L-care Premium Vehicle Protection

[lextrane]

Hi fellow IS250 owners,

I am new to this site so please be gentle and pardon me if I bring up a stupid question to you:)

I recently purchased an IS250 and I chose Black with Ivory interior. Upon my purchase I was recommended this L-Care Premium Vehicle Protection program, which would cost me $2,000. The salesman spent a good 20 minutes telling me what this program is all about and how this would greatly protect not only the paint, the leather interiors, the vinyl parts and fabrics. It sounded so good to be true and to be honest I've never seen a car protected by this service. That is why I am having a difficult time making up my mind. So, I was hoping if anyone here can give me a suggestion or anyone can simply vouch for this L-Care service based on their experience.

p.s. any general is250 tips is appreciated cos its my first lexus and i want to do it right from the start!

Thank you:)

[Naz]

Welcome Lextrane!! and congrats on the new IS250.

I have not heard of the L-Care product, but I have the same car as you. The first thing I did was get them to change my mats from ivory to black. That makes a big difference so the mat's don't look dirty all the time and since the interior of the car is two tone, it goes nicely. The other thing I did was to get a can of scotch guard and spray all the seats, door trims and carpet's. This makes it a lot easier to clean if there is a spill.

The only other thing I did was to get a some paint protection done from a 3rd party for around 400 to avoid things like bird droppings leaving stains on the black paint. The rest comes down to carefully washing the car and a vacuum every now and again :)

Check out the history on the forum as there are threads on maintaining your car and paint etc!

Good luck :)

[cevu]

haven't heard of the L-Care program myself!

[JML]

The L-Care program is in other words the Lexus Premium Extended warranty. I purchased this when we signed up for our IS and our sales manager even mentioned that it covers even the sitching on the leather seats. So in total, if you purchase this, you have a total of 7 years warranty.

It really depends on how long you inted on keeping your IS

[lextrane]

Hi Naz, cevu and JML,

Thanks for the swift replies:)

In my case, they offered me both the extended factory warranty AND the vehicle protection. so i was under the impression that they are two different things and the brochure on the extended warranty did not mention anything on leather protection etc. I wonder could it be because different dealership runs different program??

Thanks:)

[Bluey]

Forget it.

If you care for your car at all with regular washing inside and out, then the you will see long term benefits.

If you expect this stuff(which I've never heard of either) to look after your car then you will be disappointed. None of these products last much longer than a good wax, and they don't look anywhere as good either, especially on black.

Black takes a lot of TLC to keep looking good, but looks spectacular when cleaned, polished and waxed.

Even if you pay someone else to give your car a full external detail every year you'll get a lot of years protection for the $2000

Congrats on the purchase. I decided to get black on black, and couldn't be happier. :P

[Sapphire Cam]

Agree with Bluey - I wouldnt bother. I purchased an ex.demo and was offered this (I think I was quoted $1800) by the dealer. Was not interested, after I was informed what was included. Just go to your local Auto supplier (Super Cheap, Autobarn etc.) and spend a hundred or so on some good products, which is what I did....

- A good leather conditioner/cleaner (Meguairs Gold Class) - great for lighter coloured leather plus application pads. Only need to apply 2-3 times a year.

- Waterless car wash (Meguairs Speed Detailer) - great for dark duco like yours

- Scotchgard (Regular) to spray onto all carpets.

- Tyre cleaner (silicon based, non-corrosive which is also good for cleaning the rubberised dash areas)

- A few terry towelling cloths (replace every few months)

- A microfibre cloth for cleaning/wiping dust/polishing

- Kitten window cleaner (standard Windex has too much ammonia and can be detrimental to duco if accidentially sprayed on it)

- A good 'wash n wax'

- Some cheaper, generic floor mats.

If you don't keep your maintenance and cleaning up on your vehicle, no amount of additional protection that Lexus provide will do any better.

Four simple rules I follow...(and I may be stating the obvious here I know)

- Get bird droppings and tree sap off the duco ASAP. (Those *BLEEP* birds can murder your dark paintwork within hours)

- Do not leave your front alloys dirty (with brake dust) for too long - wipe or wet clean every fortnight at least

- Only use clean terry towelling &/or microfibre cloths when cleaning

- Dont leave car unwashed for any more than 2-3 weeks regardless of appearance (urban fallout does deterioate the clear-coat over time).

And as Bluey suggests, save your cash... $300 can get you a really nice result from a detailer who knows what he's doing (there are plenty of recommended detailers in the Forum somewhere)

[lextrane]

Hi Sapphire Cam,

Thanks for your advice:) Yep I didn't end up singing the L care programme. By the way which detailer would you recommend? Do I need to get my car waxed whilst its new or should I wait for a year or so till I get it first waxed? So far I've got two different opinions from friends.

[Bluey]

Hi Sapphire Cam,

Thanks for your advice:) Yep I didn't end up singing the L care programme. By the way which detailer would you recommend? Do I need to get my car waxed whilst its new or should I wait for a year or so till I get it first waxed? So far I've got two different opinions from friends.

Get the car clayed and waxed as soon as it's convenient. You only need to wait a month or so if the paint is fresh. ie back from the crash repairer.

Don't forget the claying step if you want to get all contaminants off the paint surface for that ulta smooth to touch finish.

[last1]

I just clayed and waxed the car last weekend. Amazing how the paint finish deteriorates after time without you noticing. As soon as I finished claying the first panel, I ran my hand along it, and then along the adjacent panel (yet to be clayed). The un-clayed panel felt like sandpaper in comparison!

p.s. to those who haven't used clay before: 1. it's super easy. 2. It removes embedded grime etc from the paint finish (including wax/sealers if you've previously applied any) but doesn't harm the paint work at all.

[Bluey]

I just clayed and waxed the car last weekend. Amazing how the paint finish deteriorates after time without you noticing. As soon as I finished claying the first panel, I ran my hand along it, and then along the adjacent panel (yet to be clayed). The un-clayed panel felt like sandpaper in comparison!

p.s. to those who haven't used clay before: 1. it's super easy. 2. It removes embedded grime etc from the paint finish (including wax/sealers if you've previously applied any) but doesn't harm the paint work at all.

Yep, a must do step. And it only takes about 20 minutes to do the whole car.

Frequency will depend on the environment the car tends be left in. For mine which is garaged every night but out in the open during the day I clay it about 3-4 times per year.