e3r5i0c

i was driving my 2006 lexus is 350 a month ago and suddenly my car stopped working. the check engine light came on, check vsc came one, and the slipper road icon came on. i did some research online and stories pointed to the recall that was issued in the end of 2013. i wouldve gotten this taken care of but i never received a notification or letter from lexus! and i barely drove the car and it was running fine so i never thought in a million years this would happen to me. i towed the car to my local lexus dealership some time after and they told me that this cannot be the recall and that in order for them to see the problem they would need to charge me $250 for a diagnostic. i felt very pressured and decided to leave because i felt like they were just trying to make me pay for something. so i ended up towing the car to my mechanic that had done 4 years work on the car (oil changes, tire rotations, etc.) he concluded that my engine was totally destroyed and that the loose bolts that lexus was talking about in the recall fell off, fell into my motor and completely destroyed my engine. a week later, i had the car towed back to lexus so they can do a diagnostic on the car. i told them that my mechanic had looked over the car and he saw the bolts missing and confirmed it was definitely the recall. they took my car in, charged me $250 and what they said was what i told them. " they found bolts missing and that the engine was destroyed." they had my car in the dealership for 3 weeks! and in the end, they said they cant help me because they said i didnt have maintenance records for the past 4 years. i bought this car from a close friend, he had warranty until 2010 and brought it into lexus dealerships for oil changes before that. the past 4 years, it was taken to my mechanic for oil changes and when i gave them receipts for the oil changes, they said it was not legitimate enough. i purchased the car from my friend in the end of 2012 with 82000 miles on it, as of now it has 84,500 miles on it. did not do much driving with the car and definitely still maintained it. but lexus said that it was probably because i did not maintain the car that is why the car stopped working. i had to get my car towed back to my house and when i was ready to tow it back, they gave me an appraisal and tried to get me to sell it to them for $1500 (what a joke right?)
CAN LEXUS OWNERS PLEASE GET BACK TO ME OR REACH OUT TO ME IF THEY ENCOUNTERED THIS PROBLEM? MY SITUATION WITH THIS RECALL IS THE WORSE CASE SCENARIO, the bolts fell off and destroyed my engine. PLEASE HELP IN ANY WAY IF YOU CAN, THANK YOU

Sceanzo

Calling Lexus Corporate would be the only thing i can think that would do you any good,

If you legitimately have records of servicing then maybe they can do something for you. Dealerships do not want to help anyone out that doesn't have records of them servicing with them.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

When calling Corp, make sure to press the issue that your life and your passenger's lives were put in danger, due to this mechanical issue the manufacturer created. Also make mention you've spoken to "your lawyer" about the situation. Expect a couple of days wait, and then Lexus will have contacted you back saying they will be replacing your motor AND giving you a loaner vehicle. I would bypass bringing up the fact that you took the car to another mechanic altogether. DO bring up the fact that the Lexus dealer CONFIRMED the engine was destroyed due to the open recall on that cam gear.

Best of luck!

e3r5i0c

i called corporate lexus everytime i spoke with my local lexus dealership. i thought they would help me but in the end they sided with each other and told me my engine was damaged because i did not maintain the car. i really need help with my situation, i just wasted a month of getting no where and hundreds of dollars on the diagnostic and tows. lexus really scammed me on this and left me with a non working car. the receipt that they had given me back only stated that their tech looked at the car and saw that the engine was destroyed. when i went in to ask for the full detailed report, they told me that that was all they had. i paid them 250 plus tax for them to open the valve cover and to tell me the engine was destroyed. that was what i already knew. they said that corporate lexus would have the detailed report. i told them that it was YOUR mechanic that inspected the car and you faxed them the information, why wouldnt you have my full detailed report. they said they didnt know and to call corporate lexus. i asked them what if they dont have anything? they said then i dont know, take us to court. i knew for a fact that corporate lexus wouldnt send me anything because hours before, i called them back to explain to me the reasons why the rejected me and to send me the report via email, they said they couldnt do that...

B16da9

iTrader: (7)

I think you need to keep calling and pestering lexus corp until they take care of you. If not it might be time to find a lawyer. I also find the "Lack of Maintenance Records" a total cop out. What if you maintained your car your self like a lot of people and myself do???

Mike_1GO

iTrader: (2)

I had a similar situation when I purchased my IS in May and at the time I wasn't aware of the DLG recall. In fact, I drove the car about 700 miles before I did research and realized that the DLG recall was never performed by the previous owner. I do remember the loud cam rattle on cold start up. After the recall service was completed, there was a noticeable difference. much quieter running engine. I didn't receive a letter from Lexus either about the recall.
The fact that they denied you because of a lack of service records is complete BS. I do my own oil changes and so do thousands of other owners. Fact is, they never issued you a letter regarding the DLG.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

I agree about calling Corp back some more. If that gets you no where, time for a lawyer.

nosurprise

iTrader: (1)

From what I notice, you don't normally get recall letters unless you got the car new from a dealer.

e3r5i0c

thanks for the help guys, but i can not deal with my local lexus dealership or lexus corporate anymore. i feel very vulnerable now in that i can not trust anything they do or say. this past month i felt very taken advantage of and i am currently looking into lawyers that will help me get justice against lexus. if anyone else out there can reach out to other lexus owners about my situation it would be much appreciated. my situation is the worse case scenario on if the recall was not taken care of. the loose bolts that secured the vvt gear housing and sprocket has in fact fallen off and damaged my motor. i really hope to hear back from some people.

scott1256c

So, maybe I am misunderstanding.
You PAID them to investigate a problem.
They created a full report.
They refuse to give you the full report, only a 3 word result?

How does that work? If I pay anyone for any work, I feel I should be entitled to the results. Not just a synopsis, ALL the results. If Lexus has information on that work and they refuse to share it, then THEY should have paid to have the work done, not you. I guess that kind of thinking just shows my age.