gbracer04

I took my 2004 LS430 to dealership for electrical problem. They said I have some fuses blown and that they are in a spot that is difficult to retrieve. One being a 140 AMP fuse in the engine room junction box. Other mini fuses and a fusible link repair. They charged me almost for $400 for 3 hours labor to change these fuses. When I got back home I checked my owners manual for fuse box locations and found that all 5 fuse boxes are easily retrievable. They're is 2 in engine compartment, 2 in cabin, and 1 in trunk. I am not sure what the fusible link is or where it is located. Did I get taken on this repair??

AlexusAnja

I dont know of any fuses in the car that would take 2.5 hours book time to.get to and replace. All the boxes you mentioned are the boxes i'm aware of and they are easily accessible. Rough...

keyframe13

Wow dealer overcharging...never heard of that before.
I think you should have asked before approving the job It's kinda useless now.

offroad200

Your 140 amp fuse is bolted in to the fuse box. You can't just pull it straight out like a regular fuse. Now, how hard that is to do, I don't know. But I suspect there's a little more to it than you think. If you ever have any questions about the charges, don't be afraid to have them show you what they are doing beforehand.

marktmark

Wow. 3 hours to change some fuses seems a stretch, even for an amateur like me to do.

Maybe it included the lunch and breaks in-between...

I would get a quote from another dealership for comparison. It doesn't hurt to raise the issue with the management if the time estimates are way off.

jimbosr1

damm!!!

gbracer04

Is the 140 AMP fuse clear and is it fuse #62 according to manual? If it is fuse number 62 in the engine compartment it looks to be easily accessible for what I can see.

SW17LS

The issue here is the cost of labor at a Lexus dealer, and using them to diagnose issues on an older car. 3 hours of labor also includes the diagnostic, and everything is based on their book rates...whether it actually takes that time or not. At $130 an hour...it adds up really fast. Dealer is super when its new and all the services are prepackaged and you can spend $200 and get it maintained and get a nice loaner, but when its an old car and you start having issues...the dealer will break you. Its time to find a good, Lexus knowledgable independent mechanic, somebody with an $80 labor rate, who will charge you what it actually takes to do work.

The other issue is, so they replaced fuses...what caused the fuses to trip? Fuses don't just trip.

BMW7_LS430

You can see the 140A Fuselinks but there is some work to be done. It can easily be done by a novice. I did it.
Work is already done so you can't do anything now. Maybe you should have asked us before.

Even the fuse, Lexus quoted me $45. I got 120A for $3 at advance auto. I know it is 20 A less but it is working fine and worst case it will just blow earlier than 140A.

Dealers are expensive but they are doing a business, not charity. They have to cover all of their cost plus make some profits to stay in business. Lexus dealership near me is really nice looking and it take money to keep it that way at a prime location. Like mentioned earlier, find an reliable indy. There are lot of lexus mechanics who opened up their own shop and you can save 50% or more.

fensterlip

They should at least explain where the money was spent in hours and parts. Ask for an explanation of the service writer while offering your (gentle) skepticism. He should be forthright even if it's ugly. I find they are very friendly and helpful if a bit expensive.
And, oh, find yourself a good local shop you trust. As the other poster said, for an older car when your not jonesing for a new loaner is the way to go.
It does sound a bit expensive and just short of outrageous but within possibility.

gbracer04

If I would have known it was just a fuse before hand I would have tried to fix it myself. The car had to be towed 30 miles to the dealer so I was kinda stuck at that point and I think thats why they took advantage of me. I came back later and challenged the service rep while showing him under my hood that the job should not have been a 3 hr job. He was very nervous when I pointed out to him how easy it would be to change the fuse. I told him I think this is ridiculous to pay that much for a fuse change and repair. He said, well you have to understand these cars are very expensive to repair. I said, not really, you guys make them expensive to repair by jacking up the price just because its a Lexus. He was speechless..

gbracer04

The fuses blew because I put battery in not noticing battery was supposed to be facing opposite direction. I touched terminals for only a few seconds and thats all she wrote!..
Anyone who changes their battery can learn from my expensive mistake. Dont ever rush and always pay attention to details..

SW17LS

At least you know what the culprit was. Could have been a lot worse.

Very well put. You're paying for a lot of "experience" extras at the dealer. Part of the issue too is that 90% of their business is routine service, warranty work, etc on cars less than 4-5 years old. I have found that when you have an older Lexus on top of being really expensive, they are not as efficient at diagnosing issues as independent mechanics that work more on older cars. They also have a "replace first" mentality that is fine for warranty work, but will break you when you are paying.

All around, the Lexus service experience is meant to be experience first, cost second. Kind of like wondering why a beer is $10 at a luxury resort.

the.wong.k

iTrader: (2)

as other people have posted on here, you can always get a quote from another dealer, but looking at it, the price seems about right, starting labor rate for average dealer is about $150 an hour and most dealers charge at least an hour diag before the find the problem. i think the dealer charges for that fusible link around $100 dollars, don't quote me on that. probably charge another hour for replacement and then another hour for verifying the problem and making sure nothing else is wrong.

kenshimoto

i'd try to have another tech shop thats honest and professional handle yur car in the future as yur secondary go to repair shop..... was there a hawt-*** rep massaging u while u wait? 400 is just crazy....