arnieosp

iTrader: (1)

And here is another one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts...1%7C240%3A1318

Dave600hL

Umm.. so... There is a manufacturer fault with the headlights and you don't take out extended warranty? Or didn't you know about the flaw? In that case you didn't do your due dilligence did you...? So yes , blame yourself for not researching enough.

On top of that any good mechanic would easily spot a master cylinder leak.

arnieosp

iTrader: (1)

And the master cylinder should not be a problem either. Just call some junk yards around.

toyotadad

Hey, I don't have a dog in this fight, but while journalists might not be a reliable source in your eyes, I think the average automotive journalist who drives upwards of 40 new vehicles each year has a better grasp of what's good and what's not than someone who is stuck on one manufacturer or vehicle type. Now, with that said, I spent the better part of 40 years as an automotive journalist and I can tell you that in the latter years of my writing career, I found few bad cars -- just some better than others. I've been driving Lexus vehicles for the last five years and while I honestly can say age has colored my outlook a bit (not enough to keep me out of an IS-F for the last year), I have been nothing but satisfied with the Lexus experience, from delivery, realiability to service. I also honestly can say that I found many more biased owners than automotive journalists. 'Nuff said.

malice9999

With my luck, that one will probably leak too.

lxus4xms

I disagree with this. The RX is simply out-selling other Lexus models. But the Lexus quality is still built into these cars. Also I always buy leased cars from the dealer that sold the car new. I know many drivers that never know until the last minute if they are going to keep their car or turn it in after the lease is done. If they can afford it, they get sold on a newer model, the lease payment is usualy close to the same per month so they throw down a few grand and drive away with a newer model. One good tip is to call the previous owner he or she will tell you buy it or pass.

The G Man

I have seen that chart many times. Did you know that chart actually represent the J D Power's 3 year long term reliability rating for the 2005 model year? If you look at the data, Lexus average 1.2 problem per car in 3 years and BMW average 1.6 problem per car for the 3 year period. I would gladly trade all that BMW performance for that 0.4 problem in 3 years time. If you go to the very bottom of the chart, which is Range Rover as always It has an average of 3.4 problem in 3 years time. Its twice as many problem but its actually not a lot more if you consider the fact that we are comparing the top rated with the lowest rated.
My point is that the whole industry improve as a whole. Reliability, QC and long term testing have improve. Years ago, Toyota had a big advantage in relaibility, but as you can see from that chart, thats no longer the fact. Some people will still but Toyota or Lexus because they think its much more reliable, but the fact is that German car's reliability have come a long way and almost as reliable as the Japanese cars.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

You should visit a German car service dept. Just walk around and ask a couple customers about their cars' reliability. You'll be enlightened. I was.
It has been a couple years since I walked through a Benz shop but I've been to Audi and BMW and you don't know until you check for yourself.
I just had the calipers fixed on my 06 GS. SHouldn't have been faulty on a 2 year old car. But, I'm sure that's the end of it. With German cars they say the fix something and it has to go back for the same issue over and over. I agree the number of problems may have decreased but there continues to be repeats of the same problem. Also, I know Benz owners. They love their cars and the information they give on reliability is just not.....reliable.

The G Man

Well if the problem repeats itself, that’s a reflection on the service department, they didn’t fix it right the 1st time. I had a few problems with Lexus that repeats itself as well, the Lexus service department can be just as bad. I have talk to and know of many German car owners, Most will say that older model German cars are not as reliable as Japanese, but the newer one are much better. MB had some bad years when they were owned by Chrysler, and Audi had some lemons in the late 1990s, those are the models years people think of when they refer to German cars as un-reliable. You also have to remember that the German cars have many more high performance models such as the AMG, M-series and the RS series, anytime you push performance to the max, you will suffer in reliablity. Just let use see how the IS-F will rate in reliability 5-6 years from now before we judge. On the other end of the spectrum, the Lexus of old use build point A to point B cars, which is why they are so reliable. Now that Lexus is starting to add all these toys that the Germans have been using for years, their recent models have become less reliable than the older ones.

CDNROCKIES

You clearly are basing your statements solely on your opinion. You just conceded in your last response that the as recently as the 2005 models, the Germans are nowhere close to Lexus as far as reliability. Lexus continues to remain on top.

You talk about "knowing" German car owners. Maybe spend some time on bimmerpost and mbworld and see from the owners there the issues that they face. It seems that they typical German car owner simply accepts that they will face reliability issues in a trade off for their increased performance.

I know German car owners too. I actually get extended seat time in them as my father has been a BMW guy for the past 15 years. Three different models all with significant reliability issues. I realize that you can end up with a vehicle with problems from any manufacturer, but it is statistical fact that you are significantly more likely to have issues with a German vehicle over a Lexus.

It's interesting that you bring up the IS F. I actually own one and have not had one single issue (barring the dealer installation of my wheels issue). In fact, from reading thoroughly about the car, I am unaware of any owner having a significant mechanical or electrical issue to this point.

The reason I point this out is if you researched the BMW M3 DCT and the C63 you would know that the BMW has already had a recall on it's new tranny software and there are many electrical issues as usual. The C63 appears to have less serious issues than the BMW but still their owners discuss several problems.

Until you provide statistal data proving otherwise (and no C&D doesn't count) your comments will remain only your opinion, to which you certainly are entitled.

The G Man

CDNROCKIES, have you owned your IS-F for 5 or 6 years yet? I rest my case. That JD power long term relaibility chart for the 2005 models is not just my opinion, you can ignore facts and try to justify your purchase some how, but at the end, you gave up on performance for a car that may or may not be more reliable. You do realize Lexus have its share of problems as well, you can read thru this forum and you can see it all over the place. I spend a lot of time on BMW and Audi forums, I happen to own a Audi and had a BMW years ago. I also owned 5 Lexus in the last 15 years. Most of those problems you hear on those forums are on older BMW and Audi, the newer ones are much better. I dont want to keep repeating myself, but as I said earlier, high performance cars such as the BMW M3 DCT and the C63 need more maintenance, that is just the facts. Come back and talk to me in 6 years about how your IS-F is doing, then we can compare apples to apples.

RXSF

while we dont know anything about the IS-F yet, im sure you can look at the regular IS for that information. i mean the only thing that could go wrong would be anything in the engine compartment, but that engine is also in the LS600H so im sure lexus got it right hte first time around...they had to

The G Man

The regular IS has dash rattle issue as well as many interior issues. I would hope the IS-F's interior is not as poorly built as the IS. With the introduction of IS-F, Lexus is closing the gap the Germans as far as performance is concerned. At the same time, the Germans are cloing the gap on the Japanese cars when it comes to reliability.

CDNROCKIES

Talk about facts?

You have yet to provide any?

The part that I highlighted makes absolutely zero sense. I don't need to justify anything. I made my decision on what was best for my wife an myself. I did make a conscious decision to buy a first model year vehicle from a manufacturer that is rated number one in reliability. When weighing the pros and cons of the M3, C63 and IS F, reliability was something that concerned me in a first model year car from the Germans.

I really am not concerned with how the F will stand up 5 or 6 years down the road. I'll already be in something new long before that. The point was that there were three super sedans released last year. In initial reliability, the M3 has already had a recall and many electrical issues, while the C63 has also had electrical and some isolated tranny issues. I am unaware of any issues to date with the F.

I actually do realize that Lexus has it's share of problems. In fact, I stated in my last post "I realize that you can end up with a vehicle with problems from any manufacturer."

You can continue to cling to your weak arguments all you want. The bottom line is that Lexus overall is significantly more reliable than the German automakers. This conversation started on the RX where you stated that Lexus was no longer as reliable and the Germans caught up.

If you would like to try to argue that a MB ML, BMW X5 or Audi Q7 is as reliable as the RX, I can provide you with boatloads of data to prove otherwise.

The G Man

I would not say 120 problems in a 100 Lexus in 3 years and a 150 problems in a 100 BMW in 3 years as significantly more reliable.
The fact is that you bought a car that is a tad bit more reliable and a tad bit less performance. Those are the trade offs, you can continue to hand onto the notion that Japanese cars are much more reliable than germans car, but the narrowing gap in reliability from most of the data doesnt not support your thinking.