As noted on a few other threads, I bought a '06 LS430 with 109k miles last Thursday. I love the car. I'm very happy to be back in the LS430 family.

I did my due diligence before purchasing. The car had just had major service done at a Lexus dealership shortly before my purchase; including TB/WP and both 02 sensors. The Lexus service history revealed that the O2 sensors were replaced in response to a "Check Engine" light. The Carfax was clean and the test drive was great. I paid for the car and left a very happy camper.

But the unimaginable happened the next day. I exited the highway after a decent drive and the "Check Engine" light came on. The dealership was close by so I took it in. After about 30 min. the SA gave me the bad news: one cat had failed and the other one was failing. Needless to say I was shocked. To make a long story short, I had them replaced. I asked the tech about the cats. He said, "Well, cats are like light bulbs. Every once in awhile you get one that's bad." But aside from that, he thought the car was in great condition, as did the SA and valet that checked the car in. Beautiful paint, nice and tight ride, etc.

Since that time I've had the following done:
tranny fluid exchange
power steering fluid flush
rear diff fluid replaced
new Lexus "Robust" battery installed
LCA bushings replaced
brake fluid flush
cabin air filter (did that myself)

The only remaining task is to have the driver's seat cushion rebuilt, which an upholstery shop will do next week.

Oh yeah, I'll have the headlights restored next month.

After that the car will be like new. I'm loving it!

FWIW, I've opened a case with Lexus Customer Care about the cats. Given my previous Lexus ownership and the fact that they went the day after purchase, I've asked them to consider a goodwill credit for use for a future service.

 

Were the O2 sensors replaced by the dealer prior to the sale? If so, at least some goodwill credit would seem to be in order. While it's true that cats can go at any time, it's typical for an O2 code to be the first clue. As a result, the sensors are replaced and then after a few miles - boom - the code reappears and further investigation reveals the bad cat(s).

Am curious - how much did the dealer charge for replacement(s)?

 

Yes, the O2 sensors were replaced a few weeks prior to sale. The car logged ~50 miles between the sensor replacement and the check engine engine light indicating cat failure.

Of course, I was suspicious if there might have been some indication of cat failure before and the dealership intentionally overlooked it. But that would involve collusion between the user car dept. and the service dept.

Lexus Customer Care told me that the dealerships are independent; meaning that LCC cannot force them to do anything. The selling dealership offered nothing. I was charged full retail price for the cat replacement ($3k). Needless to say I'll never buy from them again.

I recently received the Lexus customer survey for the service experience. I'm still deciding how I'm going to respond.

 

Fill in that they suck! Which they do. Ask for the used car manager and tell him that was bogus of them, and that you are taking your business somewhere else, and you are giving them an online review, and opening a BBB case.

 

$3000 seems high unless they also had to replace other parts of the exhaust system. Last year I bought a very nice set of cats made by Magnaflow for an Audi S8 for less than $500 for the pair. OEM units were about 2 grand for both.

Suggest that you write to the dealership GM. Describe the situation and emphasize the inherent unfairness of the situation. Propose an equitable solution like splitting the bill 50/50.

 

Ouch ! You can buy cats from Rockauto between $130 and $160 ea.
Granted obviously not OEM but $3 GRAND !!!

 

 

Pfff...they knew the cats were bad. Reset the check engine light and sold it on to you.
I just gave away a 2013 Lincoln MKS with 187,000 miles. The cats were gone, but I couldn't imagine spending $2000-$3000 to replace them.
Light was on for 100K miles+
$4500, and they hauled it away.
#heapo****e

 

It's kinda like the old joke about the guy who owned George Washington's childhood axe... The handle was replaced, and then he had the head replaced, but it occupies the same space as the original...

Glad you're getting things squared away, but as was stated earlier, you could have had the cats done somewhere locally and had enough left over to go on a cruise...

 

shoot sorry to hear. Again, this is what I've always been told and have lived by. If a knock sensor goes bad, it is a shadow code. It can be ignored if you want, but it should be fixed when possible. When this happened to my Maxima, I started using premium (91 is recommended in that car), until I could fix it, and then went back to 87.

When an O2 sensor goes bad, this CANNOT be ignored or damage will eventually happen. So when that happened to the Maxima, I stopped driving and did not drive again until it was fixed. With that being said, the cat (I believe only 1) is 20 y.o. and fine. I don't think this is an item that normally goes bad.

imho I would never take my car to a Lexus dealership, did it 2X. They are super polite and have great customer service. Their prices are higher than BMW, and there is a level of incompetence that turns me off. What is this cats are like light bulbs analogy? Ridiculous, don't patronize me, tell me instead what likely caused it.

I was looking for touchup paint and I told you guys the story of the GX (3 y.o.) that needed thousands of maintenance, and how the customer was upset, and the dealership person told the other person that's normal for a '14.

 

This probably means next time I buy a used car, I bring a OBDII to ensure that the emissions is in a ready state. Because even if they were to reset it, when the cat would go back into ready, the code would come back. So they have a short window to try to pawn the car without a SES lit up.

Again, learning what I did, I was lucky the selling dealership fixed the brakes and door actuator for free, AFTER I took delivery. They could have said sorry, but no. Next time I want to take the car off the dealer lot by myself, and drive it around town for 2 hours, running errands, to uncover defects that cannot be uncovered by a 15 min. test drive. Live and learn...

imagine if the dealership used a Walker part or something and charged Toyota list for it. These are high dollar items that rarely go bad, so if they don't stock touch up paint, I would wonder if they have the local auto parts distributor drop off Walker cats.

 

So I just sent a note to my SA, the service manager, and the used car manager alerting them that I plan to pursue this further and to send me the contact info for the store manager (whose email is not listed on the website). I mentioned that Lexus has opened a case and that I suspect that something untoward might have happened.

One wrinkle here is that I've bought several cars (new and used) from this dealership before. So much for acknowledging my loyalty!

 

If this vehicle were purchased at a Lexus dealership, I would be asking for a full refund of everything I paid. Now, if this were like BMW (where I had a dispute), nobody is going to do anything at all, UNTIL A BBB CASE IS OPENED. Then, when the dealership rating drops from A+ to C-, suddenly, the sky is falling and everyone is asking, "What can we do to make this right, this wasn't handled properly."

I fixed my car myself and the part was free (lifetime warranty from the eTailer), and I told them that. So I'm not looking for money, just for you to acknowledge you busted my car and denied it. I had expected them to simply say bring it back and we'll fix it, but they tried to claim it was already like that when the car came in. As mentioned, they offered to do the water pump for free ($1,200 job), I accepted, then changed my mind and never went back. And they got their A+ rating reinstated. Does free stuff make incompetence OK? I don't think so, and I don't want it.

p.s. checked my LS430 dealer (new car dealer) on Yelp, and there was a comment that the used car manager is "useless." I got such a laugh over that because he didn't return any of my calls or emails, so I just went right to the service manager who fixed the brakes and door actuator (over 2 visits as the actuator they had to get)

edit: thought of one thing....my car was a FLA car purchased at a new car dealership in NYS. By law, it had a 1 mo./1k warranty, because it had 81k. If it had 79k, would have been 3 mo./3k. Not B2B but powertrain--so likely in NYS this would have been covered. I wonder if simply having a lemon law in place even on used, makes the dealerships just do the right thing without any resistance. I'll never know as I doubt I will be buying another used car in NYS.

 

Even though this is the service survey for a different dealer I think it is prudent to use it to your advantage to complain about selling dealer - Lexus does look at the really bad all low marks surveys carefully. Make sure you mark the survey with 100% lowest marks that's what triggers the attention process. Respond to the survey by specifically naming the selling dealer in the comments section and give Lexus the company and the selling dealer the lowest possible marks. Service dealer may not be happy at first but too bad - they should also be willing to go to bat for you with Lexus HQ.

Most likely the O2 sensors were bad on the car for a long time and owner ignored it so the Cats went bad. After selling dealer acquired the car they replaced the O2 sensors and passed the likely eventual Cat failure on to you. Since the failure was within a few days of purchase with no other error codes the selling Lexus dealer should in good faith assume most (if not all) of the $ responsibility for Cat replacement. File a case with Lexus regional HQ - hard to believe they would not find in your favor and at least give you something back on a $3k repair required within a week of purchase. Like you I'd ask Lexus HQ for reimbursement of the $3k repair or at least $3k credit for future service and parts.

 

Excuse my ignorance....is a "cat" the catalytic converter?