Lexus Australia introduces capped-price servicing

The option comes more than 11 years after Lexus’ parent company Toyota introduced capped-price servicing to the Australian market in 2008.

Available on all Lexus models delivered from January 1, 2020, the initiative is an expansion of the brand’s Encore Owner Benefits Program.

At this stage, only the first three years of scheduled maintenance are covered, with Lexus adopting a per-service pricing program in contrast to available pre-paid plans offered by BMW (five years), Audi (three or five years) and Mercedes-Benz (three, four or five years) which require payment in full upfront.

Lexus’ capped-price servicing can be carried out at any dealership nationwide.

Pricing is set at $495 per service for CT hatchback, UX compact SUV, IS sports sedan, NX medium SUV, ES medium sedan, GS large sedan and RC sports coupe models.

The RX large SUV, RC F performance coupe, GS F performance sedan, LC luxury coupe and LS luxury sedan models attract a $595 bill.

All Lexus models have 12-month/15,000km service intervals except for the LX luxury SUV, which has 6-month/10,000km intervals that cost $495 each.

By way of comparison, the Lexus ES sedan’s routine service costs add up to $1485 over three years, versus the Audi A4 ($1710) and Mercedes-Benz C-Class ($2000). The BMW’s 3 Series’ service package costs $1650 for five years.

The Lexus LX off-roader is the dearest to service under the new program, with a cost of $2970 over three years because of its more frequent service intervals that line up with the Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series on which it is based.

However, Lexus insists the more frequent servicing is due to “the additional componentry and heavy-duty usage of the flagship luxury four-wheel drive.”

By comparison, the routine servicing costs over three years for the Audi Q7 are $2310, while the Mercedes-Benz GL has a service bill of $2700 over the same period. Routine servicing costs for the BMW X5 are listed at $2150 over five years.