payneiii

Good morning Lexus Family. I am a new Lexus owner and glad to be here. I have always been a Cadillac man and always wanted a Lex but could never find the right LS460 with all the bells and whistles. But on January 31, 2015 I bought a 2008 LS 600h L in Highland Park, Illinois (2.5 hours away). It may have been a big mistake that I have until Tuesday to correct. Here's my story.

I looked on Auto Trader on January 26, 2015 and saw the 2008 Launch Edition 600 for $31,495 and 74,636 miles at MandiMotors though I don't know how to confirm which one of the 100 it is. I took the Vin number (JTHDU46FX85001095) and registered on LexusDrivers website. I saw 6 pages of service records and discovered that every single required maintenance up to 70,000 miles had been done at the Lexus dealer. This prompted me to go check it out.

I got there on January 31, 2015 and test drove it. It seemed as if a there was a noise coming from left driver's side suspension but the guy in charge of their service department, "Serge" told me that that is how All-Wheel Drive vehicles behave. I bit the bullet and bought it along with a 4 year/ 48,000 mile "bumper to bumper" warranty through Marathon Group for $2,360. The car had supposedly been inspected and serviced before I purchased it. I had to fill it up with gas myself and had to clean out glove box but the car looked great. There were a few areas of opportunity with the paint work and body but overall looks good. Photos are here :http://www.mandimotors.com/web/used/...nois/19234501/. I traded in my 2007 Cadillac DTS with 75.000 miles and $13,000 owed. They gave me $14,000 for the trade in and paid off my Cadillac loan and I gave them $2,500 cash down. I drove it home but wasn't impressed with the ride or noise level compared to the Caddy, but loved all the gadgets.

One week later on Saturday, February 7, 2015 while I was idling in a fast food drive thru the "Check Hybrid System" light came on. It said "Please Pull Over and Contact Dealer Immediately". Not good. So that Monday I took it to the Lexus Dealership here in Mishawaka, Indiana. I also asked them to upgrade the navigation since it had the original 2007-08 maps ($377.83) . I had the 75,000 service completed ($373.41) and asked them to look into the noise coming from the left driver's side. Uh Oh !!!! The Hybrid Batteries need replaced ($5,185.51) and the shock on the left side needs replaced ($1,648.52) along with both Drive Axel Boots ($1,057.32). My Marathon Warranty would not cover the shock or boots because they are "wear items". Fortunately the Factory Lexus 8 year/ 100,000 mile warranty hasn't quite expired and picks up the battery replacement. I asked the service rep (after doing some research) what all was being replaced ? He said he assumed it was the entire assembly but I know that can't be true because the inverter alone is a $8,000 part. He wasn't all that familiar with it because as far as he could remember they have only had one other Hybrid battery fail. He said the batteries will come with a 12 month/ unlimited mileage warranty and the Factory warranty on the Hybrid System should expire this Summer.

Now, the Lexus service rep suggested I contact MandiMotors and see if they would help with the bill since my car was in the shop with major bills less than 2 weeks after purchase and it was supposedly inspected and serviced before I bought it. I called them and after an hour long heated conversation, they decided to give me $1000 towards repair and that they had already replaced the right side shock on the vehicle. They said there is nothing wrong and the Lexus Dealership is not being totally honest with me. The owner of MandiMotors said quite frankly, he was surprised that was all they found wrong and didn't charge me about $8,000 in repairs. WHAT ?????!

He told me if I didn't like his offer for $1,000 then I could bring the car back and he would gladly sell it to someone else and I could get my old car back (http://www.mandimotors.com/web/used/...nois/19567337/). He said I should take the weekend and think about it and call him Monday with my decision. Question...what to do????? I imagine I would have to take out a loan to buy my old Caddy back. However, I am already into about $800 in service so far on the Lexus. This car is still at the Dealership waiting on the battery to arrive. I will have driven it 9 days and had it in the shop 8 days when Monday, February 16 hits. Should I:

1. Decide to keep the car and let another shop replace the shock and boots and accept the $1000 offer from MandiMotors towards repair? What about the soon expiring warranty on the Hybrid System? Obviously very costly if the inverter goes next and besides, do any after market warranties cover the Hybrid System at all? My current aftermarket warranty on the Lexus doesn't seem to cover much when you need it.

2. Take the Lex back and get my old car back. I know the cosmetic issues with my old Caddy (leaking oil, needs a new sunroof frame, etc...) and that's why I looked for something else.

3. Suggest to him that I drive back and return the Lexus, and choose something else from his lot. The Mercedes look hot but what about reliability issues in the 2008 S600 or S550 models? What about warranties?

Any and all input will be greatly appreciated. I can't even focus and enjoy my Valentine's Day weekend with my girl properly cause I've got this on my mind. I'm not a rich man by any means. What to do, Lexus Fam ???

Vansibel

Well that's a tough one. Imo hybrid batteries failing now could be a good thing because you will actually get a brand new hybrid battery for free just before the warranty expire. And yeah, those batteries failing is very rare, maybe the car was stored for a long period of time and the battery got to a level so low that it affected it's performance permanently. With the work they are doing to your car make sure to ask the dealer to check for other imminent problems. If it stop there you will drive a very nice car with a brand new hybrid battery. But if stuff start failing out of warranty you'll quickly realize that this car is no Cadillac as far as repair cost is concerned. That's a tough call, but at the same time it's the reason why you don't cross them at every corner. The benz would be an even greater leap of faith imo, as the lexus should statistically be more reliable. But they are both very costly to repair, even for minor things. We all take a chance at some point with those car, in the end there is no way to know exactly what will break. Are you sure the car wasn't in an accident before ?

greg3852

I would take the 1k and go to an indy mechanic and have him do the work on the shock and boots. Or make Mandimotors do the work since you did point it out during the test drive.

This is the first LS600h I've heard of that has had to have the batteries replaced. I personally would be very leery of dealing with ManiMotors after this.

But I am not sure I would want to hang onto this car either. On one hand you will be getting a lot of things done on the car, so you will know where you stand with it. But the last thing I would do is go buy back your Caddy. You went looking for a car because of the issues. Makes no sense to buy it back. And i certainly wouldn't buy a Benz.

You are in a tough spot. I guess with all these issues, I would keep the Lexus and get everything fixed. Sounds like you can get it all done for almost nothing out of pocket if you find a good indy mechanic or let MandiMotors do the shock.

payneiii

Thanks for the input. The Carfax says this is a one owner vehicle with no accidents reported. This was another reason I decided to pull the trigger and purchase it. All services ever performed on the vehicle before MandiMotors purchased it, were performed at a Lexus Dealership. If you go to the link I have in my post showing the Cars photos, there is a link on that page to the actual Carfax report I saw before I purchased the vehicle. This is an interesting situation I'm in.

hfahmy

This is a beautiful car!! Also has the advanced PCS, which is very rare. Consider your self lucky that the hybrid battery failed now before the 8 years. These batteries are very reliable, so I would say you have another 70-80k miles to enjoy on this battery. Now, you said you bought warranty, why is it that it did not cover the shocks? The $1k covers the axeles. One other thing you need to look for is the control arms. If the warranty does not cover them, I would return the car.

payneiii

Marathon Group told me that shocks are considered wear items to them and are therefore not covered. However they do cover the control arms under my Titanium Coverage concerning the suspension.

Johnny Rad

I think there's another key piece of info you need prior to making your final decision - what's the service history for this car? The Lexus Service Team can pull a history of everything* that's been done at a Lexus dealer. If the car has been maintained and they are confident these are the only outstanding issues, that's a good sign. If it hasn't been serviced by a dealer on the otherhand, it introduces an element of risk regarding what has been / has not been done and what may have been deferred by previous owner(s). Trust your spidey senses.

Slightly off-topic, This is a good example of where a Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) could have been beneficial. I stringly recommend performing one before buying a used car from a private party or from a dealer that doesn't specialize in that particular make (e.g.: buying a Lexus from a non-Lexus new car dealer).

payneiii

One of the things that makes it so tough is that it is a beautiful car. Plus, I was totally counting on the Lexus reliability. Now I have a concern about other components in the Hybrid System like the $8000 Inverter failing when the Factory Warranty expires this Summer. The battery would be covered for an extra year but not the Inverter. I haven't heard of any aftermarket warranties that cover the Hybrid System components when the Factory Warranty expires.

Johnny Rad

Many years ago, an older pal told me he figured to pay 10-20% of the purchase price of a used car to get it back up to speed ... be it mechanical, aesthetics or both. The older the car, the more it makes sense in my book. Because your "new" '08 is now upwards of seven years old, I can understand it needing a few things. How much is ok is where you need to draw the line.

payneiii

You are spot on about the Pre Purchase Inspection. But with the car being 2.5 hours away it made it tough for me to find someone in the know who could drive with me. As for the service history, I registered the VIN with LexusDrivers.com and found that every regularly scheduled service up to 70,000 was performed. Every one !!! All other services were evidently only performed at one of two Lexus dealerships with both being in Texas. Every little thing that was needed (and some that weren't) she took this car to the Lexus Dealership. Almost 7 pages of service history on this vehicle. It is crazy. I figured whoever owned this vehicle must have loved it up until they parted ways.

roadfrog

I agree. Can't really add any more to this. I would just reiterate and emphasize that, if you go with an MB, you are REALLY opening yourself up to a world of hurt.

As long as everything else checks out after a thorough inspection, go and enjoy your new ride.

I would also comment that I am SHOCKED that you consider the caddy a better ride than the Lex. That is unusual. The LS600 has a far quieter ride than the caddy (db ratings are not even close).

payneiii

I am thinking it might have had something to do with the bad shock and boots in the front. This might have had an impact on the ride quality. However it was snowy here the 9 days I drove it before it began it's current vacation at the dealership and I love it's All-Wheel Drive handling in the snow and on icy roads.

hfahmy

You need to ditch this warranty. Can you? Also, try to get Lexus warranty even at double the price. I paid almost $4,500 to get car certified for 6/100 (25k miles). Someone did get a warranty a week or so ago, Stevenson Lexus or something. Important question you need to ask yourself, other shocks will fail. If you can't get this Lexus warranty that covers them, do you want to keep this car? I made sure that my 600 can be certified before buying it because stuff like that will happen.

payneiii

Excellent point. I can ditch this shady aftermarket warranty (haven't had it a month yet). However as the second owner of this vehicle, would I be able to purchase a Lexus extended warranty? The only Factory warranty remaining on this vehicle when I bought it was the 8 year/ 100,000 mile warranty on the Hybrid System and that will expire this Summer. All others had expired with the previous owner.

LS2k

If i am not mistaken the only way you could get a lexus extended warranty at this stage is if can get a Lexus dealer to buy it and resale to you as a CPO. Maybe worth a few call around mostly if you can ditch your current warranty.