Clyman

Check engine light went on. Was told one bad coil. Dealer recommended to replace all for $1200. Is this reasonable or do I just replace the bad one for $360?

RX330inFL

Welcome to Club Lexus, Clyman.

Neither. Not a good price for either job. Did they tell you what the error code was? Did they tell you which one was bad? Would you consider performing this work yourself? Depending on which coil is bad it might not be a hard job at all if you have the tools. The ones up front are easy to get to. If you stop by an AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, etc. they normally will hook up a scanner and read the error codes for free. Let us know what they are and we can perhaps add more to the exact nature of the job.

If you need someone else to tackle this job for you, consider going by a local Toyota or independent shop and ask for a quote. The parts the Toyota dealership would use would be the same as Lexus. You just do not get a loaner vehicle if one was even offered, no car wash, and perhaps the waiting room is not as nice.

The part from a third-party is about $60 from a local parts store or slightly over $125 retail from a dealer:

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...X350-2007.html

That means they were charging you around $235 (about two hours) in labor for something I could perform in ten (10) minutes if it was a front coil.

Shop around. You are not hurting anything per se. Not something you want to hold off too long on, however, you have plenty of time to look elsewhere.

No real need to replace all of them at this time. As you only have 61K miles this is probably a fluke though there are reports here at CL of RX350 coil failures. You might have another fail in the future. Hard to say. I would wait as long as possible until it comes time to replace your spark plugs at 120K miles and replace them at that time as needed.

Clyman

Dealer has always serviced car and I don't have a recommended independent. I'm a 70 year old female who takes the car in every 5000 miles and only want to gas up. Rest is Lexus' job. I appreciate your response. Will only replace the failed coil and hope it was a fluke.

Carver

Let me reinforce what you were told. My 2005 had a bad coil in 2011, the one coil was replaced and there has been no further trouble. Your dealer was taking advantage of you, in fact, that is outrageous enough to complain to Lexus about. Sorry you were treated that way.

Anytime they suggest anything besides an oil change please check back in here for comments. Replace the bad coil and enjoy your car.

Clyman

Thank you for quick response. I'll replace bad coil only. Merry Christmas

Bill C

I have had coil problems with number 4, center front, the easy one. The next failure I have I will pull the coil and the plug, clean both, and then add the proper amount of Permatex Di-electric grease. Then re-install, and I bet it will solve the problem.
One of these days I will pull the center coil, and perform this test with the three coils I replaced before I found out about the grease on this GREAT forum.
Note: I am a retired electronic design engineer, with 63 years of wrenching on everything, and racing many also!
It's never too late to learn new tricks!!!

Saltynutz

360 per coil x 6 (as there are 6 of them in your car) = 2160

So he offered to save you a lot of money by doing all 6 at the same time and he's accused of taking advantage of you?

You should ask for the break down on the parts and labor, you probably see that he's not charging you much more in labor, but just the cost of parts. Although you could ask for a good discount if you were to agree to do all of them, and you probably would be better off.

thomas1

I actually learned about the dielectric grease on the Ford F150 forums as they have moisture issues with failed coil packs when wet. I carried that on to the Lexus sites as a preventative step against failures. Car forums are a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips.

RX330inFL

The service writer was definitely taking advantage of her. It may be their standard operating procedure to charge everyone that rate, however, it was still excessive. Also, why the reason to change out all six? There was no immediate reason to do so on a vehicle with only 61K on the odometer. As I had pointed out, if the vehicle had 120K miles on it I might have a different opinion as the plugs would need to be changed out at that time. However, any request for changing out all six coils was simply an attempt to reach further into her pocketbook.

Rainbird

+1 How many times on this forum have we seen stories of Lexus service writers taking advantage of female owners? Sadly far too often!

Clyman

Thank you all. I actually told the service writer that the forum said I was being taken advantage of. His response was "management" not him. I'm going to be very, very careful in the future.

Carver

Trust is hard to earn and so easily lost. Welcome to the forum and don't hesitate to post if you're concerned about anything. We're not always right but we're always opinionated!