roadfrog

Not to nitpick, but they're the same thing as far as I know. Now, if you're talking about a TSB, there is one as long as your under warranty. But again, it's not a safety issue, so a car manufacturer would not issue a recall/campaign.

Gbp

Nitpicking is fine, just expect it to be mutual.

A service campaign isn't confined to safety issues. As you correctly pointed out, a recall is. You can argue that a recall is a form of service campaign, but not all service campaigns are recalls. If you haven't already done so, please read the link I added to my post that you corrected me on.

I don't know if this differs in Canada...

roadfrog

Perhaps it is different in Canada. For example, my notice that came in the mail says "Safety Recall/Campaign".

Gbp

The keyword is "Safety", not "Campaign". Here's an example of a service campaign that's not a recall:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/att...-img_1805.jpeg

I hope this clarifies things.

ETA: in response to the below, LOL!

roadfrog

"Warranty Enhancement", (which is what that notice is), is also referred to as, a "secret warranty", by those like Edmunds, Consumer Reports, etc. I would not have considered those as campaigns.

Regardless, I will aquiesce that I have been schooled.

Ascari_2

Oh not this again

rudyH

So the guy doesn't like his Lexus. That's OK. Buy something else. Regarding the deceptive title of the the thread, I meN....he broke the car when working on it, if anyone buys into the poor reliability issue, I don't think you'll find many LS owners talking about how lousy their car has been. I've owned almost every car make and I am on my 4th Lexus. They Re the most reliable trouble free cars I've ever owned. I find the dealers in Southern California to be wonderful as well. It seems in some areas the dealers may not be as well liked. So the OP got everyone's hackles up and kudos to him as I'm thinking that was his goal. Anybody who blames the LS for this issue is delusional at best.

R Z

Having gone back and read all the OP's posts, he first mentions he bought an 87000 mile car without having it checked. He goes on to say it needs $1000's of dollars of work plus the body was "held together" with superglue. Then he posts in all kinds of threads looking for a service manual to fix lights. Now he installed the wrong spark plugs and the engine is toast. Yep . . . it's certainly the car.

rudyH

Excellent summary.

azzkicker

Clearly I've upset some folks by sharing my opinion that my LS460 is less reliable than it should be, and that repairs are more expensive (at Lexus) than they should be. In my defense, my car was broke down and the first estimate I received to fix it was more than I could afford. Does anybody else get cranky when that happens? Just me? Sorry, I'm still working on my anger management.

Yes, I listed everything I'd put money into on this car, including things like tires and the battery that any car needs, because I was feeling broke and buried in car related expenses and was sharing why I felt that way. Yes, many of the expenses that were adding up on me were reasonable; I wasn't begrudging that they happened, just noting that they were piling on top of the issues I felt were not reasonable.

It seems I can sum the rude messages (many responses were nice, so I'm only talking about the rude ones) in a few basic statements:

1) only an idiot doesn't vacuum out the spark holes before he pulls a plug . Really? The dealer says they don't do it and it wasn't in the "how to" thread written by apparently a very qualified owner, but maybe because only an idiot wouldn't think of that.

By the way, what vacuum attachment did you use when you did your last plug change? I don't have one handy that can fit in the 1/4" space around the base of the plug and you're not going to suck a bolt up from 3" away. I could make one, but it would be easier if you post a picture of the one you must have, since you're not an idiot like me.

Having said that, I took responsibility for what went wrong on my watch. My gripe is the worn out parts and expensive replacements. And no, I wasn't missing any bolts after the job, and I did use several Ziploc bags and a shelf to keep parts organized. In fact, each bolt and each coil went back on the same cylinder it came off of.

2) Only an idiot has their Lexus serviced at the Lexus dealer because it's ridiculously expensive. Okay, that was kind of my gripe so I guess we agree. And I didn't pay for the dealer to do headlights, I found out the price and disassembled the fender liner myself to do it. And yes, I think it's ridiculous to design a car in a way that requires major disassembly to replace a bulb. No access panel? Really? I guess I'm expecting too much.

3) You can't expect a Lexus to go 90,000 miles without replacing the water pump, pulley tensioner, and suspension bushings because that's just how it is. Okay, maybe so but I had a lot of crappy cars from the 80s go much farther without such items wearing out. Sorry if I expected Lexus to outperform Chevy in the longevity department. I guess that makes me an idiot.

For the record, my LS300 was absolutely trouble free for about 140,000 miles and I traded it in running perfectly so I know they can do it.

For the conspiracy theory folks, I believe I've just attached the pictures of the damage from the bore scope and a capture of the repair estimate. I'm not an LS400 owner, although they look like nice cars so I'm not sure why that was thrown out there like an insult.

Before you math whizzes get spun up, it's lower than what my dealer told me over the phone because his call included the other service items I've now already paid for (I didn't know that, but it makes sense he was telling the whole price to drive away fixed).

As for why I can't do a simple engine swap if I've rebuilt engines before, it's because I was busted all to hell when I was a Ranger. I have way too many healed fractures and metal stuck in my body to move around that much. I'd have to ice for a week at a time between afternoons doing the work.

I've attached a picture of an x-ray of my leg (long after the bone healed) because you skeptics wouldn't believe that one either. The sparkles are hollow points, and some appear outside my leg because the flesh doesn't show up on a x-ray where it isn't thick enough. The concentric ring shapes on the right are scar tissue around the bullet hole and that's a round rod up the center of my femur. Yeah, it hurts when I stand on it but I still get around and work full time, which means I can't be spending my weekend making it worse.

I've earned the right to sit around and ***** a little about how much stuff costs. Have you?

rudyH

I wouldn't call you an idiot, just unrealistic and like a lot of us, you just bought a car that doesn't suit you right now. Ask what it costs to change a headlight or LED tail light on any Mercedes or BMW made in the last 15 years. It just, to me, sounds like the car may have been a mess when you bought it.

roadfrog

I didn't and never have, vacuumed out the plug ports.....EVER. However, that wasn't the issue. Leaving behind parts of your tool chest behind was. Mistakes happen. Unfortunately, in this case...to you.

I think the problem people have had on this thread, was you blaming the car and calling it finicky and problematic.

You've lost ALL credibility with this statement. Perhaps you wouldn't have replaced the water pump on a chevy, but that pales in comparison to the embarrassing list of others issues you would have had.....and then getting bent over and taking it dry with sand thrown in, while trading it in on something else. C'mon man.

I hope things work out well for you when the dust settles. I mean that. Good luck.

Gbp

I understand your frustrations, OP, especially with all these expenses hitting you in a fairly short period of time. It's possible that the previous owner deferred maintenance and that you are the "lucky" beneficiary. So when the motor went, even though it seems that was your fault, it was the final straw -- or, in Monty Python parlance, the 16-ton weight.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do. Please keep us posted, especially regarding how it works out with your insurer. Thanks!

Devh

Since you are putting it all out there for examination could you kindly tell me which insurance company is giving you that level of coverage. I would like to consider them and I'm sure many others .

Hiroshi12

iTrader: (1)

You're not the only one who has had this experience. I know it's not the same but back in the day I had a nice caddy that I decided to tune-up in my driveway and long story short, when replacing the fuel filter on the back of the carb I must have dropped a small piece of teflon tape into an intake port or vac line and presto! The carb was destroyed and I had to pay big bucks for a mobile mech to come and remove/rebuild/reinstall the carb and...that was the last time I ever did any engine work on any of my vehicles. Now I just stick to the cosmetic stuff and maybe some suspension work. Anything else, I'm more than happy to pay a pro to do. Good luck and I hope you stick with Lexus - maybe get an LS400? They're old now but still bulletproof.