CTFSportSE

Back in early January of this year, my '12 CT200h F-sport SE took a pretty decent hit on the right front from an inattentive driver in a Jeep Patriot. I had my car towed to a local Lexus authorized repair facility expecting things to me more of an inconvenience rather than the absolute hell that it turned into. It took 3 weeks of hard fighting with the OTHER driver's insurance company to agree to use OEM parts rather than aftermarket parts on my car.

The initial estimate from the bodyshop included an alignment, which seems standard given that my wheel and fender took the brunt of the impact. Fast forward almost 5 months - I had to take the car back the day I picked it up due to a 'run' in the passenger door. 'Crap happens', but yesterday I pulled into a friend's driveway with my passenger wheel turned all the way out and happened to notice that my tire on that side is BALD with the metal showing through. I'm just grateful the tire didn't blow. I've put 8,500 miles on my car since then and it doesn't pull, but there's definitely an issue. I pulled out my final invoice and there was NO charge for an alignment.

I'm more angry that I could have been hurt or inadvertently hurt someone else had that tire blown. For comparison, my driver's front tire has almost 8/32 tread remaining.

I called the bodyshop this morning and took my car in a short time later. The estimator who dropped the ball on this is now the manager and didn't seemed to worried about my safety. I NEEDED a rental car (mine isn't exactly safe), but instead he just told me to bring it in when I can and he'd send it out to Toyota for an alignment and go from there.

Because **I** chose the repair facility, that clears the other insurance company from liability, but the repair shop has a 'limited lifetime guarantee' on their work. HOPEFULLY that includes work that they missed!

RonSwanson

Wow, that's a huge difference in wear. The balding tire looks worn even on the side that doesn't show the metal. Why does that picture w/ the measurement look so much different? Looks like more than just an alignment issue. Did you get your tires rotated when you did your oil change?

Anyway, Discount Tire and I'm sure a lot of other places are having July 4th sales so you can get a deal on a new set.

CTFSportSE

It's obviously more than an alignment issue, there's probably suspension or steering component damage from the wreck that went unrepaired.

The tread was even before the accident and fortunately, I have service records from Lexus with tread depth measurements because the previous owner had winter tires installed in the Winter months and these tires stored at the dealership.

I had an oil change and tire rotation less than a week before the accident.

As for the tire sale, maybe I can let the collision center know, they'll be footing the bill for all of this; the initial accident wasn't my fault.

irondonkey

you should look under the car yourself and see if you can spot any differences in the front suspension.

you have a lot of toe wear on your tire, with the metal wires showing.

CTFSportSE

I work at an auto auction and I may have one of out mechanics to put it on a lift so I can inspect it (certified condition report writer). Its worth noting the right apron (unibody)was wrinkled after the accident and the final bill had frame time allocated to the right rail. I'm worried for the structural integrity of the vehicle. I've carefully managed to keep the accident OFF Carfax, I may ditch it out of an abundance of caution.

/ <br >

lexusrus

Sorry to hear about all the troubles you are having.

IDK, but the Lexus dealer body shop I used for my CT200H last year in SoCal (BIGGEST LEXUS DEALER on the west coast ) did an excellent job with LIFETIME WARRANTY. I insisted on OEM and they helped me to get that done even though my insurance company initially said NO. I had the accident while traveling and was middle of no where in the deep south. The initial insurance adjuster wrote the report at 1/2 of what eventually was the REAL cost at the SoCal Lexus dealer. Thus was bc of CHEAP aftermarket or used parts AND A LOT of damaged items were missed (The parts the naked and untrained eye will miss).

I was shocked when the SoCal Lexus dealer body shop called me with the new estimate at 2X what the initial estimate was. After I went in and personally reviewed with my service advisor where he specifically pointed out what was going on, I really appreciated the situation.

BTW, the whole process took like 6 weeks. Most of the time was waiting for insurance final approval to use OEM parts and for the missing items on the original estimate.

Now it is all fixed and no issues.

You just need to stay on top of all this.

Good luck.

CTFSportSE

Unfortunately, the bodyshop I took my car to, who is also a Lexus authorized repair facility, is the closest thing I have to a dealer bodyshop. My nearest dealer is an hour away and they do not have a bodyshop on site, but this is who they recommended for the repairs. I'm getting anxious to find out whats wrong and hope that the repair process is simple and straight forward. I must have a rental and I'm not going to be out a cent. They dropped the ball/screwed the pooch in this situation and I pity anyone who gives me hell this time around.

Still thinking about replacing her. I went to VW last month to see if they have any '15 Golf Sportwagen TDIs on their lot since they aren't allowed to sell them. I couldn't look at a fully loaded SEL to compare, but they're on my short-list now that they are being repaired by VW.

I'd also consider a white or blue '14+ CT200h, preferably another F-Sport. My biggest complaint about my car is that it lacks *****, but I consistently get 46-50MPG (closer to 46 with the A/C on high and cruise set at 85).