2006 Rx400H - Bad Engine Mounts And Suspension At 118K Miles?

[Dubya]

Hi everyone,

I've been looking at the Lexus forums for a couple years, was a lurker but never made an account. Well, now I need some advice on my 2006 RX400h. :cries:

I bought the car about 2 years ago when it had almost 99K miles from a small, local independent dealership in Roseville, CA. I also bought a 3 year / 36K mile warranty through PRCO from the same dealership. Its been about 2 years and never really had any problems with it. It started making this weird noise several months ago. It only happens when I come to a complete stop such as stop sign or red light. If the car is stopped, when you accelerate, you hear a tumbling, sorta grinding noise coming from the left front driver wheel area. It only happens when the car is stopped, going from 0 mph to about 20 mph then the noise is gone. The noise isn't there when the car is moving.

I took it to a local shop that I previously used for fixing my other car, a Subaru Legacy which they did great work for a good price on the timing belt and water pump. This shop said they didn't really work on hybrids and it might be the trans-axle maintenance? I don't think the trans-axle fluids were changed since its was nearing 100K miles. So I bought the transmission fluids from Lexus, and paid them $80 labor to change the fluids. After changing the trans-axle fluids, the noise was still there but either way, I thought I should have changed the trans-axle fluids since it was about time to do that.

I then took the car to Lexus of Roseville. They said it was going to cost $150 for diagnostics. I brought my car in, it took them half a day and from what I recall, they said it was something metal on metal that was rubbing, that their repair shop doesn't work on. I would need to bring to a body shop? They waived the $150 diagnostics fee.

Next, I brought it to a NAPA auto care shop, and told them about the tumbling/grinding noise. Said there's a $90 diagnostic fee to troubleshoot what's going on. They took apart the car and here's what they found. The engine mounts are bad ($2000 repair job), suspension is bad ($1750), and my tires ($700) are separating due to the bad shocks/struts? These are the prices that they are estimating. NAPA says the engine mounts are bad, causing the engine to shift which is the grinding/tumbling noise whenever I accelerate from a complete stop. The shocks/struts/boot is also bad and leaking, which is causing the tires to be splitting.

I don't understand how the Lexus dealership missed the bad engine mounts, bad shocks/struts/boots, and bad tires? I definitely am bringing the car to another repair shop for a second opinion. Also, I'm trying to contact Lexus of Roseville to inquire about these findings that NAPA has found, which Lexus of Roseville missed? My question is, are these prices in the right ballpark and should my engine mounts, and suspension already be going bad at 119K miles?

My PRCO warranty covers the bad engine mounts which is estimated at $2000. For the engine mount repair, I'm out of pocket $75 deductible and $60 for alignment that wasn't covered under they warranty. The suspension for shocks/struts is not covered under the PRCO warranty as its general maintenance, which I didn't know...I thought it covered it as well but now I'm out of pocket for the suspension. Apparently, the PRCO warranty covers some things in suspension but not the shocks/struts/boots.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice you can provide.

Dubya

[TomC]

Dubya,

Sorry for your problems. Spend the money for at least one more shop to diagnose the problem, would be my suggestion.

Good luck.

Tom

[lenore]

First I too am from Roseville, CA. Lexus of Roseville sucks>Have had terrible service from them. I prefer Lexus of Sacramento on Fulton Ave if necessary at all. That said Roseville Toyota will service your vehicle. I know as I had a inverter cooling pump go bad and they took care of it. They also give discounts on Sundays and Mondays for service, but that may have changed. Your car is the same as a Highlander Hybrid so they know what to do. I don't buy the engine mounts all being bad. The Wishbone mount at top of the engine on the passenger side might be bad. As for Suspension the usual failures are the control arms on the bottom of the front suspension. And yes to replace those is somewhat labor intensive. I do have a potential source of a mechanic at Speede lube in Folsom that was a former Toyota mechanic and so far I have been very happy with him. I usually do all repairs myself, (I did the timing belt, water pump, and transmission fluid changes myself) But I am getting tired of doing this work and may resort to the mechanic at Speedee lube. He is honest (very unusual now a days. As for alignment this requires Toyota I believe if the Electric steering rack needs adjustment. Mechanical alignment should be done in Folsom at OK tires. They are great. As for noise I wonder if your left front wheel bearing is going bad which might be more noticeable upon starting and at low speed. The sounds changes when going faster and is less noticeable.

[Jonathantphan@yahoo.com]

Myrx330 has 130k miles and everything is still stock. I just did the major service which include water pump, timing belt, spark plugs and some other stuff for under a grand. Other than regular oil change is all I need every 6k miles since I use synthetic oil.