Terrible 90,000 Mi Exprience

[kmammas]

I have had a bad experience with my 90000 mile service and just wanted to share it. I went to the dealer for my service and was told the same thing that everyone has read about on this forum. But besides the normal 2,000 dollar service or so, they told me that I would need four new tires, I needed new breaks, since my were cut before, and at the same time they would reccommend changing the water pump (I think this is what they said.) I never had a problem with the dealer, and I do trust them. This service ended up costing me 4,000 all together. I take care of my car and I agreed to have everything needed done. I had to leave my car.

My first problem, when I picked up my car, both my fenders were so scuffed up from being worked on, when I brought it to the managers attention, they tried to poish it out and could not. They eventually had to wet sand the car. There were grease stains on my ivory leather seats, that eventually came out.

It gets even better. One of the reasons I had the service also done, was that I had a road trip planned for New Jersey to South Dakota with family members. A few days after the service, we left for our road trip. About midway, my serpentine belt got frayed some how and my power steering fluid kept leaking out. Everytime I had to stop for gas, I had to refill the power steering fluid. I finally made it to a Lexus dealer in Omaha Nebraska, they told me about the serpentine belt and that the power steering pump had to be changed. Not only did this put a damper on our trip and my mood, it cost me another 1,200. The entire way I was calling my dealer furious. On the road they agreed they would reimburse me the 1,200 dollars and then give me a 500 credit service. I accepted this. They did give me the service credit, but only sent me a 500 dollar check in the mail. On my next visit I will ask them about this.

Furthermore, my car has not been the same since the service. I can feel it shaking when I am at a stop, I can see the tachometer does not idle nicely as it use to. There is a squeeky sound coming from the engine compartment. It sound like the belt again. It gets worse when the air conditioner is on. I had brought my car there and they kept it for three days, saying they were checking it out. Whe I got home, the squeeking sound is back again. It is embarassing, sometimes it is very loud.

I have been with this dealer for over 10 years. I consider them one the best Lexus dealers on the East coast. It takes me an hour just to drive there, and there are other dealers closer to home. I have always trusted them and hope they can straighten all of this out. I have my 2003 470 for five years now and I just want to keep it and take care of it.

Just wanted to share this experience and see what everyone thinks of it.

[R.Holmes]

I have had a bad experience with my 90000 mile service and just wanted to share it. I went to the dealer for my service and was told the same thing that everyone has read about on this forum. But besides the normal 2,000 dollar service or so, they told me that I would need four new tires, I needed new breaks, since my were cut before, and at the same time they would reccommend changing the water pump (I think this is what they said.) I never had a problem with the dealer, and I do trust them. This service ended up costing me 4,000 all together. I take care of my car and I agreed to have everything needed done. I had to leave my car.

My first problem, when I picked up my car, both my fenders were so scuffed up from being worked on, when I brought it to the managers attention, they tried to poish it out and could not. They eventually had to wet sand the car. There were grease stains on my ivory leather seats, that eventually came out.

It gets even better. One of the reasons I had the service also done, was that I had a road trip planned for New Jersey to South Dakota with family members. A few days after the service, we left for our road trip. About midway, my serpentine belt got frayed some how and my power steering fluid kept leaking out. Everytime I had to stop for gas, I had to refill the power steering fluid. I finally made it to a Lexus dealer in Omaha Nebraska, they told me about the serpentine belt and that the power steering pump had to be changed. Not only did this put a damper on our trip and my mood, it cost me another 1,200. The entire way I was calling my dealer furious. On the road they agreed they would reimburse me the 1,200 dollars and then give me a 500 credit service. I accepted this. They did give me the service credit, but only sent me a 500 dollar check in the mail. On my next visit I will ask them about this.

Furthermore, my car has not been the same since the service. I can feel it shaking when I am at a stop, I can see the tachometer does not idle nicely as it use to. There is a squeeky sound coming from the engine compartment. It sound like the belt again. It gets worse when the air conditioner is on. I had brought my car there and they kept it for three days, saying they were checking it out. Whe I got home, the squeeking sound is back again. It is embarassing, sometimes it is very loud.

I have been with this dealer for over 10 years. I consider them one the best Lexus dealers on the East coast. It takes me an hour just to drive there, and there are other dealers closer to home. I have always trusted them and hope they can straighten all of this out. I have my 2003 470 for five years now and I just want to keep it and take care of it.

Just wanted to share this experience and see what everyone thinks of it.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck!!! It sounds like to me that the dealership needs to replace their mechanics. I have heard about some bad experiences with dealers but I think you hit the jackpot!!! Make them correct everything that is wrong and contact toyota or Lexus main office and tell them what has happen to you and I am sure they will make it right. It has been my experience that a lot of mechanics and dealers tell you that you need a lot of extra things that you don't really need, just to dig deeper into your pockets.

[Jim_Chow]

$4K is steep! I would also do the H20 pump at 90K mi since it's behind the t-belt (the pumps typically last about 120K mi, but if it leaks then, you'll have to perform all the same labor to remove the nearer new belt just to access the pump). I wonder if they didn't torque the front calipers to 90 ft-lbs (will cause steering to shake while braking if loose), or forgot to install parts like the c-clip (CV boot will pull loose, spew grease all over, CV joint ruined). I would complain to lexus corporate and have a different dealer do the work. Which board was it on where I heard most of the dealers in the Tri-state area sucked?

When I installed my rotors/pads a month ago, I discovered the toyota tech who did the bearing repack 3K mi ago overtorqued the outer axle locknut (the big 54mm nut) and didn't install the plate washers that go w/ the two bolts that hold the calipers on! I searched all local dealers (none available, special order only), finally located 4 of them in the next state and had them express mailed overnight. This is why I don't trust people working on my rig. I plan to have my t-belt and H20 pump done at 90k mi (currently at 61K...got a long way to go considering I only put on 11K mi in 1.5 yrs)

[kmammas]

$4K is steep! I would also do the H20 pump at 90K mi since it's behind the t-belt (the pumps typically last about 120K mi, but if it leaks then, you'll have to perform all the same labor to remove the nearer new belt just to access the pump). I wonder if they didn't torque the front calipers to 90 ft-lbs (will cause steering to shake while braking if loose), or forgot to install parts like the c-clip (CV boot will pull loose, spew grease all over, CV joint ruined). I would complain to lexus corporate and have a different dealer do the work. Which board was it on where I heard most of the dealers in the Tri-state area sucked?

When I installed my rotors/pads a month ago, I discovered the toyota tech who did the bearing repack 3K mi ago overtorqued the outer axle locknut (the big 54mm nut) and didn't install the plate washers that go w/ the two bolts that hold the calipers on! I searched all local dealers (none available, special order only), finally located 4 of them in the next state and had them express mailed overnight. This is why I don't trust people working on my rig. I plan to have my t-belt and H20 pump done at 90k mi (currently at 61K...got a long way to go considering I only put on 11K mi in 1.5 yrs)

Thanks for your imput. I don't know anything about cars, so I must depend on others. I have always trusted this dealer. I will wait until I go for my next service and see if they will straighten it all out before complaining to Lexus corporate. I am hoping it will just be some minor adjustments. I have my 470 for five years this December. I will have 100,000 miles by this month. I love driving it and I still want to keep it. I had the car repainted a couple of months ago, so it is still like new. I was hoping that the 90,000 mil service would have made the engine like new. I am very busy with my office, so I can't keep going down to them so often. The last time they kept my car for 3 days, then told me that there was no squeeking belt. When I got home the squeek was just as load as always. It definitely gets much louder when the airconditioner kicks on, a little louder when I steer sharply, and a little louder when I accelerate. None of this was happening before this service. The car felt like it drove better before it. I actually have an appointment with my sales rep tonight. We are purchasing a RX 350 for my spouse and I will talk to her about all of this.

[lenore]

You need to talk to the Shop forman and the general manager of that dealership. By the way the squeeling could be that the belt is still not tight enough....Wet sanding your paint job would make me mad too, now the clear coat is destroyed....Sounds like your brake job was done poorly also...good luck

[LXPearl]

How sad about your experience. Overcharged and then to have incompetent techs working on it. I just had the 90K done on my LX (at Lexus dealer) and it ran even smoother than before. I noticed no evidence of scratches or grease. I hope they do well by you in correcting their lack of professionalism. Definitely worth taking to Lexus corporate if you are less than satisfied - that was a high price to pay for such poor results. Best wishes.

[heavylexus470]

I have had a bad experience with my 90000 mile service and just wanted to share it. I went to the dealer for my service and was told the same thing that everyone has read about on this forum. But besides the normal 2,000 dollar service or so, they told me that I would need four new tires, I needed new breaks, since my were cut before, and at the same time they would reccommend changing the water pump (I think this is what they said.) I never had a problem with the dealer, and I do trust them. This service ended up costing me 4,000 all together. I take care of my car and I agreed to have everything needed done. I had to leave my car.

My first problem, when I picked up my car, both my fenders were so scuffed up from being worked on, when I brought it to the managers attention, they tried to poish it out and could not. They eventually had to wet sand the car. There were grease stains on my ivory leather seats, that eventually came out.

It gets even better. One of the reasons I had the service also done, was that I had a road trip planned for New Jersey to South Dakota with family members. A few days after the service, we left for our road trip. About midway, my serpentine belt got frayed some how and my power steering fluid kept leaking out. Everytime I had to stop for gas, I had to refill the power steering fluid. I finally made it to a Lexus dealer in Omaha Nebraska, they told me about the serpentine belt and that the power steering pump had to be changed. Not only did this put a damper on our trip and my mood, it cost me another 1,200. The entire way I was calling my dealer furious. On the road they agreed they would reimburse me the 1,200 dollars and then give me a 500 credit service. I accepted this. They did give me the service credit, but only sent me a 500 dollar check in the mail. On my next visit I will ask them about this.

Furthermore, my car has not been the same since the service. I can feel it shaking when I am at a stop, I can see the tachometer does not idle nicely as it use to. There is a squeeky sound coming from the engine compartment. It sound like the belt again. It gets worse when the air conditioner is on. I had brought my car there and they kept it for three days, saying they were checking it out. Whe I got home, the squeeking sound is back again. It is embarassing, sometimes it is very loud.

I have been with this dealer for over 10 years. I consider them one the best Lexus dealers on the East coast. It takes me an hour just to drive there, and there are other dealers closer to home. I have always trusted them and hope they can straighten all of this out. I have my 2003 470 for five years now and I just want to keep it and take care of it.

Just wanted to share this experience and see what everyone thinks of it.

I'm so sorry that you have had to go through this experience. I just want to offer my concern for you happiness with your 470. May you sort all this out. I also advise informing CORP. They don't play around at that level.

Good luck To You

[djspawn00]

Things like this just scare me. I hope I know how to do all of my own work by 90k.

[brewsterminer]

Things like this just scare me. I hope I know how to do all of my own work by 90k.

It's not just you. I've tried four different NJ dealers for my major tuneups, with only the fourth actually doing the job that was spec'ed out in the service manual, and not trying to sell me anything else, or give me excuses for additional service. Perhaps it is just NJ?

[kmammas]

Things like this just scare me. I hope I know how to do all of my own work by 90k.

It's not just you. I've tried four different NJ dealers for my major tuneups, with only the fourth actually doing the job that was spec'ed out in the service manual, and not trying to sell me anything else, or give me excuses for additional service. Perhaps it is just NJ?

I just wanted to let everyone know that the dealer did take care of my car and corrected all the problems. It is now working like new again, no more squeeks or rough idle. I am happy with this.