msgs350

iTrader: (2)

have you tried another Lexus dealership? If this dealership still refuses, I'd at least call another dealership. If you were to take it to an independent shop....I'm willing to bet Lexus Corp will say that someone else screwed it up. I'd be firm and tell them ONLY LEXUS has touched this car/engine since purchase.

mills008

I thought Lexus corporate was going to help but they aren't going to. My case manager didnt return the first 4 calls i messages I left for her. One lady I spoke with at corporate said, "it's a really expensive engine and we have to figure out what we are going to do."
I said, "it doesn't matter how much the repairs cost. That shouldn't effect whether Lexus pays for the repair or not. It's a certified vehicle and the repairs need to be made."
She said the case manager would call me back, but that she was out of the office and wouldn't be back that day.
I got angry and expressed my anger about them giving me the run around.
Then 15 minutes later the case manager finally calls me back. She was there the whole time and they were just giving me the run around again. She said she would have me an answer by the end of the day.

mills008

She finally called me back later that day and told me that they weren't going to pay for the new engine. She said it is a really expensive engine and that they will pay for the water pump.
Every question I asked or statement I made she would just give the same answer "this is all Lexus can do at this time."
Don't wate your money on getting a certified. It's all a big scam.

rjm

That pretty much mirrors the experience I had with Lexus Corporate regarding a warranty issue. They never returned phone calls, emails, and were always "out of the office for the day." They were totally useless. I finally filed for mediation and the issue was immediately settled by the owner of the dealership. Lexus Corporate is useless. It pretty much destroyed the image I had of Lexus being a great corporation.

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

Sorry to hear about the outcome. This will defineately make me think twice about a Lexus CPO.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Before condemning Lexus entirely, I'd like a more thorough story of what happened...

Are we sure it is the water pump? What happened specifically to it? What part of the water pump failing led to failure of the motor completely?

The reason I say this is that I can see denying a warranty claim if the car was continued to be driven after an obvious failure. (An easy example on a different car - serpentine belt breaks causing the water pump to not spin, customer continues driving vehicle until overheating damage is catastrophic. - in this instance, it was negligence on the driver, and IMO, should not be covered under warranty.) Your situation is different than this though, which is why I would like to know a more thorough cause for failure before I condemn Lexus...

If, indeed, the failure of the component directly caused the engine failure, then, you should hire a lawyer... If the water pump failure didn't directly cause the engine failure, but prolonged driving with it in a failed state did, then, I can see them denying engine replacement and might even agree with them...

Tazzman

Maybe its just me, But I think we are missing alot of info here. Nothing sounds like Lexus here.
A water pump and engine do not go bye bye in minutes. Something else happened that we have not heard yet. Did Service show/prove Water pump failed which is why they will cover, and also show / proved negligence in prolonged driveing which blew the motor?

Sad story... Just does not sound right... we are missing items here.

Just because you have a warranty does not mean they will pay for a new engine if negligence is at play.

If I change my own oil and forget to put the filter back on and blow it up, Its not covered by warranty

John U

Kind of a stupid statement to make. They might as well said... we are figuring out if we tell you no, that you'll go away peacefully.

alphadog00

I too find all this strange. When you buy a CPO car you are paying about $2k more then a non CPO car - basically an extended warranty you pay for - that most people never need. It is more like insurance collected over lots of covers to cover the one that does have problems.

I have had to contact regional centers for other cars, and when it was clearly a warranty issue they were happy to cover it - even if the dealer gave me the run around.

If this is the whole story, then find a lawyer, spend $200 to have him write a letter that you have retained him, and they will probably settle right away - but i am surprised you would have to do that. Also, I am surprised that they didn't offer a loaner while looking at the car - even for the first day or two.

garsarno

I think my dealer thought they could steal our 2007 Ultra by offering me $18,000 trade in value. Finally moved up to $22,000 in trade in value after I balked. Our salesman was confident that they would certify my "creampuff" trade but without the extra dollars, they wholesaled it out.

jkeller

This sounds like a broken oil hose. The 07 has a recall for this. Was oil sprayed all over under the hood? If that hose brakes it can cause a catastrophic failure like you describe.

LexBob2

I was wondering about the oil hose when I saw the original post. I traded in a 2007 that hadn't had the recall done yet. I noticed online that the dealer performed the recall before putting the car out as a CPO.

To the OP, after registering you can look online at the car's service history and see if the recall has been done. I believe it's called something like a VVT-i High Pressure Oil Hose, or something similar.

garsarno

I remember that - they replace the rubber hose with metal. There were numerous posts here back in 2007 / 2008, even showing pictures of the hoses.

lanb

I checked the lexus service history for my '07 ES350 (2nd owner) and there was no
indication of this VVTi campaign being performed.

Did this affect all '07 ES350 ? Is there a link to verify by VIN ?

mills008

I agree with what you said. I have completely changed my opinion of Lexus.