I have two "quicky" horror stories that I personally witnessed about quicky lube places. I am sure you can search the internet and read many more.

A few years ago I was at a brake shop getting a brake job, while I was sitting there, a lady had stopped in with a brake problem on her relatively late model Honda Accord. I over heard the discussion between her and the service manager after the brake lockup problem was diagnosed, it was easy to notice/hear especially when she started to cry at hearing the extent and cost of repairs. She had taken her car for an oil change to the local Jiffy/Quicky-lube and besides changing oil, the nice young man had topped up all her fluids including her brake fluid reservoir...only problem was that he apparently used power steering fluid. As a result the rubber parts, seals in calipers and the abs and main master cylinders in her brake system were now failing.

Another time I was at Honda getting my oil changed and her the service manager come out and tell a customer they needed a new oil pan. He asked if the customer had used a quick-lube place for oil changes and the customer said yes. The service manager said they typically got a couple of replacement oil pan jobs a month because the oil drain bolt threads in the pan had been completely stripped out during a quicky-lube oil change.

My point is that the LS has way too many very expensive parts to ever have low wage, mostly beginner mechanics work on it. I am sure some of the quick lube shops have some mechanics who are very careful and have been very well trained (although I am not sure why they would be working there if they had high degree of skill and experience) but why take the chance to save a few bucks.

 

^Oh god...that lady with the Honda should've sued...seeing that the one guy's negligence not only cost her a fortune but also could've been life threatening

 

I never let anyone touch my car other than my Lexus dealer, with the exception of Costco rotating and balancing the tires.

 

jpaulmac:

Where exactly is the OBDC module located?
All I could see under the steering column was the knee air bag.

George
714 435-1187

 

it's not smart to leave your phone number in a public forum. to find the OBDC, look under the dash on the driver side. literally open the door, get on your hands and knees, and look up under the dash. you should see it.

on a side note, some of you guys are ****ing crazy!! you guys are acting like the LS is some kind of an exotic sports car.

 

i wouldnt let jiffy boob vacuum a 72 ford pinto.ive seen there guys lay the new filter,seal side down on a nasty floor then slap it on,crud and all.

 

^^^ And it's crap like that that gives the rest of the mechanics out there a bad name.


Justin...

 

I tried this procedure on my wife's 2003 LS430 this afternoon and it did not work. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

Thanks for the great advice. It worked. I was in for an emissions test and immediately after the VSC warning lit up and would not go off. It must be that their plug in tripped something in the computer. After reading several posts of people being told the need everything from a new transmission to a complete valve job from their Lexus Dealer to fix this I read your post. If I new who you were I would buy you a beer!

 

im amazed that some people that can be that stupid. ill certainly have to reconsider where i take my car even for something as simple as that.

 

Thank you JPaulMac for posting the fix for the VCS light. The VCS light came on on my 2002 LS430 as a result of an exhaust leak by the shields in the Y Pipe before the Cat. converter. I had the pipe welded and the check engine light went off but the VCS light stayed on. I followed your instructions and the VSC light went out as needed. Quick fix for $0. Exhaust fix for only $125 due to another thread posted on Club Lexus! Thanks for all the help!

 

Right on......had the same problem with a China-cheap OBDII scanner; first it wouldn't connect to the ECM unit, and when I removed it, my VSC light was on. Geez! Also, I tried to jump the connectors, but an earlier post showed the wrong terminal positions. Correct in this thread,
3rd from top left, 4th from bottom right is correct.

Thanks for posting the OBD note!