Oil Seals, Strut Mounts, Exhaust Leaks, Maf.....

[eric618]

Well, I recently replaced (in February) my '96 ES300 with a '99 AWD RX300 with 65k miles. Now, I should have stuck with my original plan of buying a Grand Cherokee Limited after my ES ate it's transmission and outed me just under 3k to fix a few years ago and NEVER should have bought the Lexus. I was drawn to the styling of the RX though. And I convinced myself that my transmission problem was a fluke in my ES......

Well, fast forward to the here and now. After putting approximately 15k miles on my truck (which was in perfect condition with service records when purchased) I have now replaced and/or currently need: strut mounts, a mass air flow sensor, a REAR MAIN SEAL, exhaust manifold, and passenger side power window motor. I was blinded by great advertising and the (false) belief that these cars are all they claim. rest assured, I will NEVER buy another Lexus product. Advertising does wonders. A friend has a '01 Cherokee Limited. Similar miles. It's faster, definitely rides better, is roomier, and has not had ANY problems. Hmmmm. "Jeep: The relentless pursuit of perfection"? Nice ring, huh?

Now granted, all Lexus' do not have these above mentioned problems, but enough of them do. I expect nothing more from this post than to hopefully convince another potential buyer of not only the number of problems with these SUV's, but the SEVERITY of them, and costs to fix them. C'mon, a rear main seal??? How often do they go? AND (luckily enough), mine hasn't eaten it's transmission OR sludged up it's engine with gelled oil (that's a common engine problem, right??? )

Hell, my first car was a '84 Dodge Aries (I was then a 17 year old H.S. kid) with 145k miles on it. Never had a problem with it. If we compare and contrast, should these problems be expected, or more importantly, accepted? Buyers decide.

I encourage responses to this. I am very curious what everyone thinks. I don't think I am unrealistic in my anger toward all that is Lexus.

[RX in NC]

Your situation unfortunately sounds very similar to ours. We've had two wonderful Grand Cherokees that my wife was happy with, but she caught "Lexus fever" and after all the major service issues we've suffered through over the past year, she realizes that I was right and we should have stayed with Jeep. It's a far superior product in most every way, particularly from a reliability standpoint.

Sorry to learn of your circumstances. Stay on top of your Lexus dealership and continue to require them to bring your vehicle up to the supposed Lexus standards. That approach has worked well for me, but you must be firm and relentless. Good luck.

[Thienn]

I too starting to doubt the "Lexus Quality" as claim by many! I had have Honda and Acura that clocked over 250k miles on them with no major problems. Now my Lexus is give me all kind of problems that cost a fortune to fix! Anyhow, sorry to hear that you guys have problem with your car. All these claims and advertise about Lexus having the best quality need to be re-examed! Remember the so called "Initial Quality" is only record problems within 36-48 months of ownership. But how many people you know only owner their cars for 3-4 years? So the question is how good a car if it starts to break down after 3-4 years?

[sgriffith]

I too am in the same boat. I am young & my wife and I bought our 99 RX instead of a tahoe or expedition for quality purposes. Since we have had our RX (bought it used with 32K on it...we now have 84K) we have had the following problems:

1.Rear Main Seal had to be replaced (under extended warranty, thank God)

2.Passenger Front Strut Mount replaced (under extended warranty)

3.Bank 2 O2 sensor went out & had to be replaced

4.A week after the sensor went out (my fault b/c I figured it was a dirty sensor), the 1st catalytic converter blew a hole and had to be replaced.

5.While the catalytic converter was replaced, I had them replace a flex pipe in the exhaust system because the first design was inferior to later designs & my mechanic told me they go out quite frequently.

The only thing that cost us was the O2 sensor, the catalytic converter, and the flex pipe, but that was about $2300.00. My extended warranty did not have an emission clause in it, so it wouldn't cover that. However, I have heard my drivers side front strut mount giving the same indications that it is going out, so that will be replaced here before too long. I almost wish my tranny would go out before 100K so I could get it replaced under the extended warranty!!! We can't afford to trade it off right now, but we sure can't afford many more $2300 repair jobs either.

I wish I had waited a bit longer until I could afford a used LX. My parents purchased one and man, what a vehicle. My mechanic says they are pretty solid, too. I have just found out how important it is to have a qualified INDEPENDENT mechanic. I found one through this forum, and he has given me loads of advice on future vehicle purchases. He has direct access to Toyota/Lexus information and will shoot it straight with you. I used him to fix the catalytic converter/flex pipe/O2 sensor....and will go back a million more times. He is ASE certified and goes to Lexus & Toyota training with other mechanics at dealerships. He is a wonderful resource. You can find his postings around on this forum....look for JPI (JP Importz). Only uses toyota parts, and has all the qualifications. Again, he is a wonderful resource.