cgabb1

Hello:

My husband and I are new Lexus owners, actually we have never owned a Toyota product before and only had one Japanese car between us and we have had 18 cars between us!

We purchased a certified '08 GX. When we test drove it, it was pulling to the left. The dealer agreed to do an alignment. The salesman, who was typically slimy as they all are, told us that he had used the GX the past weekend to go with his son to Boy Scout camp and used it off road. I would be surprised that there would be this big of a problem from driving off road (we don't live in the mountains) and the truck is made to go off road.

We had the dealer align it, which they probably half-a**ed because it was cutting into their margin on the car and it still pulled left. My husband then took it to a very reputable private mechanic who told him the alignment was "all screwed up" and now the truck did not pull to the left unless you were driving over about 35 mph.

So, my husband inflated the left front tire to about 5 psi under the max pressure and dropped the right front tire 10 psi. Now the truck only pulls at highway speeds but it still does even from the right lane.

I mean, WTF? I am kind of losing faith in the bulletproof nature of these vehicles. I searched the web, this forum and read the TSIB from '08 on alignments.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

P.S. I love the truck otherwise.

salimshah

Moved to GX forum

Please go back to the dealer and insist on proper fix. Escalate to service manager.

Salim

RCsGX

Like salimshah said take back to the dealer and tell them to make it right and escalate your complaint it if need be. Also ask them for a print out sheet of your alignment specs so you can see the alignment numbers before and after they made / make their changes.

There's no reason why they can't bring you GX within specs unless it's been into an accident or an alignment bolt has seized up.

Good luck, keep us posted on how you do!

RickC5

Did the dealer provide you with a clean CarFax on your GX? If not, I also suspect that something bad, maybe VERY bad has happened to your GX before you bought it.

Did you take a looong test drive before buying. If not, you should have.

I agree, MAKE that dealer fix it! Did you pay extra for a warranty? Since you bought the GX as a "CPO" (Certified Pre-Owned) vehicle, you have a strong legal case for recourse. IT SHOULD BE PERFECT! Contact Lexus corporate if the dealer drags his feet.

Good luck

cgabb1

We got a complete service history from Lexus which showed no body work. We did not get a Carfax but I will consider ordering one now. The dealer told us that they cannot certify a car with accident history. What could be wrong? They showed us the service sheet with the alignment and it looked ok but I really don't know what is okay. Could some part of the front suspension be bent or something?

RCsGX

It's possible you could have some bent suspension parts but Lexus certified it so they should've caught it.

Your alignment print out should show the camber, toe, caster target numbers and the before and after alignment numbers. If your after numbers are within spec of the target then your alignment should be fine.

You sure it's not your tires? Maybe see if the dealer has another GX that they can swap wheels / tires with and do a test drive to see if that fixes your problem. I know it's asking a lot of that dealer but since it's a CPO and you said it was pulling on the test drive then they should've fixed it before they even sold it to you since an alignment and road test is required for all CPO vehicles....

http://www.lexus.com/cpo/overview/certification.html

Certification Standards
In order to meet the rigorous standards of the CPO program, specially-trained Lexus technicians put each vehicle through an exhaustive series of examinations, assuring reliability, quality and customer confidence.

Inspection
Every detail is inspected by Lexus-trained technicians, right down to first aid kits and spare tires. A small squeak or faint odor is enough to disqualify a vehicle.

- Technicians perform a mechanical inspection and computer diagnosis of the engine
- The exterior is checked for dings, dents and scratches
- The upholstery, audio systems, power windows and locks are part of the interior inspection
- The safety and security of airbags, seatbelts, brake pads and rotors, plus tire tread depth is assessed
- The undercarriage is checked, including wheel alignment, chassis, frame rails and subframe
- The upholstery in the luggage compartment is evaluated, along with the spare tire and first aid kit
- A road test is performed to check for engine noises, handling issues, interior squeaks, rattles and vibrations

stiles_s

+1 on what the others have said. A few thoughts:
1) do you know what the independent mechanic did to improve it? Did you get anything on paper?
2) Up to you re: whether you want to force the dealer to fix the truck. It's a money vs time thing. If you aren't having any luck escalating, you should decide whether the trouble is worth it to you.
3) My guess is your fastest path to getting the truck right is asking around and find the best alignment shop in town. Take it there & ask them to figure out what's up. You could have bent parts, or your alignment could just be out of whack (though that typically come with bent parts). The good news is that unless your ladder frame is bent because of a severe impact, the truck should be able to be made good as new by a competent mechanic.

- running tires at vastly different pressures is very dangerous. Please don't
- Final random thought: your rear air suspension adjustments may be messing with things. As one additional data point, cycle the rear of the truck to high, then low, then "regular", then measure from the hub to the wheel well on both sides. If it's off significantly side to side you should have the dealer adjust to level things out.

cgabb1

Just a quick update and thanks to the members who posted. We made an appointment at the other Lexus dealership in town. After speaking with the service advisor there, we decided to have them do the alignment because we simply did not trust that the dealership where we bought the GX would get it right. And, we found out from the SA that if we took it back to the original dealership, the vehicle would be re-sent to the same mechanic who did the original alignment for him to get it correct. That would mean that the same guy who half-a**ed it the first time would get to do it again cutting into his pay for the job. No way we would do that. So, bottom line is we had to pay dealer #2 for an alignment. Before everyone freaks out it was only $129 (yes, it p*ssed my husband off) but we did not want to be screwing around with it forever. After dealer #2 told us they had aligned the car and the pull was the result of the road crown, we drove it home and as you would have guessed the truck pulled just as bad to the left as it did before. So, my husband made a video on his phone and sent it to the SA who promptly asked us to bring the truck back so his top guy could look at it. Dealer #2 said he would make it right and there would be no cost to us. We took it in last week and they tried on day #1 to reposition the tires but when they flipped them, the SA said the truck pulled right. So, they believed it was a tire issue. Day #2 they called and said that had corrected the tire issues and we picked up the truck and it drove great. The SA could not say exactly what they did to fix it. The service sheet just says something like "corrected radial pull" which my husband believes that they remounted and balanced the tires again (or maybe fixed a suspension piece that was bent). Either way, truck is fixed and service will be at dealer #2 from now on. Thanks again for the suggestions.

gxman1

I am glad #2 was able to resolved the problem. It would be nice to know exactly what they did. I think your husband is right on his assessment.

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IS "signaficatly" difference needs to be? i am 1/4" off.

Thanks.

Johnny Rad

I'm a BIG fan of Firestone's lifetime alignment. For maybe $200, they'll align your car / truck for as long as you own it.

I've had my GS for ~8yrs and GX for ~5yrs, so you could say I've gotten my money's worth.

I also got the tires for my GS at Firestone, so they rotate and balance those for free, too.

RCsGX

I'm not! What good is a lifetime if they can't even align your vehicle properly in the first place?

After I lifted my Tundra I had them do one of their "lifetime" alignments. They screwed up the alignment so bad the steering wheel was about 15 degrees off center and even with it off center w/ the wheels pointing straight it would wonder all over the road. After 3 times over a 2 day period and them still not being able to align it properly I said the hell w/ them and took it to Toyota and they got it right the first time. I LOVED my Toyota dealer!

After I sold my Tundra, I bought a CTS-V. After I lowered it I took it to Firestone since it was literally 1 min. from my house and well as Albert Einstein said; "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.". Again they couldn't get the alignment right. It pulled hard to the left. I took it back and they tried again and I noticed on their system they had my car as a STS-V. I told them no, mines a CTS-V. They switched it in their system, aligned it again and it still pulled hard to the right. I left and the next day took it to a local Corvette shop (Corvettes of Houston) and they fixed it within an hour and it drove straight as an arrow.

Maybe that location had idiots working but I wouldn't recommend them based on my experience. If you do a lot of off-roading or have adjustable coilovers that you tweak a lot a lifetime alignment is definitely worth it but I'm sticking w/ the dealer from now on.

LVLEXUS

The 04 GX470 only needs a front end alignment, since the rear is fixed axle. After many years if falling for that it must be 4 wheel alignment bah-humbug story, now being told only the front needs it. Hmmmm...let me pull out all of my receipts and see how much the dealership was pocketing......QUITE A BIT!!!!!!!!

Magically, now only needs the front done.

Since it is the (November)..December to Remember sales pitch has started.....maybe I should go into the showroom with several bags of coal.......

mann777

Cgabb....since your truck is at the dealer, check for the service history and see if they have performed TSB issued in 2008 by Lexus.
L-SB-0174-08 - Vehicle pulling to one Side Effective on GX models 2003-2009. If not done, get it done. It involves replacement of the camber and its new settings on the steering gear linkage also as part of the Bulletin.

LVLEXUS

Do not have that problem....BUT HAT'S OFF TO MANN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MANN FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!