Anyone know the cost of services?

[Wade Anderson]

My dealer has not yet done a 7,500 mile service; and is not sure how much to charge. I am afraid to find out; if the following services are any indicator.

The dealer says the 1,000 mile service will cost $300. How do they justify this cost? Five quarts of oil at $7.50 each; an oil filter for $6; and 1.9 hours of labor!

An unscheduled oil change is $150; again, five quarts of oil, a filter, and this time, only 0.6 hours of labor!

These labor times come directly from Lotus' Maintenance Schedule; which was given to me by the dealer's service manager.

Am I missing something? Like added costs for coffee breaks!

[Miguel]

the 1000 miles service include:

- Cover seats, footwells, steering wheel and rear body
- Renew engine oil and filter
- Inspect engine & transmission for oil leaks
- Print 'Lotus Scan' Engine History Report and return to Lotus
- Check coolant level
- Inspect parking brake adjustment
- Check brake fluid level
- Check torque of rear toe link inboard fixing
- Inspect tyre condition & set pressures
- Check battery & terminals for security & condition
- Inspect operation of all lights.
- Inspect adjustment of hinges and latches
- Inspect wiper operation & top up windscreen washer reservoir

The 7500 miles service includes that minus the ECU dump, plus:
- Inspect air cleaner element
- Inspect auxiliary drive belt condition
- Inspect water radioator & oil cooler hoses & pipework for damage or leaks. Clean radiator &oil cooler finning
- Inspect brake pad thickness & disc condition
- Inspect brake hoses, pipes & hydraulic units
- Check security and condition of from & rear syspension inc. Free articulation of rear toe link ball joints.
- Inspect dampers for leaks and prformance
- Inspedt front and rear wheel bearings for play
- Inspect condition of drive shaft gaiters
- Inspect Steering ball joints and gaiters
- Inspect free play at steering wheel
- Inspect operation & condition of seat belts
- Lift footwell mats, clean & dry floor

[Miguel]

Recommended Service Times

After Sales Service: 1.9 hr
Regular Service: 2.8 hr
Op. 2a: 0.6 hr (Renew engine oil and filter, 4,000 miles/6 months)
Op.5: 0.7 hr (Renew transmission oil 45,000 miles/6 years)
Op.7: 0.6 hr (Renew air cleaner element, 30,000 miles)
Op.8: 0.5 hr (Renew spark plugs, 30,000 miles/6 years)
Op.14: 0.6 hr (Renew coolant, 4 years)
Op.16a: 0.3 hr (Inspect brake pad thickness & disc condition, 4,000 miles)
Op.19: 0.6 hr (Renew brake/clutch fluid, 1 year)
Op.34: 0.1 hr (Renew alarm transmitter batteries (check with customer) 1 year)

Your 7,500 miles service intervals will be 2.8 hours of labor it seems.

[Miguel]

Originally posted by Wade Anderson
The dealer says the 1,000 mile service will cost $300. How do they justify this cost? Five quarts of oil at $7.50 each; an oil filter for $6; and 1.9 hours of labor!

5 * $7.50 + $6 = $37.50 + $6 = $43.50
1.9 hrs * $125/hr = $237.50

Total = $237.50 + $43.50 = $281

Add oil dispossal tax, etc... $300 sounds about right.

Originally posted by Wade Anderson
An unscheduled oil change is $150; again, five quarts of oil, a filter, and this time, only 0.6 hours of labor!

0.6 hrs * $125/hr = $75

$75 + $43.50 = $118.5
add oil dispossal tax, etc... $150 sounds about rigth too.

Originally posted by Wade Anderson
Am I missing something? Like added costs for coffee breaks!

I think you are missing the $125/hr labor cost of speciallized high performance car mechanics + overhead.

But I've heard that labor cost at Lexus are way higher so I wouldn't complain much ;)

[Yargk]

Well that begs the question, how difficult is it to change your own oil?

[Ships42]

I was wondering what the 1,000 mile service was going to cost me. I'm pleased that it's so reasonable! It's an exotic car for God's sake. You have to expect to pay more than for servicing a Volkswagen.

[BryanPendleton]

Are there warranty issues if Lotus does NOT service your car? Sorry, but I don't like other people touching my car regardless of who they are, and prefer to do work myself. I am buying one as a daily driver, and I will probably put 20k miles a year on it easy.

Are such frequent service calls that necessary on the car. . .

[kusheen]

Originally Posted by BryanPendleton

Are there warranty issues if Lotus does NOT service your car? Sorry, but I don't like other people touching my car regardless of who they are, and prefer to do work myself. I am buying one as a daily driver, and I will probably put 20k miles a year on it easy.

Are such frequent service calls that necessary on the car. . .

You MUST have Lotus do the 1000 mile service, or your warranty may not be honored.

During that service they do the ECU dump to evaluate how you drove the car during break-in, send the readout off to Lotus UK for file.

After that, you can do the service or have someone else do it, but keep meticulous records and receipts in the event of future warranty issues.

[Allan Gibbs]

Scottsdale Lotus quoted me $150 + parts for th 7,500 mile service. I take it on Thursday. I'll post the final price after when I get it back.

[Vampyre]

Originally Posted by Miguel

the 1000 miles service include:

- Cover seats, footwells, steering wheel and rear body
- Renew engine oil and filter
- Inspect engine & transmission for oil leaks
- Print 'Lotus Scan' Engine History Report and return to Lotus
- Check coolant level
- Inspect parking brake adjustment
- Check brake fluid level
- Check torque of rear toe link inboard fixing
- Inspect tyre condition & set pressures
- Check battery & terminals for security & condition
- Inspect operation of all lights.
- Inspect adjustment of hinges and latches
- Inspect wiper operation & top up windscreen washer reservoir

The 7500 miles service includes that minus the ECU dump, plus:
- Inspect air cleaner element
- Inspect auxiliary drive belt condition
- Inspect water radioator & oil cooler hoses & pipework for damage or leaks. Clean radiator &oil cooler finning
- Inspect brake pad thickness & disc condition
- Inspect brake hoses, pipes & hydraulic units
- Check security and condition of from & rear syspension inc. Free articulation of rear toe link ball joints.
- Inspect dampers for leaks and prformance
- Inspedt front and rear wheel bearings for play
- Inspect condition of drive shaft gaiters
- Inspect Steering ball joints and gaiters
- Inspect free play at steering wheel
- Inspect operation & condition of seat belts
- Lift footwell mats, clean & dry floor

Seems like easy stuff, Check this and Inspect that, where is the WORK?

[jimpreuss]

Originally Posted by BryanPendleton

Are there warranty issues if Lotus does NOT service your car? Sorry, but I don't like other people touching my car regardless of who they are, and prefer to do work myself. I am buying one as a daily driver, and I will probably put 20k miles a year on it easy.

Are such frequent service calls that necessary on the car. . .

Daily Driver? I hope you're a millionaire! I just picked up my Lotus. It suddenly, (no warning) started grinding the front wheels. I immediately parked the car. From that point, I drove it to my dealer (Criswell Lotus) 25 miles away. Diagnosis? Front brakes, front rotors, back pads- $1550 after the "discount". They also performed the "annual checkup"- $900. I have 13000 miles on my car!! I don't race/track the car, just daily drive. I had to put two tires on the car at 10,000 miles to the tune of $500 and will have to replace the other two within the next month or so. Considering the earlier services, oil changes and the aforementioned, my daily driver has cost about $3700 the first year! Apparently these are not unusual or unexpected. I think I"ll try to sell the car before the next round of general maintenance expenses! Good LUCK!

[RoadDad]

Originally Posted by jimpreuss

Daily Driver? I hope you're a millionaire! I just picked up my Lotus. It suddenly, (no warning) started grinding the front wheels. I immediately parked the car. From that point, I drove it to my dealer (Criswell Lotus) 25 miles away. Diagnosis? Front brakes, front rotors, back pads- $1550 after the "discount". They also performed the "annual checkup"- $900. I have 13000 miles on my car!! I don't race/track the car, just daily drive. I had to put two tires on the car at 10,000 miles to the tune of $500 and will have to replace the other two within the next month or so. Considering the earlier services, oil changes and the aforementioned, my daily driver has cost about $3700 the first year! Apparently these are not unusual or unexpected. I think I"ll try to sell the car before the next round of general maintenance expenses! Good LUCK!

Sounds like you weren't checking your brake pads for wear and you wore them out, placing the backing/caliper against the rotor, which will destroy your rotor in no time flat. There are no squeeler bars on the pads to let you know they are wearing down and you need to check them frequently. (I check mine about 2x/mos, sometimes more). Rotors are expensive but if pads are checked and changed you can save the cost of new rotors...

You can change your tires to a harder compound with a longer treadwear rating and get 80,000miles out of them if you want. You will compromise grip but if your just looking for a daily driver you may not need all that grip anyway.

You can also change your own oil for much less than the average $300 the dealer charges.

There are many ways to keep your maintenance costs to a minimum.

Prior to sale homework = more happy experience...

[jimpreuss]

Just returned from a trip, sorry for the delay in my response. To Road Dad comment about research=happiness. Funny, I used to put many more miles on many more cars. Models incuded Alfa, Ferrari, Acura, Honda, Chevrolet, Mercedes, Buick and Ford. Somehow I didn't need extensive research or expensive repairs/maintenance within the first 12 months or so and so few miles.

My mistake. I'll try not to repeat it.