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Hello! I just bought a dark gray with black leather 2006 LS430. Not actually sure of the trim level yet but has nav, no air suspension. It is the nicest car I have ever owned or driven. The next closest thing was driving my dad's 09 Town Car. I hated driving the Town Car and assumed all luxury cars were like this but boy was I wrong. I remember being uncomfortable, steering wheel being off center and 4-speed was annoyingly slow.
I had a Ford Ranger that I was tired of driving as a car and not using as a truck at all that I traded in on the car. It has 124k miles and I asked to make sure the TB has been done. Salesman showed me the Carfax and at 105k, it said "recommended maintenance performed". He assured me that "it probably means it was done". I bought it anyway because the price was great compared to other cars in the area (13k).
Today I called the Lexus dealer that had done the "recommended maintenance" and all other maintenance on the car since 45k miles and, sure enough, they told me a timing belt was definitely not done. Now I'm really scared to drive the car but I am going to the Toyota dealership here in town to see how soon I can get the car in and if they will even do it (No Lexus dealer in the area).
As long as the belt stays intact until I can replace it, I am really happy with the purchase. It is my first automatic car so it is quite a big change for me and sports cars will always be my preference but the amount of car for the money is out of this world. The car feels so great that I almost feel guilty driving it around. Like I really shouldn't be able to afford to drive such a nice car and somehow I cheated.
Anyway, I'm just really excited about the car and can't wait to get this TB and WP changed so I can really start to enjoy it with peace of mind.
Do make plans to get the TB & WP replaced, but I wouldn't lose any sleep about the fact that it wasn't done at 90K service interval. Toyota dealers will typically do this work (cheaper than Lexus dealer), and you should ask if they'll install your genuine OEM parts that you can acquire much cheaper than they will sell you.
Congrats and welcome. I too am a newb and just went through this last week.
Your TB is 34K over, which is a third more than what the belt was intended for, so you should get that done ASAP. Mine has 122K on it, I literally drove it off the lot and over to the mechanics. You don't want to risk a 6k mistake.
I just got back from my local dealer and appointment is set for this Friday. Quoted me at 855 for TB and WP with labor and tax. I'm very happy with the price considering I saw prices on other posts being 1500+ and I really wouldn't have any other option if these guys gave me a price I didn't like.
As far as I can see on this Carfax, the car has been maintained very well, other than the timing belt, and everything works fine on the car. I wanted to have them turn off the steering wheel auto tilt feature but the service guy said he doesn't think they can do that because none of their cars have that feature. I really didn't want to sit there and argue with him so i'll ask again when I bring it in and if not I'll worry about it another time. The motor doesn't make any sad or angry sounds for now but I do want it to last.
I'll ask for the timing belt and post up some pics for fun. I know looks on a timing belt can mean very little but why not.
One more thing to note, normally the dealer doing the service should put a sticker under the hood showing that the timing belt was replaced and write the mileage down as well.
One more thing to note, normally the dealer doing the service should put a sticker under the hood showing that the timing belt was replaced and write the mileage down as well.
I looked all over and the service guy at the dealer checked too and couldn't find a sticker anywhere. It seems like the perfect example of someone skipping the timing belt service, doing the rest, keeping it a year or two more and then unloading it.
The car is at the dealer right now getting the TB and WP done and I should have it back before the end of the day!
I would suggest go to my lexus and register. their service history is much better than a carfax. was serviced at dealer as long as was under warrenty and if CPO could have service records to 100,000 miles. mine started with" clean rail dust from car"
Well it looks like the timing belt had been done at some point as it is a Mitsuboshi belt. I assume they don't come stock? Dealer said pullies all had some play so replaced them aswell (not sure if they did it just for the sale but either way, i wanted them changed) and not sure what the deal was with the old waterpump.
I signed up on mylexus.com and my god is it detailed compared to carfax. Learned that drivers door actuator and latch assembly was changed just before I bought it and the starter was having issues in 09, assuming it got changed as well. No mention of a timing belt, however.
Also, I really want to turn off the auto tilt feature to save the motor from anymore wear. How do I convince them that they can plug their toyota tool to disable this? He just said none of their cars do this so they can't disable it.
Anyway, some pics!
One of my tailights is missing the black foam and there is some moisture inside. Is there a easy solution to this? is the foam available on its own somewhere? The light also has a small crack on outside but I don't think its deep enough to let water in and prices of new lights make me sad
Another new LS owner.
