ChronoJ1

iTrader: (2)

Geez.....

Well...to start off, I bought my 94 sc400 with 85k miles a month ago from a guy in Chicago ( I'm in Ann Arbor, Michigan) I bought the sc for 12000 dollars which I thought was a pretty good deal. When I met the guy he showed me an inspection sheet from a Lexus dealer stating that there is no known mechanical problem. Well, i noticed the engine light was on and complained, and he said it wasn't the engine but some electrical malfunction caused by the car-phone.

Well...
Yesterday out of suspicion, I went to a dealer here in AA to have my car scanned.... Oh my god...the list I got after 2 hours of scanning was looooong.

- EGR valve ($320)
- Modulator (90)
- Lighter Assembly (188)
- Passenger door panel (1300)
- Tires (928)
- Timing belts (146)
- Water pump (252)
- Rear, front brakes (1400)
- EGR gasket
- Heater valve hose
- Suspension upgrade

And the list goes on....

Currently my car is at the dealer just to have the timing belt and the water pump replaced, and the estimate I got was $1050 without tax. Is this a reasonable price to have these two parts re-installed? Or was I better off going somewhere else where the labor fee is cheaper? (labor fee at lexus $90/hr)

After I have these two things fixed, I'm gonna have to get the rest done next week when all the necessary parts are shipped in. Should I return to the Lexus dealer or find another place?

Need some advice from all you experts...


Thanks...

lex400sc

Guy never changed the belts after 85k? That probably means he didn't do the 60k service. That list is pretty long already, but my list was long when I did the 200-something point inspection. You have to read between the lines. The service consultant will try to sell you a lot of replacement pieces for easy fixes. I didn't have Lexus do any service from my inspection list. I took it home and tried to fix things myself. Like a loosened midpipe hanger that just needed tightening. They tried to sell me a new right exhaust system for $1300. For instance what's wrong with your door panel for $1300? The EGR valve and gasket you should be able to install yourself. Just buy parts if needbe. What's wrong with your brakes that costs $1400 in parts??? If the rotors are slightly warped, all you need to do is have them resurfaced, not replaced. What's wrong with the vacuum modulator? Is you car not shifting gears? For the tires, do the penny test. Stick a penny in the tread and if you can see the top of Lincoln's head, you need new tires. Otherwise you still have tread. You can buy tires a lot cheaper online if you need to. I would definitely replace the belts, last thing you want is to be stuck on the side of the road with a busted belt. The water pump, hoses, EGR, modulator, anything under the hood should be taken care of. And look into those brakes too. You can feel the discs through the rims. If they are rough, textured, or warped you need to get them looked at.

SDSC300

ok well 1st the lexus dealers are kinda expencive .. but if they mess it up somehow the will take care of you (usally)
I don't and wont go back to my lexus dealer .. they just told me that I needed a lot of things that I didn't like tires, a new a/c unit they said it was leaking .. and other stuff ... but I did have a bad EGR modulator and valve, the modulator isn't hard to install the part is about 60$ , and the valve is like 160, but there not that importaint in making the car run..I dont know about the other stuff but I know you should be able to fine a good place thats cheaper than 90$hr. and that if the timing belt goes the engine won't be damaged.

quick

A lot of these items are probably b.s.

Additionally, it's likely that you can repair most of these items rather than replacing them all (which sounds like what they're trying to do).

What I suggest is to talk to a friend locally who's handy with a wrench and offer him some beer if he's willing to help you with your car.

Then, you can take a look at the items yourself and determine what needs to be replaced and what can be left alone for now.

For instance, you can blow the carbon out of your EGR most likely and you won't need to replace it. It's pretty rare that you need to replace an EGR.

As I said, I haven't seen your car in person, but it sounds to me like the dealer's trying to take advantage of you.

hellasboy

I believe changing the belts are done at the 90k service. 1050$ to only change the timing belt and water pump? That's way too much (IMO)!

What's wrong with the lighter assembly?
The passenger door problem cracking is a common problem, if it's really bad try taking it to a plastic welder to fix it. Replacing it is pretty extreme, especially for the price.
928$ for tires? Do you still have the stock wheels? That's an absurd amount of money for tires.
1,400$ for brakes? They sound like the meinekei that I went to. They even showed me the rotors... I went to a local shop to which I go to for almost all the work I can't do myself and they said all I needed were brake pads. They were right. Is you're car shaking when you press the brakes?
Suspension upgrade? Have you noticed your suspension sqeaking or riding rough?

In my opinion, you're getting charged too much and possibly unecessary work.

ToyLexmods

Chrono,

Yes, the egr stuff will trip that check engine lite to come on. Actually, why does the timing belt/wp need to be done right now? Leaking?

You can visually inspect the timing belt by pulling off the valve cover plastic part...5minute job and the belt is in plain sight. There is no rush on the timing belt...inspect it yourself. My 92LS 400 has 125k miles on the factory timing belt and waterpump...I inspect it every year.....its fine...I leave it in. My 92SC4 with 70k miles...ditto....belt fine....inspect it....leave it alone.

I agree with the other members...buy the EGR from Carson Toyota with discount and put it on yourself....very easy job. at a fraction of the cost. Ditto for some of the other items. Brakes, easy job on this car...just get new rotors and pads...very cheap factory parts.

12k is not too much to spend on this car if its in excellent condition.

lex400sc

Damn, I didn't even notice that quote!!! Either you have 22 inch rims, or they're giving you 345mm wide tires!

I thought timing belts were scheduled maintenance at 60k (though they may last much longer). I actually had the dealership bugging me about my belt at 45k. I know CA requirement is every 105k miles or so. I usually don't keep a timing belt beyond that regardless of it's appearance.

Huh??? The purpose of a timing belt is to keep the reciprocation cycles in harmony and thus prevent timing collisions. A belt snapping will break your pushrods only---if you're lucky. If you had valves and pistons colliding, you're looking at a new head gasket. Add on top of that tow, oil, oil filter, and of course our favorite...LABOR. You're looking at a roughly $1000 if you had an unlucky snap.

ChronoJ1, did you pay for all this stuff already? I know some dealerships make you pay for order products beforehand. Anyway, when they ask you why you're returning all this stuff, tell them CL sent ya!

Lvangundy

Yes, you do NOT want to go with a worn timing belt. The Lexus engines are interference type which can do major damage if the belt breaks.

I have almost 130,000 miles on my 90 LS and I checked my timing belt it has small cracks. I am waiting for my tax return to get it repalaced at my local toyota specialist for $500.00

Do not drive your car hard with a worn timing belt. You're asking for trouble.

justinlarsen

my 1995 sc300 is shaking when i break i replaced the brakes and its still doing it should i get the rotors shaved and how much dose that typically cost?

ChronoJ1

iTrader: (2)

Thank you for your replies, everyone....

And yes...like the message right above, when I brake at high speed I can feel the entire chasis pulsating... and most of it seems to be coming from the rear brakes. Does anyone know if it's the rotor, caliper, or the pad?

And to answer some questions above....
Yes, I did already pay for the timing belt and the water pump which cost me 1100 dollars including labor fee. But, no, I haven't payed for the other parts since the dealer is still waiting for the parts to be shipped in.

After hearing all your comments... I've dicided to look for another place to have the EGR valve, gasket, modulator, and the brakes fixed. I wish I could fix them myself...but i'd rather not. Don't know much about engines. I probably will make things worse


Dang.... I was going to buy a set of new rims with 1700 bucks I have saved up till now... after working my @$$ off... Can't believe all that money is going to this cr@p... It sucks to be a poor college student...

joelchicago

Dude, honestly POOR college students cannot afford an SC. $12K is not a college car. $500 is. I remember college - I was lucky to find a $750 car that made it 2 years of school. You should have bought something cheaper to maintain. This car will cost you as much as room and board this year just to maintain. Maybe more.

Good luck.

VQT

ChronoJ1,

I didn't know how to fix anything on cars just a few years ago. But I bought the repair manual and start reading it up. Yes I mess up a few thing along the way but the things I broke and replace never cost as much as the dealer/garage charging for the same work.
If you know how to change oil and replace flat tires, you can do most of the work you just listed. I wouldn't go too far like changing timing belt yet but to work on the brake is easy even if you have to replace the rotors. As long as you're willing to spend money on tools. Even with the tools you have to buy and the parts to replace at home you still come out ahead.

I think SC400.com have the cheapest price on repair manual now. For 94 SC400 the repair manual, 2 volume, and the electrical manual would cost you ~$145.

Unless you don't want to get your hand dirty or have money to give the dealer, I would recommend work on the car yourself.

SC300T

ROTORS!!!

Ditch em'----don't resurface. If you drive the car hard after resurfacing a rotor, the pulsation with just come back. Even if you have to go aftermarket cheapo rotors it would be far better than turning stock ones.

What happens after they resurface a warped disc? They basically put them on a lathe and grind the outer faces flat... There really isn't a problem with non-vented SOLID discs, because they shave both surfaces, A solid disc has no interior surface on the disc--Its just one disc. A vented rotor is totally different, and has 4 basic surfaces with fins in like a water wheel running down the center. You've got two outer faces and two inner faces. (The extra surface area in the interior gives the disc much more ability to shed heat. Here's the problem... You've shaved just the outsides of these faces, when the whole assembly is warped. What you end up with is flat faces outside, but the inner faces are still warped. The material thickness on these two outer plates is now *VARIABLE*.

Variable wall thickness = uneven heat dissapation = more warping. Resurfaced vented rotors are a bad idea. If you drove it hard enough to warp it in the first place, you'll surely re-warp it very shortly after.

Lex Luthor

I agree with Scott on the rotors, change 'em, don't cut 'em. lex400sc, what are reciprocation cycles?? The belt is not to prevent collisions, it's there to extrapolate timing from the position of the piston in the bore, i.e. top dead center, bottom dead center, etc. The reason you would have damage would be if the belt snapped, the camshafts wouldn't know where the piston was and could open the valves while the piston is headed for the top of it's stroke, and they could collide. Next, there are no pushrods in these motors, it is an overhead cam design. Also, if your valves and pistons collide, the last thing you'll worry about is the head gasket, since you'd have to replace it to tear down the shortblock anyway. And oil filter?? Lastly, and most importantly, I do not believe these are interference motors, so there is no downside to not changing it except a potential tow bill, not that I recommend neglecting maintenance, ever. Lexus states that the belt should be changed @ 60K, this is way conservative, you can definitely change it @ 90K, and that is plenty safe, there is no significant risk of the belt failing until well over 100K.

Bean

iTrader: (1)

I think the Lexus engines are NON-interference types (and its impossible to bend pushrods, because the motor doesn't have any)

unless someone can vouch that their timing belt broke and they bent a bunch of valves