Where to get brakes serviced?
 

So I went to my local Toyota mechanic and I was surprised that he does not service any Hybrids. I specifically want to replace the brake pads and resurface the rotors of my GS450h. He said something that if air gets into the line there is no way to bleed the system in the hybrid. I always thought that for regular maintenance the H was basically the same as the GS350. Have you guys encountered anything like this before?

i don't think the brakes on gsh are any different either?

No, didn't hear anything different about it. I changed the pads and resurfaced my 07 gsh myself and didn't do anything differently.

I'm planning to bleed my brake and anticipating doing what I've done with other cars.

Brakes are no different that I know of. Was this guy at a dealership?

Not sure if he ever worked at a Toyota dealer....my guess is no, although he is pretty knowledgeable about Toyotas.

Rominl: Any indep shops that you could recommend in the OC area? :)

Thanks!

My Toyota dealer said the same thing for my GS450h...they can't work on them.

i have never been to non-dealer. i have heard people talking about fullerton hill

http://fullertonhills.net/

but i have zero experience with them myself

Strange. . . .what is so different on the brake system of the GSh from those on the Hybrid Camry and Prius that would raise an alarm for Toyota techs?

my guess is that they trying to avoid Lexus dealers blaming them from stealing Lexus dealers' business. my Toyota dealer is the same. if I ask for a specific part # item they would have it, but if I ask for a "part name for my Lexus" they wouldn't.

Makes sense, business sense that is. Probably a corporate parent agreement. I don't know this for sure, but I would bet that the markup on parts is a litle different for a Lexus branded part as opposed to one branded for Toyota. Evne though it is the same part, in most cases. And you know the labor is priced out differently,

What do people do who own a Lexus, live nowhere near a Lexus dealership, but close to a Toyota dealership? Are they refused service locally? There certainly are more Toyota dealerships around than Lexus. Especially in smaller towns. Something you need to consider when buying a Lexus? Hmmm....

To be honest I don't think the issue is related to Toyota servicing Lexus. Case in point I received a letter from Claremont Toyota boasting that they can service Lexus for a lot less than a Lexus dealer. So I don't think Toyota NA has a position regarding this. My mechanic said that the hybrids have an extra sensor in the brake system that he cannot deal with if he needs to bleed the brake line....

i still doubt that. people put on same aftermarket brakes on gsh just like normal gs. never heard of any problem and that's full brake swap. all you need to do is to be smart about how to bleed the system. if done wrong, all 3gs will trigger computer error

Well-said. I completely agree with this statement. There's no doubt in my mind that they're the same.