type of oil and when I swapped winter to 3-season tires and so on. He was thrilled, especially with some of the parts being Duralast Gold with lifetime warranty.
Even with high-mileage vehicles, this stuff matters. If I were in a mood to, I could probably sell my 4Runner at a 1-2k premium over comparables with the same mileage, as there’s good evidence of recent service (timing belt, water pump, radiator), and the light modifications (like Tundra brakes) are viewed as net positives that people will pay a little bit of extra for.
I’m in the same boat. I’ll consider buying without receipts but the price reflects that.
I sold my my 1st gen Tundra about one year ago to the very first person that replied to my ad. He replied because he knew what he was looking for and loved the stack of papers I saved over 3-4 years showing what was done plus what needed to be done. I was a little concerned I let it go for too low but I got price I was happy with and did not have deal with low-ballers.
I’ve always saved the receipts for work done and passed them on to the new owner. My current 25 year old vehicle has gotten its own binder. Everything done to the car goes in there.
Okay, I read it now and do better understand how some people can stand going through life driving a cars with those heinous grills.
One of life’s axioms is that you get what you pay for and it sounds like you do pay for it when you get a Lexus serviced. I guess the money normies save from not having to buy gallons of PB Blaster and 10mm sockets has to go somewhere.
“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.”
Dear David’s GF,
Have you seen the vehicles David drives? Believe me, a morning can of pop is the least of your worries as far as keeping this man away from the Reaper is concerned.
Came here for this. The FeO2 levels in his blood will take years to come down to a normal level, and that’s if he stays away from all rust…which we know won’t happen.
I wonder what would happen if David strayed too close to a magnet. Would the sheer amount of iron in his tissues cause him to get attached and stuck, like Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me?
I wouldn’t want him in a MRI, that’s for sure
Well this definitely beats my local Dodge/Jeep dealership, even a simple recall was a ordeal. Luckily brought a friend with a second car.
No salesman I am not interested in a new jeep just because I’m driving a 15yo jeep.
This is even more confirmation of what we’ve all more or less known, but a David Tracy seal of approval means more to me than any JD Power data does. I remain unflinching in my stance: if you want to own a luxury vehicle long term, it’s Lexus or nothing. To be fair, most people lease luxury cars, and if you’re one of those folks then sure, go ahead and get the BMW or Merc or whatever if it’s what you really want since you aren’t waiting around for the long term ownership boondoggles.
But if you’re buying a luxury vehicle and plan on owning it long term? Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Go directly to the Lexus dealership. Due to their ridiculous longevity and high residual values they make great used/certified buys as well. My sister bought a certified NX that was off a lease around the same time I bought my Kona N.
Between looking at the car, buying it, and servicing it she and my brother in law could not have had nicer things to say, and with me in the family as well as multiple uncles/cousins who are mechanics and my dad who’s what I’d describe as a casual enthusiast, we don’t get ripped off….so it’s not like they just ran in and took whatever was offered.
Lexus has this shit down pat and the entire experience is premium. I wish they had more on offer for those of us that enjoy driving but I could be convinced to pick longevity over driving verve depending on the circumstances.
> I wish they had more on offer for those of us that enjoy driving
LX500 ?
I figured we all love it so much I didn’t need to mention it 😉
The Caddy dealer I used to go to in NY was awesome. First off, the receptionist lady always had fresh baked cookies that she made herself in the dealership kitchen (oatmeal raisin AND chocolate chip) that she basically forced you to take. lol. Also, every time I went in for warranty service, they gave me no less than a CT6 as a loaner. Because of my work schedule, I’d often have to keep the loaner for more than a day, and they didn’t even sweat that I didn’t top it off.
The sales guy that wrote my leases used to call me every year on my birthday just to leave a VM even after I moved. The owner of the joint always had his crazy tricked out track ready Vette sitting in the service department just because? ha.
I get that not all places are like that, but that particular Caddy dealership was almost fun to visit.
You might be onto something, Cadillac was only one point behind Lexus.
I have my eye on a Blackwing eventually, and if this is the norm with Cadillac they just got even more appealing.
From my experience it is. My old man used to only drive Caddys and that dealership in the ‘burbs of Detroit was also excellent to him. Plus, it was next door this place, which was a nice touch 🙂
https://detroit.ferraridealers.com/en-US/
It’s a good thing that Cadillac is doing things right. However, I would be much likely to feel confident buying and driving a 20-year-old Lexus than a 20-year-old Cadillac with the same mileage.
Yes, I’ve had three Lexus vehicles, and this is pretty accurate. It cannot be overstated how much Lexus changed the game with the dealership experience when it debuted. Prior to that, even Porsche and Ferrari dealerships often treated people indifferently.
The Lexus experience is top-notch, but a lot of their cars–including and particularly your girlfriend’s RX 350–need so little that you spend a lot essentially being overcharged for very basic service. All of those amenities they provide aren’t cheap, after all.
Lexus of Tulsa, particularly, was very nice to me when I totaled their 2023 ES 300h loaner by hitting a deer at 70 MPH on the interstate.
As for the Lexus Owner’s portal, I’ll do you one better: it will actually show all of the times a particular Lexus was ever at any dealer in the country, the date of each instance, what was diagnosed, and what was performed. And all you need to do is create an account and add the car to your user portal with the VIN. So, if you’re interested in a particular car, you can just create a My Lexus account, add the VIN, and then see all of the diagnostic, maintenance and repair history. You’ll know if the prior owner sold it because they were presented with a request for an expensive maintenance or repair.
This helped me out when I was buying a 2008 Lexus LS 600h L and wanted to know if the traction battery was failing (it was; a dealer in California had diagnosed it accordingly.)
Rumor has it the Lexus dealer took the deer to the ER and covered its medical bills.
Last month I took a RC350 to Lexus of winter park for 15k mile service. It’s about $250 and includes balance and rotating the tires (my wheels are staggered so they wouldn’t be doing that service.) My wipers are fine and the rest of the 15k service is just checking and topping off fluids. My advisor told me that I can get the same service by doing the $85 oil change. It was my first visit there. The best part is that when I pulled up for appointment they greeted my by name and make me feel welcome. I had some refreshments and was out within an hour. I’ve had 8 BMWs and Mercedes Clk when they were new, I never got such service from a dealer. That alone is enough to keep me from ever going to BMW dealer again
Unless something is an outright performance car, I hate staggered wheels. I did not realize the wheels on my 2018 Genesis G90 5.0 Ultimate AWD were staggered until after I purchased it. Sigh.
BMW dealerships vary. The one my dad got his X5 50e from is fantastic and super nice/professional. But when I went to look at certified Bimmers this time two years ago they treated me like shit. I test drove two cars (an X2 M35i, which was straight trash) and a 330i. I asked to take out a 440i and they told me they didn’t want me test driving anything else, and they kept me on a tiny loop with a salesman in the car watching my every move on the two drives I did.
They then low balled me significantly on my trade, and when I said I’d had a much better offer elsewhere the salesman literally went “then go sell it there then”. I reached back out a few days later to see if they’d drop the price on the 330i (it was a little steep for a certified used with 20k miles on the clock) and the salesman took hours to respond and then sent me an entire paragraph that could’ve been one word-“no”.
He then tried to talk me into predatory financing (it wasn’t that I couldn’t afford the car, it was that it wasn’t worth what they were charging) and I was out. It was a really shitty experience and I’d imagine I’d have been treated very differently if I’d come in looking to buy an M5 or something. They really talked down to me and treated my money like a waste of their time.
I’m not against buying a BMW necessarily but I definitely wouldn’t give that dealership my business again, and several of the Bimmer dealerships in my area have egregiously bad reviews so at least around me the experience isn’t very good for a luxury brand.
In “dating” that tactic is called “negging”. It’s a sales tactic where they act like you’re beneath them and unworthy so you’ll whip out that thick wallet and set them straight about your status. Sadly it’s pretty effective.
Everything in sales is a game.
I’m so glad my wife works at a dealership (Lexus co-incidentally) so we never have to play the games.
I’m very envious of the deals you’ve described in previous comments.
Which deals would those be?
The ones your wife gets from the Lexus dealership? Have I confused you with another poster whose wife works at a Lexus dealership? If so, I am sorry.
You are correct, My wife does indeed work at a Lexus Dealership
The $15k off an RZ, plus 30 days free rental of an RX was for everyone
As she sees the deal sheets she knows what’s what, whereas joe public won’t be looking like she does.
For instance the Subaru Solterra has about 10K off on a lease looking at their website. The Solterra in a clone of the RZ, or maybe that is the other way around.
There is an employee discount too and I’m not sure how much that is, but I would be shot for disclosing it. I can tell you it’s not as much as you might think, and a good negotiator will get a better deal, especially if they need sales to hit a monthly goal.
We were shopping for a used RX many years ago and couldn’t close the gap so I said “alright, it’s been fun. We can try again in a month.” I’m sure it was because it was the last weekend of the month that my “impossible” expectations were met.
Very possibly true, there’s a lot on the line if you miss the monthly sales numbers, including pay for (possibly) everyone, future allocations to the dealership etc.
To be honest, this has been our experience at a couple of different Audi dealerships in CA and OR since, 2012 or so? We’ve always paid for the ‘Audi Care’ pre-paid maintenance service for all our Audi’s and it’s been just as seamless/painless.
The only time we have an issue, and we can’t blame the dealer for this, is the fact that weekday AM drop-offs can be a little painful given we live in the Bay Area and the sheer volume of Audi owners coming in/out for routine service is crazy. But yea, Audi Stevens Creek has been pretty awesome.
Now the part about how the car “likely remain on America’s roads until we all make the Great Hovercraft Changeover in a century or so.” …L O L
> we live in the Bay Area and the sheer volume of Audi owners
That was striking to me when I moved to the Bay Area. SO MANY AUDIs.
I’m biased because I actively dislike Audi and tend to notice them more, but Christ on a Popsicle stick, why is Audi so popular here?!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It was (and still is) mostly BMW heavy, but yea, no clue why Audi’s seen an uptick the last few years
Before I read this, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for finally fully realizing the need for more weekend content. 🙂
Complete opposite of the experience I had at the Honda store where I bought mine. They are not open after 5pm m-f. They suggested I could bring the car in Saturday morning. Sure when? Be here 8 am. So I show up, sign in and wait, and wait. At around 930 I ask the receptionist when will the car be done. About noon is when we can get it in. Why did I come in at 8am then. In case of a cancellation. Do you offer a shuttle? No. So after car is done (THE WORK TOOK ABOUT 30 MINUTES). I pay bill and leave. I get the car serviced at another dealer who has customer service as opposed to servicing the customer.
I do not own a Lexus (I have Volvos), and I admit to using the dealer to do some of my work. My time to do my own work also has a cost, and sometimes, it’s a better use of my time and money to throw money at the dealer to do it for me. Also, as I get older, I find it less appealing to lay on the garage floor doing a New England winter oil change.