Can Toyota do Lexus Maintenance (Solved!)
When you go to service your car, you want to do it right. Getting it serviced at a place that isn’t familiar with the components could have dire consequences.
Toyota owns the Lexus brand and is based in Japan. The mechanics at the Toyota dealerships should have experience working on Lexus brand cars, and it should be fine to bring it there. However, Lexus recommends doing maintenance at their dealership and keeping the paperwork if it is done elsewhere.
The greater specifics pertain to certain makes and models of Lexus cars and we will go over this to ensure you’ve got all the information you need to accurately manage your vehicle.
Can I take my Lexus to Toyota for an oil change?
Yes, you can take your Lexus to a Toyota dealership for an oil change. Toyota owns the Lexus brand cars, and while Lexus is considered more or less the luxury brand of the two cars, they share several key components, including the engine and the transmission.
This might be something of a draw for Lexus owners that might not want to spend a large amount of money getting their car fixed or the smaller maintenance things taken care of.
An oil change is by far one of the simplest maintenance things that your vehicle could need. It needs to be done regularly and even mechanic shops that aren’t under any brand or company can and should be able to do those for you.
The added safety from having it done at a dealership is that they know the car inside and out as a result of having to be able to sell it to a wide variety of customers.
If you are unsure of whether or not your local Toyota dealership can change the oil in your specific Lexus, the easy way to find out is to call the local dealership and ask them. You can even go so far as to ask them if any of their mechanics working that day know Lexus cars.
In this way, you’ll be able to rest easy on how well your car will be taken care of, especially on something that should be routine and simple to take care of. (Source)
Will Toyota do Warranty Work on Lexus?
Warranty work for any vehicle is always a bit of a wavy area. The thing to remember with warranties is that they are usually only fulfillable by and for the company that issued the warranty to begin with. In fact, believing or trusting that the warranty will still be in effect if you don’t check it is a common mistake people make for a variety of different products.
For cars and Lexus cars specifically, the fact that Toyota and Lexus are so closely partnered works in your favor. You can check and read the fine print on the warranty on your vehicle, and make sure that you are actually within warranty as well as if the warranty covers what you expect it to cover.
This done, rather than just skipping into the closest Toyota dealership, call ahead and confirm that they will honor that warranty. There might be circumstances where they can’t honor a warranty from a Lexus brand car.
In that case, you’ll just have to do the extra effort to take it to a Lexus dealership. And with warranties, it is more than worth it to make sure your facts are all in line and correct. Out of all dealerships, Toyota will most likely honor the warranty for a Lexus.
Does Lexus have to be serviced by Lexus?
No, Lexus does not have to be serviced specifically by the Lexus dealerships. You can get it serviced by an independent mechanic or you can do another mechanic service.
However, Lexus highly recommends and encourages their customer base to have the Lexus serviced at a Lexus dealership simply because they can guarantee more things safely and aren’t liable for any mishaps that may occur.
This is simply a safety precaution on their part to ensure that both you as the customer and they as the company aren’t losing anything from faulty parts, shoddy repairs, or other unintentional consequences of a botched servicing from a different company.
Getting serviced by Lexus versus Toyota or an independent mechanic will most likely have a difference in cost, and if that’s the case, you should be fine to do the simple servicing at a local service shop.
When you do that, make sure that you have the paperwork and information so that if something does go wrong, you have documentation of what might’ve gone wrong. (Source)
Are Lexus and Toyota Parts the Same?
Lexus and Toyota parts in certain makes and models are extremely similar, due to the companies being owned by the same parent company. In this case, Toyota owns Lexus and a good portion of the Lexus cars do have parts like the engines and transmissions that are the same.
That does not mean all the parts are the same though. There are a great number of smaller parts that are specific either to a Toyota or to a Lexus.
You shouldn’t attempt to be replacing a Lexus part with a Toyota part unless it is along the same lines and recommended by the mechanic who will be installing it. They usually have a better idea of how that would work for the car than you would, simply through the advantage of having experience working on similar vehicles.
If you’re wanting to work on your car yourself, this might be helpful knowledge to know, especially if it’s not going to be a complete matchup or the Lexus parts are too expensive for a pet project like that.
Overall, just make sure you’re checking and double-checking with those who hold the knowledge you need as well as those who are more experienced. You’ll hardly ever go wrong if you take a second to inquire directly to your local dealerships for prices and quotes on things.