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Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/31/2015 in all areas

  1. It never fails to dismay me, the excessive rates charged for parts and labour at main dealers should be sufficient to ensure a decent profit margin without having to manufacture work which isn't required. To my mind if paying dealer prices one should automatically expect a certain level of honesty and trust which in most cases simply does not materialise. Took a RX350 to local Lexus dealer who confirmed a bad rear wheel bearing on a test drive, during which they also suggested a possible issue with the brakes and advised bearing replacement and brake service, a total of around £800.00. I asked if vehicle should be placed on ramps to ensure that the noise was definately the wheel bearing and nothing else and was told this wouldnt provide any better diagnostic facility and that they had to replace that bearing before diagnosing any other potential cause. This was followed by the old chestnut "the other bearing has done the same miles so may also need replacing". Now I find that dealer acceptance that it is perfectly normal to have to replace wheel bearings at 55k miles on a car of this value ( I have had brake pads last longer than that) bad enough but to then suggest that the other side could also need replacing because of the same 55k mileage just a total insult and not indicative of somewhere I want to put my trust. Went around the corner to an independant garage specialising in Lexus Toyota, run by Lexus trained engineers who confirmed the n/side bearing was noisy but couldnt find any issues with the brakes. Cost for the work by the Independant using all Lexus parts approx £250 versus the around £800 wanted by Lexus. As recent laws have made it illegal for car manufacturers and warranty companies to void warranties if servicing etc has not been carried out at main dealerships I would advice anyone to look for a suitably qualified Independent who they can trust to use manufacturer parts rather than the main dealers if my experiences over the years are anything to go by. To the original poster, I would check out a company called Japtech in Hull, Lexus trained staff with a good reputation. Only 5 minutes from the main Lexus dealership so if considering using Hull, give Japtech a call first. Same parts fitted by Lexus trained staff, less than half the cost and more importantly I didnt feel they were trying to pull the wool over my eyes. Oh and for those who like the Lexus extras that are supposed to justify the extra cost, they also have free TV and hot drinks, will also provide courtesy car or collect and return. Before anyone asks, no I have no connection with the company, just pleased that I have now found somewhere that I can trust to look after my RX350 and SC430 without wondering whether they are just taking advantage and where my business is appreciated.
    4 points
  2. Another problem with the main dealers is they just don't diagnose fully or try and repair things anymore, just replace assemblies. It's a double edged sword though because given labor rates of over £100 per hour it is often cheap just to swap out parts than pay for extra hours whilst they diagnose. I think 5 years old is a good cut off point, before then and you lose too much value of your vehicle by not having FLSH - go with the 3 year standard warranty and a 2 year extension. After that look at the possibility of an independent, or just standard essentials servicing at Lexus but go to an indenpedant for any repairs.
    2 points
  3. Reading about this wheel bearing and the leaky wing mirror (that may not have been damaged or hit) scenarios, where do Lexus stand with a part that may have been badly manufactured at the factory? Could you claim for this? We all know that x items per hundred/thousand can leave the factory below quality levels so bad items can and do slip through - even if they have a basic quality check performed....
    2 points
  4. What's a starter motor ? ... lol ... ;-) It's the little one bolted to your proper engine as opposed to the dodgem car motors hanging heavily on the rear wheels powered by that hugely environmentally damaging battery pack weighing down your car and connected by the ridiculously expensive chunk of electronics weighing down the front. only joking.. ;-)
    2 points
  5. Disguise it with one of these... http://www.disneystore.com/car-accessories-home-decor-mickey-mouse-antenna-topper-set-all-holidays/mp/1345375/1000364/ A firm favourite with Skoda owners ... I've always thought Skoda's look more like a Womble than Mickey Mouse though ... lol
    1 point
  6. Sorry to see you go,thanks for all your support over the years,just because you are moving to BMW doesn't mean you can't remain a member of the LOC, just don't ask about BMW problems if they should arise I aint got a clue about them :)
    1 point
  7. I leave it on permanently. I like the more responsive feel and seemingly better gear changing. Don't find it makes a jot of difference to mpg.
    1 point
  8. My iPhone Satnav gives me speed cameras, route preferences etc. Great!
    1 point
  9. The guy at the Indy garage reckons the AA parts and garage cover is one of the best, have just had a look and for £270.01 I can get National Recovery, + at Home + Forward Travel + Car Hire and Accommodation if they cannot get us home + Parts and Garage cover and a £75.00 petrol voucher bringing the cost down to £195.00 to cover both the RX350 and the SC430 for either myself or my wife driving. Having spoken to an AA rep a few minutes ago, had I had these items in place when bringing the 350 back from scotland and then noticing the rumbling, if I had called the AA to investigate they would have taken the car to the Garage for me and covered the cost of the Wheel Bearing replacement. You can claim up to £500 per incident and up to five claims a year (wear and tear not covered obviously) sounds like a good deal to me and pretty good peace of mind for less than a couple of hundred quid a year covering two Lexus's and can be purchased a lot cheaper if you opted for less options.
    1 point
  10. An interesting point, like most issues that are well documented as obvious failings on different cars and obviously items which could be argued as being not fit for purpose due to the number of reported failings by owners, the manufacturers will just ignore it, hoping it goes away. I would hope that in the event of failure any item covered by warranty would be replaced without question if there is no obvious evidence of third party damage. The difficulty comes in that the older the cars get and the more miles they do the greater the chance that they will encounter some form of knock or damage that the less scrupulous companies could subsequently cite as being a contributing factor to a parts failure. I have owned cars for over 40 years and have never yet had to replace a wheel bearing on one, yet I am expected to accept that a Lexus with only 55,000 miles should have a bearing fail and it just seems to be considered normal as it is quite common. It seems that if a large number of vehicles fail with a particular fault the dealers have the right to call it normal for that model. I call it a part that is obviously not fit for purpose or a manufacturing/design fault yet despite the fact that neither the dealers or manufacturers can survive without the consumer, the consumers opinions, experiences and concern counts for little if anything so long as there is money to be made on the repair. This is where buying low mileage used cars can be an issue, cars covering higher mileage experience such faults early in their life, often while still under warranty and are therefore resolved whereas a low mileage car doesnt encounter the fault until later in its life an out of warranty. This is where the morality of the manufacturer comes into play. While digressing slightly I have to say that Diahatsu seem to be the best manufacturer for supporting its customers. My wife had a Diahatsu Copen, very low mileage, the rear exhaust box fell off, quick google search showed it to be a known fault that Diahatsu replaced under warranty, our car was out of warranty but one email to Diahatsu and they arranged replacement free of charge. At 6 years old we had rust bubbles appearing on all 4 wheel arches, they had been repaired once under 6 year anti corrosion warranty and started bubbling again. We wrote to Diahatsu asking if, as it was a known issue, they would consider extending the bodywork warranty to cover re-occurrences of the issue. Within 30 minutes we received an email reply advising us to book it into out Diahatsu dealership where they woulkd arrange to have all four wings replaced and sprayed at no charge.which I know cost them £1,600 plus vat. No heavy handed complaints from us just a polite email raising the issue. Now thats what I call customer care. Unfortunately, the Diahatsu dealership (Maple Garage in Hull) tried to rip us and Diahatsu off by claiming to have replaced all the panels but actually just resprayed the originals and kept the panels for themselves. They actually lied to Diahatsu submitting an invoice for having replaced the panels and spraying them, weeks before the car was even taken in to them. Again an example of the lengths some dealerships are prepared to go to to rip you off, they even had the audacity to charge us for waxoyling the panels (that they hadnt actually replaced) saying that Diahatsu had refused to pay them any more money to cover the waxoyl. So my advice, be wary of any dealer but avoid Maple Garage in Hull like the plague, amazingly they have a number of dealer franchises, I dont think Diahatsu any more, but they even do all the servicing for the local police vehicles. Lets just hope their experience of Maple Garage is a more honest one than ours. Sorry for ranting off topic... We (UK motorists) are a sad lot really. We put up with second or third class service and/or get ripped off and do nothing about it. Warranties in the USA are significantly better (all manufacturers), presumably because their consumer market is bigger than ours and the customer is held in higher esteem than we are. If they did not react to consumers demands they would lose sales. We however, pay up,turn to Indies, or back street garages, or d.i.y or do nothing. There is evidence that some manufacturers (Kia, Hyundai and Toyota for example) are beginning to wake up and this will encourage those of us who pay for their vehicles personally (not Companies) to buy reliable cars which have longer term warranties. Company car buyers will continue to be seduced by the so called attractions of German cars principally, which is why their sales remain high and warranty periods relatively low. Daihatsu incidentally is a division of Toyota and is no longer imported into UK due to falling demand and sales. Interestingly, I have had to replace one wheel bearing in 50 years of motoring and that was last year in my (then) 12 year old, 197,000 mile E Class Mercedes. In my view it is about time that we more senior and other responsible citizens woke up to the fact that "customer is still king" and used the power of forums such as this and made more extensive use of social media to express our dissatisfaction with the level of service that we receive. Rant over! Regards John
    1 point
  11. Bearings shouldn't need replacing at 55k miles unless the vehicle has been overloaded, driven at excess speeds around corners or in some other way abused. My 400h had 112k miles on the clock when I sold it, not a sound coming from the original bearings. Unless Toyota started to use cheaper bearing on the newer vehicles to save money - this was around the time when their cost saving over quality drive was in full force. Sadly the law only applies to the original manufacture's warranty. The third party Lexus extended warrant stipulates the vehicle must be serviced by a Lexus dealer - one reason why they lowered the warranty prices was to stop older vehicles going to independents. That's the reason they do it, in a 24 month period you are looking at at least two services and at twice the price of the indy plus the £1000 you have paid they have already got a pot of around £2k of your money to start covering repairs with. Dont get me wrong, warranties are a great peace of mind and in certain circumstances are still worth the cost of servicing at Lexus given the size of some repair bills but then those horrendous repair bills could likely be halved again by having the work done at a good Indy. Given the choice I would rather take my cars to a Lexus dealership any day of the week but the simple fact is I cant because I dont feel I can trust them (I accept there will be good dealers out there) and I do not see anything in attitude from staff or quality of work which would justify spending at least twice the price of having the job done elsewhere.
    1 point
  12. Unless like mine, your wife has more crashes than a season of F1. :( Good price though, I was pleasantly suprised in the relatively low increase in premium moving from my Suzuki Wagon R (1.3) to my GS300.
    1 point
  13. So you don't have to use the rubbish Lexus Sat Nav :) I use my phone for Sat Nav, music etc.
    1 point
  14. That is a newer unit that the one I used to have, hopefully it has improved. I certainly wouldn't recommend that older models.
    1 point
  15. I think that this is an excellent contribution that will be accepted unreservedly by the majority of members here and if the first 5 paragraphs could be sent to Lexus HQ in UK supported by us ( A CLASS ACTION OF SORTS?) we might see progress towards ending malpractices within the Lexus Dealership network. It might also provide some unexpected adverse publicity for Lexus, which if received in the spirit in which it is meant could well prove benficial. I have absolutely no connection with WILLDOIT or JAPFEST. Regards John
    1 point
  16. An interesting point, like most issues that are well documented as obvious failings on different cars and obviously items which could be argued as being not fit for purpose due to the number of reported failings by owners, the manufacturers will just ignore it, hoping it goes away. I would hope that in the event of failure any item covered by warranty would be replaced without question if there is no obvious evidence of third party damage. The difficulty comes in that the older the cars get and the more miles they do the greater the chance that they will encounter some form of knock or damage that the less scrupulous companies could subsequently cite as being a contributing factor to a parts failure. I have owned cars for over 40 years and have never yet had to replace a wheel bearing on one, yet I am expected to accept that a Lexus with only 55,000 miles should have a bearing fail and it just seems to be considered normal as it is quite common. It seems that if a large number of vehicles fail with a particular fault the dealers have the right to call it normal for that model. I call it a part that is obviously not fit for purpose or a manufacturing/design fault yet despite the fact that neither the dealers or manufacturers can survive without the consumer, the consumers opinions, experiences and concern counts for little if anything so long as there is money to be made on the repair. This is where buying low mileage used cars can be an issue, cars covering higher mileage experience such faults early in their life, often while still under warranty and are therefore resolved whereas a low mileage car doesnt encounter the fault until later in its life an out of warranty. This is where the morality of the manufacturer comes into play. While digressing slightly I have to say that Diahatsu seem to be the best manufacturer for supporting its customers. My wife had a Diahatsu Copen, very low mileage, the rear exhaust box fell off, quick google search showed it to be a known fault that Diahatsu replaced under warranty, our car was out of warranty but one email to Diahatsu and they arranged replacement free of charge. At 6 years old we had rust bubbles appearing on all 4 wheel arches, they had been repaired once under 6 year anti corrosion warranty and started bubbling again. We wrote to Diahatsu asking if, as it was a known issue, they would consider extending the bodywork warranty to cover re-occurrences of the issue. Within 30 minutes we received an email reply advising us to book it into out Diahatsu dealership where they woulkd arrange to have all four wings replaced and sprayed at no charge.which I know cost them £1,600 plus vat. No heavy handed complaints from us just a polite email raising the issue. Now thats what I call customer care. Unfortunately, the Diahatsu dealership (Maple Garage in Hull) tried to rip us and Diahatsu off by claiming to have replaced all the panels but actually just resprayed the originals and kept the panels for themselves. They actually lied to Diahatsu submitting an invoice for having replaced the panels and spraying them, weeks before the car was even taken in to them. Again an example of the lengths some dealerships are prepared to go to to rip you off, they even had the audacity to charge us for waxoyling the panels (that they hadnt actually replaced) saying that Diahatsu had refused to pay them any more money to cover the waxoyl. So my advice, be wary of any dealer but avoid Maple Garage in Hull like the plague, amazingly they have a number of dealer franchises, I dont think Diahatsu any more, but they even do all the servicing for the local police vehicles. Lets just hope their experience of Maple Garage is a more honest one than ours. Sorry for ranting off topic...
    1 point
  17. Gone a bit off topic ? Dealer has collected the RX and I am awaiting a satisfactory resolution to the problem Thanks for all the suggestions Regards Coman
    1 point
  18. My nearside mirror is the same as yours but it suits my colour RX! (Persian Quartz/Metallic goldy-silver)...!
    1 point
  19. Lol! Dodgem! It all makes sense now when you think of how the aerial looks on the roof of the RX!
    1 point
  20. Our Lidl has a cigarette socket charger with a bendy 2 foot arm with phone holder attached in their tat section - sounds like it could be just the ticket for you! I'm thinking it could plug into the floor socket and pop up in the gap between the console and the cd changer! Might be worth a look in your local one to see what they have?
    1 point
  21. Same here, an air con compressor for my LS430, £50 + £10 delivery, in perfect working order.
    1 point
  22. And with a named driver added (say, wife?) it would probably be less. Regards John
    1 point
  23. I like my phone visible for my satnav app. Maybe I need to reconsider the positioning though ...
    1 point
  24. The wing mirrors on my Rx 400 are auto-dimming (electrochromatic) same as the rear view mirror ... I'm assuming they are the same on the 300, if so it has either had a replacement glass fitted (not electrochromatic) or it's damaged & the fluid has leaked out (maybe it's been hit ?) I always keep mine closed as the dimming ones aren't cheap & can be quite hard to find ...theres a picture at the bottom of this page showing the "stain" on a damaged one ..> http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/87298-wing-mirror-issue/ .. I'ts an easy job to change the mirror, here's how to get it out... > Thank you. I think you're right. There is a very slight 'stain'. Not the end of the world - but interesting to know...
    1 point
  25. It wasn't me but, just out of interest, how did you identify the car in all that spray as an IS300H rather than an IS250?
    1 point
  26. .. and then there's the N reg one at £2795 ................. spend a few bob on yours and you will have appreciation of lotsa £££££ Malc
    1 point
  27. Sounds like a great buy - enjoy the car! As Jonathan says, they are fabulous cars and they are great value for money.
    1 point
  28. I think that will cause problems with the curtain airbag. For my 400h I used a Brodit proclip holder which fitted to one of the middle air vents. No marks left behind. I now use another one for my IS.
    1 point
  29. Enjoy your new LS! They are fabulous cars. I'm on the look out for another one too.
    1 point
  30. that 2010 white one, I was looking at that. Cracking car! I want one but too soon, next year I am thinking of getting one. Went for a good price too.
    1 point
  31. Thanks Mike .. but dont throw that bolt or washer away .. it may just come in useful on the next stripdown .. if thats applicable to a Lexus
    1 point
  32. Have I stumbled into a non English Lexus forum? because reading these posts is either a foreign language or the writings of a remedial classroom😂 Do you people know about punctuation?
    1 point
  33. Sonax BSD blows pretty much every other QD out of the water
    1 point
  34. The NX300ht. You've cracked it! As long as the F Sport version has all the toys available. Sent from my iPhone using Lexus OC
    1 point
  35. You are right, the 450h is too big, and rather shapeless and unattractive (IMHO). Actually my daughter's partner has just ordered an NX 200T. I tried to persuade him to go for the hybrid, but he said he was too much of a petrol head. I think the 200T is a bad choice because performance wise it is barely quicker than the hybrid, and during in town driving, using the torque from the electric motors, it is probably no quicker than the 300H at all. Add to that the higher tax, insurance, fuel costs etc, and it doesn't seem that sensible. Even the dealer told him it was the first 200 they had sold in the entire group, and he still signed on the dotted line. If there is so little demand for the car now, it's likely to have lost value quicker than the hybrid when it is time to sell. Now if Lexus had given it the 2.5 engine from the 300H, and then added the turbos or a supercharger, it might have been a different matter.
    1 point
  36. Lexus engineers are more clever than most of us and there was a reason behind the LS400 looking that way. most will think mmh thats an ugly boxy looking tank but it was designed to be quiet, smooth, sprint from 0-60 quickly for a big luxury car of its size and year, and ability to travel at high speeds of 140-155mph without sounding strained and the actual design gives it a very low drag coefficient cd figure of 0.27 which is very impressive figure for a car built in the 90's. the LS400 built in 90' has the same drag coefficient as the Nissan GTR built in 2008. the low drag coeffient figure a car has the better it cuts through air resistance and travels at higher speeds comfortably. Toyota spent Billions of dollars on designing every aspect of this car in the 90's and yes things have moved on since then in terms of car design and in order for the LS400 to achieve this low drag coefficient figure it had to look that way. thats why its one of the smoothest quietest cars ever rolled out of a production line. Rolls Royce of the same era was not as quiet and as smooth as an LS400
    1 point
  37. This battery issue is well known by the AA & the RAC. My own lexus agent has told me that there is a problem (that has been fixed on the new RX450h) the, basically speaking, allows the charging system on the car to fool itself as to the charging state/cycle of the RX400h. I've had a new battery & the rescue services have been out 3 times due to this issue. So far I've been unable to find a larger capacity battery to replace the Lexus original. There isn't a fix available from Lexus, although there should be & in light of the number of stranded owners they really should be thinking about this as (from my limited feedback) it seems to be a software issue, rather than anything mechanical. The battery itself only initalises the car's systems, the actual starting is off the Hybrid battery, hence it's small size. I am looking into a solar charger as a stop gap, although you need to understand things like how to get a seperate feed through the car (the accessory sockets inside are both dead when the ignition is off, rulling out this way back) & the need for a blocking diode to prevent the panel itself discharging the battery. It is also fair to point out that the need for light, even a street light at night can provide a limited amount of power, & that this option may not provide a "solution" as such, more a staving off of the power drain, because.......... ........ the bottom line is that the Lexus battery isn't of sufficient capacity for the car to be left parked for a couple of weeks without use to keep it charged. If any other owners have had similar problems please add your experiences to this mail. If there are enough of us we MAY be able to persaude Lexus to develop a solution, rather than let the word spread through their dealers & the roadside services the the RX 400h has an issue that needs a fix, not a recovery truck. A solution is, in light of the recent Toyota publicity, in everyone's mutual interest - after all, how do we know if this is an RX issue, or a general Toyota Hybrid issue that affects all but the latest generation cars?
    1 point
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