lex8000

Yeah if it needed refrigerant at any point, then it had a leak or was undercharged at some point as it isn't used up or leaked off naturally through a good system. Also AC work is expensive no matter what the car, but of course Lexus parts are pricey and sometimes tricky to work on, but that $5K estimate is outrageous. The previous owner of my car had the AC system replaced including the compressor and I think it was 1500 at Toyota. It may not have needed every single part done, but that was the major stuff, just to give you a comparison.

Rudee023

I understand some people may not be the most mechanically inclined but come on now.

sdls

Moodylu,
You remind me of the kind of person who would post on Usenet boards back in the '90s. Reading your posts hearkens back to a simpler time, when people were courteous and thoughtful -
So thank you for sharing your experiences with us.

deanshark

Alot of people can't change a bulb. Absolutly nothing wrong with that, I can understand it. There's probably things he can do that you can't which would seem pretty mindless to him. Plus, I wouldn't expect my 86 yr old X-mother inlaw to try and change a bulb, some people need to go to the dealer to have it done. Keep those kind of opinions to yourself.

lex8000

The brake light bulbs are a pain in the *** to get to also; not intuitive at all, and if a shop had a half hour minimum labor rate I could see getting dinged $45 for the effort. That said, the bulb was replaced with other work done so it's just another rip off move by the dealer.

deanshark

Here's someone else saying the dealer "rips you off". That's the amount they charge, it's not a rip off. Their technician had to change the bulb, he's not gonna do it on his time for free. If for some reason it took 2 hours they wouldn't charge $200, it would still be a half hour labor charge. Everything goes by "book time". Now, if they did it without the customers permission and just threw it on the bill, that would be a rip off. I'm not saying their not expensive, b/c they are, but that's their rate and people agree to it before the work gets done.

Rudee023

I wasn't so much commenting on what the dealer was charging for the bulb replacement. I realize that they will charge what the book says even if it takes 2 min. Its one of the costs of having someone who is specialized on your car replace with OEM parts. On the other hand, you don't have to accept every suggestion the dealer recommends. E.g. If they tell you your car needs tires, that may very well be the case. But it doesn't mean you have to purchase them from them at a premium.

deanshark

Rudee023; The "rip off" comment wasn't directed to you, it was for lex8000 and everyone else that says the dealer is a rip off. I should have hit the quote button for him. My mistake, we all make them once in a while.

lex8000

Umm, I'm the one that said they'd have to charge a minimum time. So say, if you were to bring the car in only for one item you'd get dinged a minimum half hour or hour or whatever. The problem is that the car was there and being worked on. This was probably 10 minutes for them max.

(5) $78.46 - replaced left outer stop light bulb

That's a rip off for a car already in the bay being worked on. Even if it was the only thing they touched that looks like more than a half hour to me but I don't know their rates and I don't know how they came up with that number.

Look at the other items in the list. Don't they all look high to you, even for a Lexus dealership? This is the same place that quoted 5K for an AC job.

But hey, if you think 78.46 is fair to replace a brake light bulb, again while other work is being done, then you have your right to believe so.

deanshark

It is a fair price from a "Lexus dealer". $5K for a complete A/C job is a decent price with everything that would need to be replaced. Compressor, condensor, actuator, all the lines,everything. Plus all the labor. Do you know what it takes to get the blower and heater assembly out? I do, the whole dash needs to come out. I think they wanted over $1600 for labor just to pull my heater core which is right there with everything else. Now, the bulb, it doesn't matter if the car is already in the garage or not. I guess you just don't understand working "piecework". So say it takes 10 minutes, more like 20 with getting tools out and set up (Which you say they should just do it for nothing) The tech would lose about $30 out of his pocket. Would you do it for free if you were him? NO. Plus if they were doing a timing belt job, would they just throw in the labor to change the cam seals? The car is already there and it only takes another 15 minutes. I wouldn't take money out of my pocket to do a job for someone I don't even know. "peicework"

moodylu

Thanks again for those who have posted a reply in this thread.

My air conditioner is still running great! I have found a good mechanic and it is all because I decided to ask questions here. Thank you all again.

I just uploaded a picture of my car (see my avatar).

Moral of my story: If you have an LS400 and you love yours as much as I do, don't give up on it. Get a second opinion if you're not sure about the first one. I wish I could work on this car myself but I can't and I have a great amount of respect for those who can fix things.

johnnyg66

Good for you we all love these cars.

deanshark

Glad to hear it's still good and now you have a new mechanic, one you can trust. Don't feel bad about not being able to fix these types of things, most of it is pretty technical and we even have problems now and then, that's why we're here. The reason some of us can do it is b/c we've been working on cars since we were kids, some of us 40 years.

moodylu

A special Thank You to sdls for your very kind words, and I'm glad to see how nice everyone is on this board. It was interesting to me to read everyone's opinions and I appreciate all of them.

I hope my posts have helped others dealing with air conditioning problems.
I should have chosen a better title for this thread. My bad.

So, what I have learned, for what is it worth, for anyone with 1991 LS400 A/C problems:

If you have hot air blowing, have the freon checked by the dye test.
If the leak is slow, you have the choice of having the A/C repaired or just adding more freon and waiting to see what happens. Don't believe just one mechanic, get a second opinion.

Personally, I am going to go back and have the freon level checked next month. Given my budget and the age of the car, if I need to add freon once or even twice a year to have cold A/C, that's good enough for me right now.

I know it's not a permanent solution and the problem may get worse. But it seems a logical choice for me for now given the book value of the car and the estimate of $5k to replace the A/C.

Whether the A/C compressor is bad or only the A/C seal is bad, I still don't know. Maybe time will tell me that answer but for now, all is working well.

PS: I posted bigger pictures of my car in the picture thread. She really is a beauty, and I really do love my 1991 LS400. I wouldn't trade her in for anything else right now.

bsjones35

I wouldn't get it fixed for $5100 even the repairs you paid for previously for at the dealership you probably could of went to an indy for half the price. I'm sure your LS is a nice classic car but for taking it to a Lexus dealership isn't worth it. Try Craigslist or google an Lexus indy shop. Just my 2cent.