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I Cannot Believe How Lexus Are Treating My Car !


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I already posted how my Lexus 430 (2001) lost coolant with no sensor warning and no temperature gauge rise.

Lexus GB responded to the "fair value" challenge (suggested on this forum) by saying they would consider my claim, but first it would need to be established what the problem was. Like a fool, I agreed, now they say there is serious damage to one of the valves and Lexus GB say they won't support any part of the claim how stupid was I to believe they would really genuinely consider it!) as it is "outside their parameters" - whatever the f*** that means !!!

I now expect a bill for repair that exceeds the resale value of my car and I have no redress it woud seem. This is vaguely criminal so I'm afraid legal action is going to follow, along the lines of:

1. all cars should reasonably warn their drivers that engine coolant is low

2. this car gave no such warnings

3. all consequent damage was a result of this

4. how could I have reasonably avoided this situation???

If the answer to (4) is "I couldn't" then I think Lexus will face a legal claim from me. It's not how I want to proceed but does anyone think I have an alternative?

ADC

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I advise you to contact consumer direct to get some good neutral advice of what rights you have as a consumer.

I tried to do something like you with Lexus GB for my old LS (albeit not as severe as yours), and they weren't very sympathetic.

Good luck.

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contact motoring press - auto express etc with ur story, they will norm contct lexus if they run the story and then u might find yourcar will be repaired.

BUT........ I would only do this or your suggested course of action if:

1.the car does infact have a coolant level sensor

2. there is also a dash warning light for the coolant and it did not illluminate

if there is no sensor or warning light or if the pipe became loose or the pipe was perished, water pump leaked etc then I supose its tough luck and you have to live with it.

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contact motoring press - auto express etc with ur story, they will norm contct lexus if they run the story and then u might find yourcar will be repaired.

Totally agree. Contact your local TV watchdog programme. In Wales we have X-ray and the ferret. When they go and queiry a customers problem, The companies always seem to sort it out straight away and fix the problem as a good will jesture.

Power of the telly, Feel the force.

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Lexus should be ashamed.

It only takes a few cases like this to be well publicised to destroy a reputation. Lexus are rapidly building a quality reputation the slogan even says 'the pursuit of perfection' for goodnes sake!

I would contact a solicitor and inform Lexus GB that you have done so, also inform them of the pending discussions with motoring press and watchdog programs, not to mention the beating up they could recive here (LOC UK).

To re-emphasise their pursuit of perfection... how can a 50K car that's less than 6 years old be scrap without their brand quality being questioned?

The loss of face they are bound to get should be concerning them now, never mind if it hits the press/tv.

I work for Caterpillar and have recently heard of a 'fair trade' waranty claim on machine that is 8 years old and was only designed to do 6000hours, it's done 29000hrs when the engine blew... that model is not produced anymore nor is the engine (not emissions compliant these days) CAT has paid out a large sum to build an engine from parts stock to satisfy this customer, he pais a small amount of labour to take out the old engine, that's it.

This machine cost less than your car when new (built here in Leicester) and like you, the cost of the engine re-build was more that the second hand value of a simmilar good condition machine.

CAT do not want to reisk their reputation in scenarios like this, hence we paid up.

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Let's all go to our local Lexus dealers and make a sales enquiry about a secondhand LS430,when the salesteam get into the enthusiastic mode drop the following line in " I heard that this car has a serious engine problem if it suffers from sudden coolant loss "

If I get the chance over the weekend I will put this in action, be interesting to see the response.

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allways sad to hear of a case like this

but looking at the objectional side

not many cars do come with a coolant level indicator

Lexus have examined the car, free of charge i guess

the car is not within the warranty period

how many cases of this have you heard off

have you had a costing for the works

how and why did it loose its coolant ?

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how and why did it loose its coolant ?

As Bazza says

Firstly why and how have you lost your coolant. Was it a leak or faulty waterpump or damaged radiator etc.

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how and why did it loose its coolant ?

As Bazza says

Firstly why and how have you lost your coolant. Was it a leak or faulty waterpump or damaged radiator etc.

That's a good point.

My LS400 has a low radiator level warning light on the dash does the 430 not have this feature?

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Is there no temp. warning light either on a 430?

At these prices this failure should have had plenty of warning lights on,

There should not be a catastrophic loss of coolant without a brick through the radiator and even then low coolant followed by overheating lights should be on.

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This is of interest to me, since I was faced with a similar scenario pertaining to the Ford Motor Company and their refusal to tell me specifically what the design life of any particular model was, after how many years after production would it be supported, and in the event of a safety issue, how old the vehicle would have to be for them NOT to consider issuing a recall. In other words: what was the 'cut-off' age after which the manufacturer would wash their hands of responsibility if a design flaw emerged.

I could not get clear-cut answers to any of these points.

This all stemmed from what I believed to be a deliberate 'time bomb' design feature on the Mk2 Granada, involving a hidden filter INSIDE the fuel tank which was not documented at all, even in the Main Dealers' workshop manual and not part of any maintenance schedule. I, and many others I knew fell victim to this filter clogging and blocking the fuel pipe at high speed, with potentially disastrous consequenses. Of course, not only did Ford refuse to answer my questions as above, but the Technical Dept. would not (claiming that they didn't know) tell me what models and from what production years had this secret filter fitted. (I do know that Sierra models were also included.) How many otherwise good examples were scrapped because it was no longer cost effective to pursue a fault that could not be traced?

This happened to me at over 100k miles - on the motorway! So are we to assume that for that model, the 'design life' is 100k and after that you take your chance? Nice of them to tell us!

If the Lexus has 50k miles and suffered a coolant loss, they will probably say 'it's an old car and tough luck'.

The manufacturers should be more open with the initial purchaser on matters such as these. Just because the warranty has expired, doesn't mean that they are devoid of all responsibility, assuming 'reasonable' use. Or are they?

I hope you get a satisfactory outcome. This incident I had was the icing on the cake, and after that I wowed never to have a Ford again. Perhaps we're in a false sense of security thinking that Toyota treat their customers better.

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how and why did it loose its coolant ?

As Bazza says

Firstly why and how have you lost your coolant. Was it a leak or faulty waterpump or damaged radiator etc.

That's a good point.

My LS400 has a low radiator level warning light on the dash does the 430 not have this feature?

It says in the earlier post a damaged radiator. Do Lexus say the damage was "act of G*d" type stuff rather than mechanical failure so that's why they won't assist here? If so could fully comp. insurance help?

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allways sad to hear of a case like this

but looking at the objectional side

not many cars do come with a coolant level indicator

Lexus have examined the car, free of charge i guess

the car is not within the warranty period

how many cases of this have you heard off

have you had a costing for the works

how and why did it loose its coolant ?

Bazza,

Fair points - my answeres:

whether or not a sensor exists, the TEMPERATURE GAUGE failed to indicate a temprature rise. Even the "old-fashioned" cars told you they had no water!! - I have witnesses to this...

Lesus have examined the car for a minimum charge of £2500 + VAT - not quite free......!!!!!

Car is indeed outwith warranty - hence the appeal to the "fair value" policy

Never hear of this before, neither have Lexus

They won't give me a written costing, just "Lexus GB won't contribute". I have a "crisis" meeting face to face tomorrow with Lexus Glasgow.

Coolant loss may be a burst lower nearside radiator pipe (don't know, that's just what the Lexus rescue man said

Let em ask YOU a question: given no temperature gauge rise and no sensor indication, how could I have been reasonably expected to avoid this disaster? What could I have done differently?

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allways sad to hear of a case like this

but looking at the objectional side

not many cars do come with a coolant level indicator

Lexus have examined the car, free of charge i guess

the car is not within the warranty period

how many cases of this have you heard off

have you had a costing for the works

how and why did it loose its coolant ?

Bazza,

Fair points - my answeres:

whether or not a sensor exists, the TEMPERATURE GAUGE failed to indicate a temprature rise. Even the "old-fashioned" cars told you they had no water!! - I have witnesses to this...

Lesus have examined the car for a minimum charge of £2500 + VAT - not quite free......!!!!!

Car is indeed outwith warranty - hence the appeal to the "fair value" policy

Never hear of this before, neither have Lexus

They won't give me a written costing, just "Lexus GB won't contribute". I have a "crisis" meeting face to face tomorrow with Lexus Glasgow.

Coolant loss may be a burst lower nearside radiator pipe (don't know, that's just what the Lexus rescue man said

Let em ask YOU a question: given no temperature gauge rise and no sensor indication, how could I have been reasonably expected to avoid this disaster? What could I have done differently?

was merely an objectional view not assigning blame or fault

£2500 +vat seems extortionate :ohmy:

i imagine that you dont know what distance or time occured between loosing the coolant and the breakdown, as it may help in assessing wether engine failure or a temperature warning comes first

If no other cases are heard of, i can understand Lexus being reluctant to hold their hands up as it doesnt appear to be a manufacturers fault or problem, although i would have thought in a one off case they would be a bit more comprimising ;)

i wish you luck, i hope you get a good result :)

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WHAT ON EARTH DID THEY DO TO COME UP WITH A £2500 +VAT BILL!!!

Prior to all this, did the warning lights come when you switched on the ignition?

I would have expected a low coolant light first, then temp. light [or gauge] warning, then maybe a check engine light to follow, when this failure occured.

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  • 2 weeks later...
WHAT ON EARTH DID THEY DO TO COME UP WITH A £2500 +VAT BILL!!!

Prior to all this, did the warning lights come when you switched on the ignition?

I would have expected a low coolant light first, then temp. light [or gauge] warning, then maybe a check engine light to follow, when this failure occured.

NO WARNING LIGHT

NO TEMPERATURE GAUGE RISE

Engine management light ALREADY ON due to manifold sensor failure one month previously that Lexus had tried to fix but were still "waiting for a part".

VSC WARNING MESSAGE 5 mins before disaster struck - irrelevant warning but now Lesux think the CPU had its wires crossed.

ANYWAY happy ending, Lexus Glasgow has a great general manager and he intervened and "made me an offer" with a much decreased cost plus throwing in full service and alloy touch up so all's well that ends well!

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allways sad to hear of a case like this

but looking at the objectional side

not many cars do come with a coolant level indicator

Lexus have examined the car, free of charge i guess

the car is not within the warranty period

how many cases of this have you heard off

have you had a costing for the works

how and why did it loose its coolant ?

Bazza,

Fair points - my answeres:

whether or not a sensor exists, the TEMPERATURE GAUGE failed to indicate a temprature rise. Even the "old-fashioned" cars told you they had no water!! - I have witnesses to this...

Lesus have examined the car for a minimum charge of £2500 + VAT - not quite free......!!!!!

Car is indeed outwith warranty - hence the appeal to the "fair value" policy

Never hear of this before, neither have Lexus

They won't give me a written costing, just "Lexus GB won't contribute". I have a "crisis" meeting face to face tomorrow with Lexus Glasgow.

Coolant loss may be a burst lower nearside radiator pipe (don't know, that's just what the Lexus rescue man said

Let em ask YOU a question: given no temperature gauge rise and no sensor indication, how could I have been reasonably expected to avoid this disaster? What could I have done differently?

was merely an objectional view not assigning blame or fault

£2500 +vat seems extortionate :ohmy:

i imagine that you dont know what distance or time occured between loosing the coolant and the breakdown, as it may help in assessing wether engine failure or a temperature warning comes first

If no other cases are heard of, i can understand Lexus being reluctant to hold their hands up as it doesnt appear to be a manufacturers fault or problem, although i would have thought in a one off case they would be a bit more comprimising ;)

i wish you luck, i hope you get a good result :)

I finall did get a good result!

Lexus Glasgow's general manager intervened and "made me an offer" with a much decreased cost plus throwing in full service and alloy touch up so all's well that ends well!

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how and why did it loose its coolant ?

As Bazza says

Firstly why and how have you lost your coolant. Was it a leak or faulty waterpump or damaged radiator etc.

That's a good point.

My LS400 has a low radiator level warning light on the dash does the 430 not have this feature?

It says in the earlier post a damaged radiator. Do Lexus say the damage was "act of G*d" type stuff rather than mechanical failure so that's why they won't assist here? If so could fully comp. insurance help?

Turns out it was NOT a damaged radiator. Lexus do not yet know what caused it. The 430 has all the warning lights, gauges and messages that could have warned me but they didn't work. I met the local manager and a Lexus GB preson and they were very reasonable and have made me a fair offer which I accepted, so the car's being fixed now.

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