9000 Miles Into Cpo And Need 2000 Worth Of Repairs?

[Stickerman]

I bought a 2001 Lx470 with 55K miles on it last year. A few months later it needed the 60K service, which I paid for. Now at 64K miles it needs a drive belt @$155 and new brakes @$750. Does this seem right? Wouldn't the certification have at least cought the drive belt wearing down? Looking at the records the brakes were done at 36K miles. I know the brakes need to be at least half to be certified, so what they are telling me is they did not go down more than 1/2 from 36 to 55K miles, but went down more than 1/2 in the remaining 9K miles.

My issue is, in 9K miles I will have spent $2200 in maintenence, what was the purpose of the CPO? Is there a chance they fudged the certification?

[lenore]

Welcome to world of LEXUS rip off. As for your brakes get them done at Toyota or INdependent, It would have been a lot cheaper.

[Stickerman]

Welcome to world of LEXUS rip off. As for your brakes get them done at Toyota or INdependent, It would have been a lot cheaper.

I have not done the brakes yet. They quoted $750 for pads and turning the rotors. My Brother owns a shop and his cost is $300 for new pads and new rotors, I figure I will go there next weekend and do it myself. I was just shocked that it needed to be done already

[monarch]

I bought a 2001 Lx470 with 55K miles on it last year. A few months later it needed the 60K service, which I paid for. Now at 64K miles it needs a drive belt @$155 and new brakes @$750. Does this seem right? Wouldn't the certification have at least cought the drive belt wearing down? Looking at the records the brakes were done at 36K miles. I know the brakes need to be at least half to be certified, so what they are telling me is they did not go down more than 1/2 from 36 to 55K miles, but went down more than 1/2 in the remaining 9K miles. My issue is, in 9K miles I will have spent $2200 in maintenence, what was the purpose of the CPO? Is there a chance they fudged the certification?

The scheduled maintenance guide says to check the accessory drive belt for wear at 60,000 miles and, if not badly worn, check it every 15,000 miles thereafter. It's a normal maintenance item that generally needs replacing every 60,000 - 90.000 miles.

Your LX470 probably doesn't really need $750 worth of brake work. Take it to the dealer again or another shop and have them measure the thickness of the front & rear brake pads and front & rear brake rotors. Ask the shop to tell you how worn both componets are in percentage worn. Example: front pads might be 80% worn (80% of their original thickness), with 20% life left, front rotors 30% worn with 70% life left. rear pads might be 50% worn with 50% life left, rear rotors 20% worn with 80% life left. In this example, only the front pads would be approaching replacement time which would cost only about $70 for parts and approx $125 for labor. Beware Lexus dealers seem to want to replace the rotors every time the brake pads are changed. But rotor replacement is only legitimately needed if: a) the rotors are worn too thin (but they generally last 2-3 times as long as the pads) B) the brake pedal pulsates or the steering wheel shakes when you are braking c) the surface of the rotors has deep grooves you can see and feel.

[monarch]

They quoted $750 for pads and turning the rotors. My Brother owns a shop and his cost is $300 for new pads and new rotors, I figure I will go there next weekend and do it myself. I was just shocked that it needed to be done already

There's no need to turn the rotors unless you have brake pedal or steering wheel vibration when braking or when cruising at freeway speeds. Aftermarket pads and rotors typically will wear even more quickly and could lead to other problems like vibrations or squealing in humid weather or directional instability in slippery driving conditions.

If you start braking gently and gradually when coming to a stop your factory pads could last over 100,000 miles and the rotors over 200,000 miles.

[Jim_Chow]

You can buy the pads from a Toyota dealer and get the replacement anti-squeal shims...all told, easily under $200 for parts, and do it yourself. I wouldn't bother to turn the rotors. If they're already pulsating, replace them. It's a lot more work to remove the front rotors, as you have to remove the hub assembly, brake caliper, outer bearing, etc. It's basically the same amount of work as what's done when repacking the front bearings (done at 30K mi intervals), and this takes like 4 hrs and costs about $500. It costs no more in labor (actually, less since you don't have to turn it!) to replace the entire rotor. If it's just your pads are thin, I'd slap new pads in there. Measure the rotor thickness w/ a caliper to get an idea of how much life you have remaining. If to thin (specs are in the factory manual), replace. Again, you can get parts from your Toyota daeler for the landcruiser if your lexus dealer charges too much. When my cert was done, they replaced the serpentine belt (drive belt) and front pads. Front pads cost only $53 for parts, so my dealer prices seem to be competitive w/ toyota prices (except for their service packages...a la carte is much cheaper).

[Stickerman]

I asked them to see the records from the certification process, so I would know how the pads were at 55K miles. They are telling me my file is missing, so they don't have that info. At this point they can't really tell me the condition of the truck when it was certified. Any suggestions?

[LEXIRX330]

I asked them to see the records from the certification process, so I would know how the pads were at 55K miles. They are telling me my file is missing, so they don't have that info. At this point they can't really tell me the condition of the truck when it was certified. Any suggestions?

If my brakes only last 9k on my CPO...I bet they will replace them for free or I will never buy another Lexus from that dealership again...

There is no way that brakes should go up within 9k miles...you paid for a bumper to bumper warranty...I do not think that brakes wearing out in 9k miles is wear and tear??? Talk to the manager if he is not willing to work with you on it let them know how unsatisfied you are in the vehicle and write a letter to follow that up...to the General Manager.

Best of Luck to you!

lenore Posted Jun 11 2006, 04:03 PM

Welcome to world of LEXUS rip off. As for your brakes get them done at Toyota or INdependent, It would have been a lot cheaper.

:chairshot: I think that this is a problem with the dealer not Lexus...he should not have to replace the brakes!

[Rookie]

Doesn't really address your issue with the CPO, but one thing I figured out really quickis that it was time to learn how to do minor maitenance items such as brake pads and rotors, myself. By buying a Lexus and getting it serviced at the dealership, you have now entered in with a class of people where the average car owner knows nothing about vehicle maintenance and can afford to care less about what it cost. The dealer caters to this in every way, and that translates into "they can, do and will stick it in you". Once you have changed a set of brake pads and rotors, you will see that $750 for a brake service is robbery.

Go to techinfo.toyota.com and download a copy of the factory service manual (it's like $10 for one day of access) for your year vehicle. Replacing pads is super easy..., rotors are a little bit more of a job because of the hub removal.

Rookie.

[Jim_Chow]

Even if you have the dealer do the work, educating yourself (by talking to others and/or studying the factory manuals) can only help prevent getting taken by any mechanic. I normally do the work on my vehicles myself, but recently had the dealer do an AHC fluid flush due to lack of time and extremely hot temps in my garage. By studying the manuals, I know there are 4 bleeders for the dampers and one for the height accumulator under the driver's side rail. Yet, while at the dealer, the service manager said one couldn't bleed the height accumulator (I didn't believe him, citing the factory manual), so he asked two mechanics in the room. One guy said when he does it, he's only done the 4 dampers. The other guy said he can do all five, so I specified that they do all 5. Had I not read the manuals, I woudn't have known they were BS'ing me saying the height accumulator couldn't be done. I also know what the job entails, so 1 hr of labor is about right. If you know how much work it takes and they know you know what exactly needs to be done, it's harder to get ripped off by them.

[SKperformance]

I would talk to the dealer who sold you the LX and advised on the service.

It is not right to need service after buying a cpo but many factors are involved. By there own admission if they cannot find the file to prove it was good they should do the work for free.

If not contact Head office for a chat.

[Stickerman]

It is not an issue of not knowing how to do it. I have done frame off restorations of a few cars (Currently a 64 Datsun 1500), it is the issue of I bought a Cpo car for a reason, so I would not have huge repair bills right away. I am finding out, that is not the case. I have contacted the GM of the store, and got the "I will look into it and call in a few days" routine. There has to be somebody in charge of the certified program at Lexus, how do I contact them?

Thanks for all of the help so far, it reinforces the idea that I am not the crazy one :)

[Stickerman]

Just to follow up, Lexus replaced the pads and rotors at no cost. A different Lexus store did the work.

[UCF3]

hey Stickerman-

Sorry to hear about the dealership experience. Since this is a CPO Lexus there may be a survey for the orginal dealer. You can give them a low grade.

Brakes are not supposed to be replaced under the CPO Program unless they are below 1/2, or if it doesn't meet MD Inspection Standards which is a little higher.

Did you buy the car from a VA Dealer? They're inspection are not as thorough as the MD and DC stations are.

The link below is the recommended Services provided by one of our sponsors

http://www.jpimportz.org/Lexus.htm

Take a look at the 60k Service and match it up to dealers done.

[LexTacoma]

I asked them to see the records from the certification process, so I would know how the pads were at 55K miles. They are telling me my file is missing, so they don't have that info. At this point they can't really tell me the condition of the truck when it was certified. Any suggestions?

If you email me your VIN number at lpate@lexusoftacoma.com I can pull whatever comments were made during the certification process. Most dealerships comment the brakes in our system.

[Jim_Chow]

I remember when I bought my CPO, the dealer told me pulsating brakes were covered under the CPO (while for new vehicles, it's not covered), and that they'd replace the rotors rather than turning them (since they know they'll soon warp again and have to change the rotors). Glad you got your problems sorted out. I've also found that some Lexus dealers can be sub-par. I noticed this when buying. Luckily, my local dealer (and the only dealer in this city of 1 million) has been excellent so far.