cwazyguy22

Hey all, the bottom line is I need a referral to a good shop/mechanic somewhere in Seattle-Tacoma area for brakes and struts. I am based in Ft. Lewis. And am not mechanically inclined whatsoever. But here's the background.

I knew I needed an oil change and to change my air filter for my 07 IS250 which is at around 107k right now. I started lookin around at what the 100k service entails. I've not been home very long due to TDY training and deployments etc, back to back. So I've definitely been abusing and neglecting my ride. This is why I decided to go with the 90K major maintenance service. I yelped one of the mom and pop shops Lloyd's in Tacoma who had great reviews so I scheduled an appt with them. They were gonna charge me $400 for oil change, filters, fluids, coolant, etc, etc. When I got there, it didn't look very organized and my car was the only Lexus there so I was afraid maybe they had no experience with Lexus. Last minute I called Titus Will Toyota/Scion. They said $430 so I went straight over there. (On a side note, Lexus of Fife quoted me pretty much the same amount...after I dropped my car off at Titus...****!!! shoulda just went there...whatever.)

Titus calls me several hours later and list the following issues:

Most urgent: water pump leaking coolant $860 which includes doing something with the serpentine/drive belt.

Leaking struts: $984 for the front and $1075 for the back.

Front and rear brakes:$300 for the fronts and $300 for the backs

So: 860 + 984 + 1075 + 600 = $3519 in addt'l work I would need. I think we all know, even tho we drive Lexus, it by no means suggests that we have a lot of cash to throw away on overpriced maintenance.

But at least these would all be genuine Lexus parts. So I combed these forums and the $800 for the water pump seemed pretty std across the board so I asked them for a discount and they knocked off $100 down to $760. So I'm pretty happy about that even tho I probably still got taken for a really fast not very fun ride. The tech told me tho that the brakes and struts would be good for a while so they weren't as urgent as the water pump. So now that I know I have some time for those items I was hoping some of you guys could refer me to a decent shop or mechanic in the area who could change my brakes and struts for a lot less than those guys are charging.

These astronomical numbers are just wrenching my gut. Any help would be really really appreciated. Thanks in advance~

V8drummer

iTrader: (5)

Honestly, sounds like the dealer is hosing you.
Your struts are probably fine. I'd get under the car and see if they're leaking at all.

Did you even notice the coolant leak?

ktran99

I feel for you. I recently sold my Infiniti FX35 after buying a used Lexus IS250. The buyer of my FX35 took it to the dealer for a full inspection. They recommended replace the fan belts, brake fluid, and oil cooler o-ring at a cost of $600. I felt sorry for the buyer so I told him I would take care of it.

I bought the belts and brake fluid at Napa for $50 and the o-ring at a Nissan dealer for $6. Took them to my mechanic here in SoCal. He charged me $65 Including the mandatory smog check before selling the car. So my guess is he charged me $25 to replace all the items. $25+$56=$81 versus $600 what the dealer wanted. I am not giving dealers my hard-earned money, that's for sure.

As for my IS250, it started having issue with the GPS touch screen (common to 06-08 model years). I have dealer quote between $2500-$5000. A fellow forum member helped fix it at a fraction of the cost.

cwazyguy22

Hey man, you know any reputable shops or forum members who can help me with a tranny? VSC and check engine light would not go off so I took it to Lexus dealer. Now theyre sayin I need a new tranny. $4300. Any help is appreciated, thanks.