Jooleee

Hi everyone,

My car is approx 4.5 years old and just under 47k miles. On Monday, I experienced some weird screeching noises coming from some unknown place (seemingly behind my steering wheel or brakes). Anyway, my cousin popped my hood open and saw that it was coming from this metal looking cylinder in the back of my hood (on the right side).

Today, I brought my car into this auto repair shop and they said that it seemed like my ABS was broken and that it would be extremely costly to replace it. They suggested that I bring it into the dealer to see if they would make an exception and replace it for me. So right after, I drove my car over to Lexus of Cerritos (the closest dealership from me) and they did a diagnosis - my master cylinder is defected. The service consultant told me that to repair it, it would cost me $2500!!! The part alone would cost $1900. I am pretty angry with this because never in all my years have I seen ANY car with this type of problem. Lexus is supposed to be extremely reliable - and they've even been dubbed #1 in dependability by J.D. Power and Associates for numerous consecutive years! It is pretty frustrating that RIGHT after my warranty expires, I have the "privilege" of experiencing such a PITA (and costly) problem!

My question to you is: have any of you experienced something like this before? The service consultant said that the repair guy had mentioned seeing this problem with a few other GS's *after* their warranties expired. ARGH.

JacobT

I had exact the same problem a week ago. My warranty just expired a month ago and my dealer covered the cost under warranty Try work with some nice service consultant to get it covered. It's a costly repair.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=82339

GSquicksilver

GET THE HELL AWAY FROM CERRITOS LEXUS!!!!

They are one of the worst service centers i've ever been to. Their service consultants are rude and they inflate prices to the extent! I was once quoted there for a fuel injection service that would cost me like $300 bucks, but at longo lexus, it cost me less than a $100. And to rebuilt a power steering pump, they charge $800, when a new pump is only like $500! WTF is up with that?

Dude, your car is only 47k miles, it should still be covered in warranty up till 50k, and then up to 70k for powertrain. Go to another dealership and see what they say. Try longo lexus and ask for Verone. He's the man and tell him you heard about him from our club.

link13

Quicksilver is right about Verone. My bro knows him and my bro as well as all members here who know him say Verone is a stand up guy. You should talk to him. You also may want to talk to Lexus corp. customer service to see if they can help you out. If this is a common problem, it's possible that they would be of assistance.

mikhailw

It sucks, but the car is 4.5 years old. The bumper to bumper warranty is only 3 years. I doubt that Lexus will eat the cost.

Gabeshell

If I'm not mistaken, the bumper to bumper warranty is 4 years 50K miles. If you're only a half year out of warranty and you're still under the 50K you may be able to get them to cover it under "good will". You'll never know if you don't ask. Stand up for yourself and let them know that you feel this is not a part that should fail on a car that is only 4.5 years old.

Rulex

There shouldnt be a problem with Lexus covering the cost. Your car is still under the Powetrain Warranty. Below info is straight from Lexus site.

Basic Warranty
The coverage lasts for 48 months or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Powertrain Warrany
The Lexus Powertrain Warranty lasts 72 months or 70,000 miles, whichever comes first. Except for the situations listed on the Basic Warranty page, this warranty covers repairs needed to fix defects in materials or workmanship of any component listed below:

Engine
Cylinder block and head and all internal parts, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, timing belt and cover, flywheel, oil pan, water pump, fuel pump, engine mounts, engine control computer, seals and gaskets.

Transmission and Transaxle
Case and all internal parts, torque converter, clutch cover, mounts, engine control computer, seals and gaskets.

Front-Wheel-Drive System
Driveshafts, axle, hub, bearings, seals and gaskets.

Rear-Wheel-Drive System
Differential carrier assembly, driveshaft, axle carrier, axle case, axle bearing, axle shaft, seals and gaskets.

meZoom!

Jooleee,

Cerritos is too far of a drive for their less than "lexus perfect" service. Try either Longo or Keyes (110 to the 101 north, off at van nuys blvd, go north, its on left side).

hmmm. hey GS guys/gals: wouldn't a brake "master cylinder failure" be quite dangerous if you drove it around like that? does anyone know what exactly the failure is (cracked cylinder, bad seals, pressure problem, etc)? i want to go check out my dad's GS and want to know what to look for....

GS4Will

the dealer at 4th off 605(you know which one ) is a bunch of BS....both sales and service(nto try to generalize here, but heard tons of horror stories from that place)

i am no tech savvy guy, but i would say the master cylinder is under "powertrain warranty".....go to Longo and ask for Veronne, or Phil..and tell them William send you there....they have been my service advisor for a LONG time...and btw, i only have selected tech guys working on my ride

Jooleee

I normally go to Longo - I bought my car there... but I felt that Lexus of Cerritos would be OK since it was the closest to where I was at at the moment. However, the last time I went to Longo, I had such a HORRIBLE experience, that it totally tainted my previous experiences at the dealership. Anyway, I still have some sort of *good* impression of the dealership since everyone else still seems to like it.

About 15 minutes ago, the service consultant called me and said that Lexus (corporate or the service manager, not sure) offered to split the cost 50/50, which would still leave me at $1275 at the very least. I am still pretty upset about this outstanding cost because it's still insanely expensive. My family has had 10+ year old cars that ALL have NEVER experienced such a problem!!! In a minute, I will call Longo to see if I can get this thing settled. I will ask to speak with Verone and then try calling Lexus of Cerritos to have it settled there because my car is already there. Then if I can't get things settled, I will call Lexus Corporate and try to settle the issues with them.

If anyone else has more suggestions, please continue to post. Thank you (all) for everything. It has been extremely helpful.

pvmike1

Joolee,

You'd be surprised at the amount of latitude that service managers have -- I suggest going to Verone pronto.

As far as having problems at Longo, I hear you. I brought my car in for rattles, and after I find a small dent on the roof of the car. Verone tells me to bring it in whenever and they'll fix it... Bad luck I guess.

I'd be surprised if you'd have any trouble getting this fixed w/o cost at Longo -- they are the best. But make certain that it is Verone that you're dealing with.

///MDex

Hmmm. I had my 60 a couple weeks ago, and my Service Tech specifically told me that the Power Steering System was solid. Can you describe what happened? Maybe in another thread?

AND

2 MCs bad, within a week of the warranty also? What the heck is going on?

Can you guys give some background on the history of the vehicles? Recent services? Was the fluid low?

mikhailw

I feel very sorry for the owner, and I wish fast and cheap repair of his car.
I don’t believe that this repair is covered by POWERTRAIN warranty . Lexus deals with these kinds of repairs all the time, and they don’t have problem identifying one type of repair from another. I couldn't find anything that suggests it fits under POWERTRAIN warr.

I don’t want everybody to jump on me, but I am surprised by expectation of free repair.
In this case, the car is 4.5 years old. Owner didn’t purchase extended warranty because he gambled that nothing will go wrong. Something happened, and now car needs repairs. Many
CL members say, “it is only 0.5 years out of warranty, and Lexus should repair it for free.”

Where do we put a limit on “free repairs beyond 4 year warranty”? Should it be 4.5, 5, or 7
years? Even “goodwill” repairs are not free, and we end up paying in higher cost of spare parts and out of warranty repairs. How about if Lexus repairs our cars forever!

Your dealer offered to pay 50% of total cost. It seems very generous of them considering they are not required to pay a penny.

Every car has one problem or another. Lexus isn’t exception and it is subject of wear and tear. Many of us pay thousands of dollars to buy extended warranty to protect us in case something breaks. Sometimes we are lucky, and nothing goes wrong. The only thing we can do is to follow all recommended maintenance, and take care of our cars. Sometimes our cars have a mind of their own, and things go wild!


I will pray with you that Lexus pays 100% of this repair!

Jooleee

mikhailw - Whether or not the dealership offered to split the cost 50/50 doesn't necessarily mean that they are taking a net loss in the matter. What cost me $500 to replace TWO of my stock tires at Longo Lexus would have actually cost me $200 at any other tire place (including service!). Even if the dealership had offered me a 50/50 split on the replacement of those two tires, they would've still made $50. With that being said, it is entirely obvious that dealership markups are insane - but we all still go back *because* of the great service that we have received in the past. My expectations are not entirely invalid because I, like many others on this forum as well as others outside of it, have dedicated ourselves to maintaining our vehicles with specific people with whom we had entrusted our cars and with such a relationship, it is almost a given that we will pay more if we feel that we are being taken care of. Bluntly, I would not particularly ENJOY paying insane prices for regular services if I don't feel compensated in any other way.

To everyone who recommended Verone - I spoke with him twice today. He was extremely nice and his enthusiastic voice made me feel at ease at times. However, he did not seem to be able to solve this problem in a way that I felt was satisfactory (being that my car was at another dealership AND the matter was beyond his own control).

The service manager at Lexus of Cerritos said that he would speak with "Lexus" (aka their regional manager) to see what other offer they can give me. Is there any way that I can speak with Lexus Corporate? I called their customer satisfaction line but that didn't seem to help any - almost a waste of my time.

Goods

Just Curious....

Anyone else had their master cylinder go bad? Was it covered under any part of the warranty?

~Goods