Inverness

For the tl;dr crowd, have you ever needed your driveshaft replaced? If so, did you do it? More importantly, for those who haven't... Would you do it? $1200-ish repair, I am told.

Last December, I traded in my 1996 Volvo 960 wagon (177K miles) to a used car dealer for a 2004 Lexus GS300. While I loved my Volvo wagon very much, 3 consecutive winters in Ithaca, NY, and the accompanying salt-n-snow mix basically turned the bottom orange. So upon going to the used car dealer, I did what you're not supposed to do - fall in love with the car. It had 66000 miles on it, the Lexus did

One year later, my car makes this on-off groaning noise when going from P to R to D and back again. Two different shops (Toyota dealer, indepedent mechanic - there is no Lexus dealer anywhere close to Tallahassee) tell me to alleviate the noise, I have to replace the drive shaft. The shop mechanic told me that when they put the car up on the rails, they can duplicate the noise, and it's coming from the joint in the drive shaft. Everything else - all other bearings and connections, including the differential - are said to be whisper quiet.

So what would you do? I'm at a loss. I just dumped in a bunch money to get the axle replaced (thanks, Toyota dealership ) and just had the ball joints and front control arms replaced (separate issue). I love the way the car drives. I love everything else about the car. The noise is driving me nuts. It's also depressing. Should I admit defeat?

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

Why cant you just replace the U-Joint? probably like a $40 part or something

Inverness

Mechanic insists that the U-joint is fine. He said the noise is coming right where the two parts of the drive shaft come together.

...which now, that I think about it... isn't that just a glorified u-joint?

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

could be the part that is actually part of the drive shaft (which connects to u-joint)... I say find a used drive shaft and call it a day. The shaft is just a solid 'bar' (if you would) so I don't see why used would be a problem. I'm just shocked that such a new car has a drive shaft problem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/98-05...Q5fAccessories

$90 bucks and its yours $1200 seems so steep! I'm sure its for a brand new one which probably costs $1000 for it

Inverness

Thanks!

But yes, me too, I am shocked that the car is having drive shaft problems. Here's the deal with the car. It's not always, but when I shift from P to R, for example, while holding the brakes, it will make the groaning noise. The back will rise a little bit. When I go from R to D, the back of the car drops a little bit along with the groan. If I don't put pressure on the brakes, and shift from N to D (assuming the car is on a flat surface), there is no noise, but there is an accompanying drop in the rear of the car.

Part of me wants them to check the engine mounts and the brakes themselves for misalignment.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

record a video n post.

Inverness

All right. I'll try to take care of that in the daylight tomorrow.

lexus ASM

Noise from the trans is normal when doing what you are doing. I've never seen a drive shaft replaced for what you are talking about. Call Lexus corp, ask for goodwill consideration. Base on your post, an 04 with 66000 miles, the vehicle should still be close to or under power train warranty, under which a drive shaft would be covered.

Good luck, and use your best judgement. If you do allow the dealer to replace it, then you better stand on them if the noise does not go away. Which I doubt it will.

PM me your VIN ASAP, Im at work Ill run it and tell you if its under warranty.

Inverness

It currently has 75K mi. on it. The shift is the only problem. The driving, otherwise, is just fine. Spectacular, even.

Jherb350

iTrader: (1)

I know that SC 300/400 had a driveshaft issue as they got up their in miles (100k +) but those were more of howling noise. I've never heard of this on a GS.

I would look for a used driveshaft first since two sources say you need one.

Bradwillia

This is exactly why you never buy a car this old at a dealer of any sort. Mileage isn't always a guarantee. You can find a car that has never missed a service with 120k on it and it will be a way better car than the one you bought with 60k on it. You always want to see where the car has been and there is no better way than to be standing face to face with the ACTUAL owner. Next time buy private party.

Inverness

Yes. Consider this lesson learned. Carfax came back as a pretty regularly-serviced vehicle. Alas.

Inverness

If you want the whole of the story, actually, I drove back from Tallahassee to Jersey (where I'm originally from) to get the car. There was not a used second gen GS 300 - honestly, one of the best bang-for-buck deals you can get out there - within 300 miles. The closest ones were in Miami. The used car dealer agreed to give me $1000 for my rusted bucket of Volvo bolts and that salted away the deal for this GS. The kicker, I suppose, is that there was another 2004 in the area that had 48K miles, gold trim, spoiler... but he wanted $2K more and that still would have left me with the Volvo rust bucket.

And so... lesson learned. Although a $90 drive shaft sure is more appealing than a $1200 one.

Also, the closest Lexus dealer? That'd be Orlando or Tampa - both 4 hours away from here.

Big Mack

iTrader: (1)

Isn't Jacksonville less than 3 hours from you? There is a dealer there, too. Not saying you should go that route, but if you get any accommodation from Lexus under the powertrain warranty, that may be your best bet.

And bradwillia, you cannot use a blanket statement like buying private party will always be better. I've gone to look at cars with friends before who were looking at private party cars, and one I started asking questions about vehicle histories and service there were several times we high tailed it out of there. I'm not saying it the other way, either - there are plenty of good PP sales that happen every day, but it's just not 100% of the time in either case.

Big Mack

97JZA80

If your strapped for cash try bolting in a used driveshaft too...Check for guys parting or cars in your local salvage yards...