MJMeucci

Today I had to go downtown for work related training and i was parking in an underground parking garage. As I was parking I looked up into the rear view and noticed that there was a spot directly behind me that was free. Not wanting to back out at the end of the day i just pop her into reverse and start rolling back. I am almost at a complete stop when i hear this %*&BAM*&^ , I knew immediately that I hit something , and hoped to god it was not the rear door. After pulling up a little I got out and reluctantly peeked at the back of the car. It was good and bad, I did no damage to the door but the ventilation shaft that I hit (which I could not see in my mirrors or by turning around) put a nice dent into the bumper. The best way I could describe the dent is like when you take a plastic soda bottle and push in one side, that is what it looked like. I immediately called Lexus and asked the price of a rear bumper (256. and change unpainted, ok not so bad, but how much to paint? $477!!!) SO being as obsessive as I am about my car, I cancvelled all of my afternoon meetings and left work at 2:00PM so I could go and have a bodyshop look at the bumper. I pull up and give the guy the key and he took it back and no more than 30 minutes later came back out and teh dent was gone, however the gouges from the metal ventilation shaft were not, these can only be removed by getting the bumper refinished. I am going to get an estimate to have teh bumper painted tomorow from the guy who is currently doing a full paint job on my CL, he said that he might be able to cut me a deal since I am giving him so much business. Unfortunately my whole day was like this, in the morning I noticed my cellphone was gone, called the provider, someone has it and has not hung up for more than 15 minutes since last night and to top it all off some *** stole my wallet at lunch ... thank god all my credit cards were in the car and he only got away with my DL and $130. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! I will keep everyone posted on repair costs...

Oh and PS just incase anyone is wondering, the bumpers work very well, Lexus told me that I am the first one of their customers to test the functionability of the bumpers on the GX

myGX470

MJMeucci

I feel for you, but your day will be better, because you are more alert today!

Hopefully someone will return your DL... Several years back I had an identity theft, someone was using my name and social security for employment purposes... To this day, they did not take out credit... thank God.

Cheer up! Go drive your GX...

MJMeucci

Actually today is much better. The bank that I work for (Washington Mutual) had a customer come in and try to take a cash advance off of my Visa, the only credit card in the wallet. The tellers knew me there, since I worked upstairs, asked the guy for ID, he was stupid enough to hand the teller my whole wallet, who took it back to the advance machine, and called security. He only spent $50 of the $100 I had in there. I am happy now, and to make everything better, the guy painting my CL said he would do teh GX for cheap!!!

mitsu

Actually, this is one of the funniest stories I have ever heard. Seems like you had a really crappy day and I feel for you and wish you the best. But it seems you transfered your bad luck streak to the guy who stole your wallet. I mean what are the chances of the idiot going back to the branch that you work in order to take a cash advance against a credit card he stole from you? Seems like today is now his "bad day"


I wouldn't be surprised if you somehow ran into the person who stole your phone also.


p.s. Congrats on the good news about your GX.

{-.-}

For a minute there I thought you were going to say he was turning in your wallet.

MJMeucci

Well heres an update. The guy was arrested for theft and it was later found that he had stolen many other peoples wallets and purses and was actively stealing otehr peoples identites, he shoudl go away for a long long time! As for the GX, I took it into a bodyshop that Lexus reccomended and to refinish the bumper paint it, along wiht all the labor for taking it off and putting it on was wround $600. I tok it to the place painting my CL and the guy said they normally would charge about teh same but since I already paid him $3800 to have my CL painted he said he would do it for $450. I decided that will be the cheapest estimate I will get while using reputable body shops, not maaco. Also, when they searched the guy who stole my wallets car (a stolen 540i) they found my cell phone along wiht 4 others. I will get it back soon. Everything is looking good for now.

myGX470

Out of curiosity, how did he end up with your wallet and cell phone? Where and how did he end up taking them from you?

MJMeucci

I know how he got my wallet but I am still confused as to how he got my cell phone. I was buying chinese food at lunch and set my wallet down onn the counter. When I reached up over the counter to get my food after paying he grabbed it off the counter and I did not realize that it was gone until I sat down at the table and noticed it was not on hte tray, where I always put it. I know that sounds confusing, but the chinese food place is in a food court of a mall and the counter has 2 tiers. As for my phone, I always leave it clipped on my belt, (it is a Motorola T720i) and the only way he could get it would be to pull it off, which he did becuase the harness was still there. I just dont understand how I didnt feel it or see him. I guess I was just all stressed out with work and then thinking about how i had to go and have the GX fixed.

Kash

i hit a shopping cart with my gx.. didnt leave any marks or anything but just another reason why pdc would be a godsend on this suv soo many things you cant see behind the vehicle
i wish lexus woulda put it on its they didnt

MJMeucci

Is there any possibility that the Rear Back Up Camera that will be available on the 2004 GX can be added to the 2003 GX? You would think that there would be a spare input on the NAV system for this purpose. If it can be I will definiely be adding this to my GX mainly becasue of the number of blind spots it has.