Leslie Cra

The bad news is that my 2002 SC430 is back with the Service Department staff AGAIN for work under the warranty. The even worse news is that the work to be done is in connection with the retracting top or, more accurately, the lack of the retracting top.

The good news is that for the past three days I have been driving the loner vehicle, which is a brand-new, 2004 RX330. [New car smell is always so pleasant!]

The problem began on Saturday morning when I got in SC430 and retracted the top. The top went into the trunk, then there was a noise that sounded like a cable snapping, and the trunk lid would not close. I tried the switch a few times to either raise or lower the top, but the top would not move from its stowed position in the trunk and all I could hear was the mechanism's moter and a clicking sound (like it was trying to engage, but couldn't). Fortunately, my Lexus Dealer is only a short distance from my house; so I drove the car to the dealership with the trunk lid in the "open rearward" position. The Service Department staff believe that the problem is result of a "faulty motor" and have ordered a replacement. In this connection, they told me that mine is only the second SC430 that has come to the Service Department with a problem regarding the top retraction system. The other SC430 was also a 2002. They also told me that work on this system is VERY labor intensive.

I like to think that I have a healthy skepticism about things in general. As far as cars are concerned, I know that like all mechanical things they have their share of problems - some problems that are associated with age, others associated with the complexity of the machine. However, I am more than a little bit concerned about the occurrence regarding the top retraction system in my SC430. To be blunt, what if it happens again and I am in a situation that is considerably less friendly than being in front of my house?

My Lexus dealer has very knowledgable and friendly staff and I will share with you what they told me:
1. The retraction system is under warranty for 50,000 miles.
2. The cost of one motor (and there are several involved in this system) is approximately $3,000.
3. Given the routine usage (raising and lowering the top), coupled with the age of the car (2002, with 20k miles), they are not surprised that a motor failed.
4. They assured me that the problem is fixable (and I believe them).
5. If the system fails, the top can be manually raised. [I knew this, but it takes 2 people to do it.]

I'm curious. Has anyone here had a similar problem with the retraction system?

JCtx

I haven't, but have a question for you, and some comments:
QUESTION: Has your car EVER been involved in an accident? This is what scares me on a convertible; even a fender-bender can knock a micro-sensor out of whack, and I don't think there're 'readable' fault codes like 'OBD II' on the engine. This is a concern to me, if I decide to keep the car beyond warranty.

COMMENTS on #s above:
1. I'm sure it's the EARLIEST of 4 years or 50,000 miles. If it's only 50K miles, I'd keep the car for sure, since it'd take me 20 years to get there, and the top is my main out-of-warranty concern.
2. A hydraulic motor doens't cost that much, even installed by Lexus. Quote it directly from Parts.
3. He wasn't 'surprised' by a motor failure with only 2 years and 20K miles? I hope Lexus is.
4. Anything is fixable in a car. The question is how reliable it'll be. There're so many micro-sensors, it's hard to perfectly synch them again.
5. I don't EVER want to attempt that. It seems like it'd take an hour to figure out, plus the very real possibility of belt-buckle scratches all over the car (yikes!). Under warranty, I'd call Lexus and have them flat-bed the car to the dealer; that way they're responsible for any damage.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Leslie Cra

"There're so many micro-sensors, it's hard to perfectly synch them again."

WHAT??? I don't know anything about what that ("so many micro-sensors") means; it's a retractable top system on a mass-produced SC430, not the Starship Enterprise or even an F-22 Raptor.

And the car hasn't been damaged or been in any accidents.

JCtx

You don't want to know then. Suffice to say is every step has sensors, which trigger the next step, until your 'mass produced' hardtop opens and closes in harmony. The miracle of technology. Oh, and your 'mass produced' engine has a lot of sensors too, so you know.

No accident is bad news. Report what was the culprit if you feel like it.

Leslie Cra

Kinda like an automatic garage door!

JCtx

Yep, you're ready to tackle the job yourself now

Roofless

You're right - the dealerships do assume the worst when you say top. Which means either they've had a number of them in for top problems or they're overly concerned from reading TSB's. Even so, no one here has reported a serious roof problem until yours.

Two of us (myself included) have reported loose cable malfunctions. The dealership told me to expect my car in the shop for at least four days. When it turned out to be a loose cable, the car was finished in less than an hour.

I think what disturbs them is that the roof mechanism isn't made by Lexus and there might be a problem regarding info or parts. Incidentally, the company who makes our roofs also makes the Mercedes SL retracting hardtop.

JCtx

Hey Roofless, did you become involved with the details? We all would benefit from knowing where the cable becomes loose. I'd like to check it out myself, if accessible.
Got ripped off with a service CD manual, so will have to wait for the real thing until it becomes available. Hate when I don't know how something works on my vehicles. I hope the header latches are motor-driven independently, rather than cable driven by one motor only; this is a common cause for trouble as well.
Did you use the roof a lot prior to your problems? What year is your car, and mileage? This kind of thing scares me after warranty, not now.
Later.

Roofless

You asked me that before, ELP. And I answered. I have no further mechanical details for you. With regard to reliability, my roof problem occurred after 2.5 years and 20k miles on the road. They fixed it in 30 minutes and it's been working exactly as it did before, for the last 2-3 months. Although I have another car and don't drive the SC everyday, I do live in southern California and I would say the top gets dropped 96% of the time and double-dropped and (dare I say it) triple-dropped when visiting local merchants. I'd guesstimate I drop my top 80 times/month average.

There are a number of owners here with my mileage and years and they haven't had a problem. I consider it a fluke for now. We'll see how they hold up as time goes on. But so far, the way you drive your car, it looks like you can count on another 24 years before you have a roof problem. <wink>

To reiterate:
A cable holder above the front passenger seat came loose causing the cable to fall off and cease working. The roof was closed at the time. Before that I hadn't heard or noticed anything strange indicating an upcoming problem. One day, I just couldn't retract the top. I took it in - they tightened the bolts on the holder, put the cable back on, and presto, job finished.

JCtx

This is the first time I EVER read about a specific problem about the roof. Sorry to bother you man

LeslieRC

OK, here's the deal. Top mechanism problems last Saturday; got the car back on Wednesday; more top retraction problems Wednesday afternoon; traded-in the 2002 SC430 for a 2004 SC430 on Thursday. Basically, I could foresee having more problems with the top mechanism on the `02. My Lexus mechanic told me that the 2004s had a better top mechanism, so I took the plunge. The dealership that sold me the `02 gave $44k trade-in value for it and they knocked $6k off the `04. I also purchased a Lexus extended warranty.

For anyone who has an `02, the car that I traded-in had just crossed 20k miles when the bad things started to happen with the top retraction system.

RodF

Yikes - that is exactly where I am with my 02. So far so good, keeping my fingers crossed....

Roofless

Whatever you're smoking there in El Paso, I'd like some too.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...hreadid=107854

Didn't mean to get down on you. I thought you had a valid concern with regard to reliability. That's why I took the time to state my longevity facts. No harm intended.

rscharf

But isn't our roof electric motors while the SL is hydraulic. I don't really know what I'm talking about here mechanically, but I thought there was a fundamental difference between how the SL and SC roofs operated.

Thanks.

Robert

Roofless

I believe you're right about that - with the SL being electric with hydraulic assist. It is made by the same company though.