Brought My Is250 To Lexus Dealer And Didnt Go Well

[Mr_grinche]

Brought my independently service IS250 for its first trip to a main dealer since it was PDI'd in 2007. My main reason was because I thought that they would do the recall work needed on the car as it had not been in the network. I have to say I found them a little condescending when I arrived and was not that happy with attitude but bit my tongue nonetheless. The customer service girl said that car had all recall work done. I queried this and she said it had definitely been done. They had quoted me €450 for a major service which was pricey but I thought sure it will get the full monty and all will be good. I wrote a little list and hoped they would sort the list out also. 1) Faulty parking sensor 2) Squeeking Dash 3) Cover for headlight wash was missing. My buddy and I joked about how long it would take them to call telling me about more work needed to be done. The call came after an hour.

They told me that my rear brake callipers had seized and that it would cost €800. My front brake disks and pads needed to be replaced and that would cost €520, they couldnt replace the cover on bumper but had to replace the headlight washer actuator €280. The parking sensor was €400 to replace and finnally the service €450. They also said that it would take them 3 hours to diagnose as they would have to take the dash out to fit a suppresiion kit to fix squeek, up to €500 and said if it had been inside the network this would have been done under warranty. €2950 in total

I pushed the point about the dash being a common problem and one they came across before so why would the charge me so much labour when they could do this relatively quickly but they clearly didnt want to do this job. I also queried whether it was reasonable for the brake callipers to need replacing after 5 years considering my brother in laws 1999 golf had just had them replaced for the first time. They said wear and tear. I then asked them to approach Lexus for a goodwill application, reluctantly he said he would. At this stage I told them just to do the service €450 was about as much exposure I could afford on that day. They did the "full" service and I arrived to pick the car up later that day. They had washed car outside but hadnt bothered to vac inside not that it was bad but I would have expected this after "Full" service. They then told me that they hadnt done spark plugs as they would be okay till next service. When I queried that these should have been inc the "Full" service they said oh no that would be extra, seemily the standard service is €350. I got into my car noticing that the cream leather had black oily paw prints on the back headrests and on my driver seat. I drove home with the list I had given them on my seat thoroughly ****** off and €450 lighter in pocket. The car had also acquired a new dent on the drivers door that was noticed on my arrival home, too late to comment of course.

A week later I called the same south county Dublin dealership about the goodwill application they said they would look into it for me and call me back. They did this a few days later sayting that Lexus would do the brake callipers as a goodwill gesture. However they would be charging me €190 for fitting them for me. I was surprised Lexus came through even on the callipers. The whole Lexus experience I had heard was amazing seemed a lot less than what I had been used to in BMW dealerships in the past. I dont think I will be revisiting this dealership anytime soon after I get my callipers done. However I have found a dealer about 60 miles away whose prices seem a lot more reasonable, €350 for "Full" Service, €320 for front pads and discs. I dont want to be unreasonable here as I bought a 5 year old IS250 that had been indepenently lubricated but I now know why.

[ak250]

Hello

My is250 calipers have seized and I'm looking to contact Lexus, can you tell me what year your car is and which dealership you went to?

Thank you

[steve2006]

I read so many reports of Lexus brake calipers seizing but what actually does seize, it's a well known fact that caliper pins do if not regularly removed and regreased but the pad retaining clips are stainless steel so proviiding these are also greased along with the pad contact points all should be good.

Is it the pistons seizing in the cylinders?

My own LS400 is now 18 years old and still on the original calipers and discs all around so why are much later vehicles having so much grief?

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Wow I've never heard of such bad customer service at Lexus! I've used Swindon and Bristol in the last year and both have fallen over themselves to help me and I own a 11 year old IS200! I had some work done at Swindon, cambelt, water pump, brakes, new and an oil service and the bill was £1212.59 which the manager without me pushing him rounded it to £1000! Which was very nice of him... :)

I'd make a complaint to Lexus head office.... Not that it'll prob do any good.

I second steves question. Why the problem with callipers? Had 2 seize on my wife's IS and 1 seize on mine. What's going on??

[BenIS]

My own LS400 is now 18 years old and still on the original calipers and discs all around so why are much later vehicles having so much grief?

18 years!!!! Holy Moly are you one of these folk whose cars stays in an air bubble unless the sun is out and its 0% humidity outside How many miles has it done?

[Mr_grinche]

Its strange but seems to be a common problem, there are loads of posts here for IS owners whos calipers have seized. Some are getting them sorted by Lexus under warranty others arent. I guess I am lucky that I am being sorted, bar having to pay the labout costs of the dealer.

Having had my car for another month I am finding the constant rattle in the dash more and more irritating. But I cant afford to spend hundreds of euros hoping the dealer will get it fixed. I have to say I also find the 2.5 litre engine completely gutless, with no poke whatsoever. Am thinking of offloading already as too many issues raising their ugly heads.

[briatore]

Hello there :)

The callipers can be fixed. You don't need to replace them. It can cost you anywhere from nothing to almost nothing to do it. It happened on my car as well and the it's less than 4 years old. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but the procedure goes like this. (When you start doing it, it will all make sense. :) If you get stuck, I'll be happy to give more details.)

You need to remove the brake pads and then remove the calliper. It's held by, I think three screws, two of which are a bit deeper inside. Make sure you block the brake line before you remove it from the calliper so the brake fluid doesn't all spill out. Remember that the brakes will need bleeding after all is done.

What you need to achieve is that the mid section moves up and down, and also left and right without much effort. Usually, up-down won't be too difficult to achieve by applying some brute force, but the left-right is the difficult bit. The pin on the mid section gets rusty and stuck inside its housing. Try to grease it and gently pound it with a hammer and then repeat the procedure. Try to get the grease, oil, wd-40 or whatever you're using inside, between the pin and the housing. Feel free to lift the rubber seal to do it. If you're lucky it will start moving left-right and you'll be able to take it out. Mine had to be slightly heated with a weld torch to let go, so that's an option too. If you do it, make sure you don't burn the rubber seal rings. Heat the thing gently and on the far end of the pin housing. In my case it took only a very little to let go. When it's out (the mid section separated) clean the pin thoroughly and the inside of the housing too. Grease it with something good, like CV joint grease and put it all back together. It's smooth sailing from here. Please don't forget to bleed the brakes when you're done. :)

[steve2006]

My own LS400 is now 18 years old and still on the original calipers and discs all around so why are much later vehicles having so much grief?

18 years!!!! Holy Moly are you one of these folk whose cars stays in an air bubble unless the sun is out and its 0% humidity outside How many miles has it done?

Hasn't been used much, did 38,000 (62,000kms) in Japan in 12 years then done 39,000 here in 6 years so now at 77,000 miles.

[Mr_grinche]

Thanks fort he information Briatore that will be very usefull

[briatore]

I'm glad if I could be of any help. :) I've had some really bad experiences with the only local Lexus dealer/service, so I have to resort to other measures. And I love cars. And I have a friend who is one of the last true car mechanics, at least around here. :)