BAWLEX94

ok.....don't get me wrong....I LOVE MY CAR....a whole lot... i love lexus...all of them.

BUT WHY do things with my car keep messing up??? i got my 94 es last may...with 58,000 on the odometer...i take incredible care of it too....i have probably only ever floored the gas pedal 3 times...my parents were against it, cause they knew that things were expensive to fix on the car....but i talked them into it by telling them it was a lexus and that it really shouldn't have many problems.....

so since getting it in may of 2002, i have already had to replace the valve cover gaskets and the rear axle and boots....and then i found out today that my REAR COVER GASKETS are leaking too...im so freakin sick of smelling oil from my vents that im getting pissed off......and on top of it, the rear cover gaskets are gonna cost me an arm and a leg to replace....and my parents are getting tired of paying for all this stuff..

on top of it, i keep trying to defend the car by saying "all cars run into some problems"....but im starting to wonder, cause my parents counter by saying that none of their cars have had these problems....which actually is the truth.....

mom has a 1997 infiniti j30 (problem free since they got it....well actually, they had the radiator replaced, but thats it and they have had it for 6 years)

dad has a 2001 MONTERO....not a problem yet, but its still pretty new...(had for two years)

and sis has a HONDA accord.....completely and totally problem free(had for 4 years)

so why is my LEXUS that i have only had for 8 months giving so much trouble?? my dad was kinda upset to hear about this new problem today, and i told him that oil gaskets tend to be a problem sometimes on the LEXUS ..and he answered, very sarcastically: "well that's surprising to hear considering what a GREAT car lexus is supposed to be"

but in a way i think he's right.....are all of these problems normal for such a low mileage, supposedly good running vehicle? i love my car, BUT WHY ALL THIS?? it would be different if i was having these problems over a course of two or three years....but 8 months?? and we had the car checked out by HENDRICK lexus before we bought it, and they said everything was fine...

Daddy-O

Sounds like the 'rents were opposed to buying the Lexus. You're lucky that they have spent any money on your car. The problem is not the 8 months you've owned it, it's the 8 years you didn't own it, regardless of Hendrick checking it out.

IMO, 58,000 miles isn't low mileage...on any car.

Lvangundy

Your dad is too sarcastic for me ;-)

1994 was the first year of the aluminum engine in the ES.

Maybe this has something to do with it. Doesn't sound like the car was too well maintained from the previous owner. Sorry to hear about this all though!

BAWLEX94

see,.....what im hoping is this....

i have heard about a lot of problems on the es involving gaskets and what not.....several members have talked about having to have their valve cover and rear cover gaskets replaced.....so i hope to god this is it....maybe my car just has some bad gaskets....so im gonna get this fixed....and maybe this is it....i really dont think the car was treated poorly by the previous owner...cuase i got all the records from the guy....but oh well

Daddy-O

His remark was not sarcasm...it was the truth. There's a difference.

You have been hoisted by your own petard.

Be honest...How many times did he hear from you what a great car Lexus is supposed to be? Lexus is a great car and ongoing problems are surprising. What is sarcastic about his remark?

meZoom!

i had to replace my gaskets on my 95 ES about 2 years ago. then there was the air hose and the strut, and my a/c, the cv boot and joint...i also replaced the timing belt (just in case). of course, all this really doesnt matter to me anymore. my car for sale. maybe you should consider selling it too. sorry, i know it sounds harsh but see, my Lex and I...we're in a deep relationship. I love the car a lot, we've been through so much together and I think he loves me too, but i now realize he's just incapable of taking care of my needs, therefore, i must end this relationship before i get hurt. (sorry im just emotional right now)

Nabeel

Gaskets are a very common problem, as is motor mounts, CV boots, guage needles, and a few others. On the other hand, a lot of cars have problems that pop up in the 50-60K mile range. Get all the work done and you *should* be good until around 100K, when the next round of repairs will pop up. Cars are funny like that....

edit- If it helps you any, I went through this period w/ my old ES about 2 years ago. Everything started to go wrong simultaneously- head gasket, cv boots, motor mounts, a/c......

But I stuck with it, and the car has been pretty much trouble free since then, with the exception of the A/C which I never bothered to fix anyway.

BAWLEX94

nabeel

that's exactly what im hoping...im gonna get this stuff fixed, and then see if all the problems will hopefully cease for a while...i honestly want to keep this car for many more years....it just won't be feasable if the car keeps having these problems

DADDY-O

what i meant to say is that my dad made that remark "sarcastically" ....you know, in a SARCASTIC tone...i'm sure you have heard comments made in that tone before....and the thing is that given what his impression of lexus was, i can honestly understand him making that comment in a sarcastic tone.....it just bothered me that i really had nothing to say back to him.....i seriously think that he has gotten lucky with most all of his car purchases....given that none of the cars we have seem to have the problems im coming up with right now....and im sure that most cars probably do encounter the problems i having right now, its just that he has been spoiled with luck from the other three cars

jaymode

The same thing happened to me, which is why my mom decided to sell the es which i had been driving and buy a new accord, i really dont care because the accord is faster. I was talking to the lexus mechanics the other day, took my sis's car for 30k service, and they said that once one seal starts leaking and is repaired, the oil will find its way out, so they said having all of the gaskets replaced would be a good idea.

Since your car has relatively low miles for a 94, i wonder if they kept it locked up somewhere and the seal/gaskets dried out and our now ruined?

BAWLEX94

yeah i thought about that...but the guy that had the car before me has recorded all the check ups and maintanance he had done and recorded the mileage all of them were done at .....he drove the car only about 7 or 8,000 miles a year....

but im sure gaskets are meant to go at some point, and mine just happened to all decide to go at once...ill stick it out and see how it goes...i mean other than these problems....the car is SMOOTH...and nice...so hopefully it will be near flawless once i get these things fixed

es3windom

baxlex94

first, im really sorry about all the problems uv been experiencing with your lex.. and dont worry ur not alone..

i got my black 95 es300 3 months ago.. and after a few days i had problems with it.... like:

- alternator problems
- i had to get my radiotor fixed
- major service was required (even though it had 57K)
- water overflowing (which is still a problem)

but with all these problems i had,.. i still love my car.. and hoping that no problems will pop up later..

goodluck and hopefully.. everything will be all GOOD..

BAWLEX94

es3windom

thanks bud...i appreciate the encouragment.....ill let you all know once i get the rear cover gaskets fixed....that's when im gonna mark the calendar and see how many problem free days i can have with my lex...thanks though everyone letting me know i'm not alone when it comes to mechanical problems with a lexus

1loudlex

Same ish here with the struts and boots. I also have that gosh darn oil smell problem, but oh well. I will be getting rid of it soon enough. Another lexo on the way but not till the end of the year. That is just something that i guess happens to a lot of the older es's. Keep your head up. It could be a lot worse.

Adam " Lexist "

QueensLex

GASKET? WHATS THAT? I SMELL OIL ALL THE TIME FROM MY VENTS, BUT ALL I CAN DO ABOUT THAT IS GET HIGH OFF THAT stuff.

RELAX THATS NOTHING I JUST GOT MY FIRST CAR A 93 LEX AND AFTER ONLY ONE MONTH I GOTTA CHANGE THE WATER PUMP NOW. I'M CHANGIN THE BELT AT THE SAME TIME. THATS SOMETHING.

AND 94 LEX ITS NINE YEARS OLD. ITS SUPPOSED TO HAVE PROBLEMS.

edit-language

MarkE

BAWLEX94
I had that annoying smell of burning oil and smoking coming from the hood. So I decided to change it myself - 7hrs later i was done putting it all together...
I let it sit overnight inside the garage and in the morning i noticed a puddle coming from the sides instead of the usual center underside of the car. I checked the gaskets and everything seemed fine. After a through inspection by my mechanic, the distributor gasket was bad, cam gaskets, and engine oil filter gaskets were bad. Set me back 400 bucks (beyond my scope of skills to do the repair myself) so hopefully this stops all the stupid leaks!
So, I just wanted to point out that there are a few spots the leaks can be coming from and that you should make sure that you're getting all of it repaired or you're just going to get frustrated repairing the car.
As for my car, looks like A/C, clutch (maybe tranny too), window regulator, tires, alignment still need some work.

Mark