BMW vs. Lexus vs. Mercedes maintenance costs

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Spats

Do you want sex, or reliability? NO European made car will be anywhere near as inexpensive to maintain over a long time (like after the new car warranty wears off) as virtually any Japanese or US made car. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

True, but the cars are addictive.... I keep returning to them.

 

[sajesak]

You're not going to build up heavy sludge and wear with 15k-mile oil change intervals when you're using synthetic oils. Granted, I change more often than that even with synthetic oils, but 40k miles of normal driving with 15k intervals won't ruin the car. Now their "lifetime" transmission and differential fluids, on the other hand, are silly.

Yeah, it's unlikely, but that was posted on the forum (either bimmerfest or m3post). Someone bought a used car with 40k miles with regular schedule maintenance and it had developed heavy sludge with metal filings in the filter. Either way, most people would agree that 15k miles between intervals is pushing it.

I agree on the transmission fluid. By "lifetime", they mean lifetime of the warranty. hahaha I would probably change that immediately if I were buying a used lexus car, regardless of whether it is CPO or not.

I am not surprised that maintenance costs are higher at the Lexus dealer, than the toyota dealer.. but am surprised by just how much. The Lexus dealer charges $399 for the 20k service, which is basically just oil, tire rotation, and fluids top off... the local toyota dealer wants only $79.