Two weeks ago I had a dashboard warning that electrical service were unavailable and, about two minutes later, a warning that the engine was overheated. I checked the temp gauge and saw it was pegged and immediately pulled off the road and parked to call tow help. My 2015 LS460L,AWD Ultra Luxury edition was towed to the nearest dealer to be checked. I described the dash notices and said that I suspected serpentine belt failure. The dealer charged about $300 for an evaluation of the problem, found the shredded serpentine belt and replaced it only to find the new belt shredded when starting the car for a test drive. $1,300 later, I was told that the problem was the failure of the air conditioner compressor, which would cost an additional $5,400 to repair. I elected to have the car re-towed to an aftermarket Toyota/Lexus repair shop after telling them of the need for air conditioner compressor replacement and was quoted an estimate of $1,900 for the repair. A day later, I received a call from the new shop saying that the entire engine and transmission had to be removed to replace the air conditioner compressor and that the cost would be $3,100. Of course, the car is useless without the repair, and as a well-maintained operational unit is worth something near $30,000, the decision to replace the a/c compressor appeared obvious. Has anyone else experienced a failure of the air conditioner compressor in the 2007-2017 LS460 models? Should any other parts be replaced while the engine is out of the car and the expense of gaining access to repair or replace a part at a later time would incur additional labor in gaining access?
Thanks for any suggestions and comments.

 

No I haven't seen it happen yet, that's really shocking as these cars use a variable compressor and full lockup like that is very rare and it should have had a breakaway safety.

You do not need to remove the engine to do this job though, at most you would remove the subframe and let it hang down on the lower control arms.




That's a RWD car but you would do similar

 

Striker223 that's a great response, honestly wouldn't have known that and neither did OP either, which is no doubt what the lugs at that repair shop are counting on! Either OP's LS460 is very different from ours somehow, or else the people from that shop are a bunch of jimmy-big fibbers boosting the repair bill unfairly.

David CVigi can you tell us what happened ultimately? Where did you get it repaired and what did it cost?

 

I had it repaired at the aftermarket Toyota/Lexus shop, which I had towed to from the dealership lot. The total cost of replacing the air conditioner compressor was $2,801 all in, which included an alignment. Of course, this figure doesn't include the nearly $1,300 that the dealer charged for diagnosis of the problem, replacing the serpentine belt only to have it immediately re-shredded and, ultimately, diagnosing the actual problem of a failed air conditioner compressor. That $1,300 was a complete waste!

 

Everybody's done that at least once, paid some large sum for work that didn't fix the problem. I imagine if you'd had that stealership do it it would have cost you even more than you finally paid anyway - it was obvious they were being less than honest about the whole repair, and had you let them do it they no doubt would have found even more ways to pad the bill!

 

I need to charge more......that's insane shops ask for that much money just to fix nothing and waste time. $1300 to just shred a belt....

 

You are correct! When the Lexus dealer that I'd had the car towed in to told me it would be a $300 charge to diagnose the problem, then called to say it was a/c compressor and the diagnosis had been more involved, so I owed $1,300 at that time and the estimate to finally repair the broken a/c compressor would be an additional $5,400, I finally balked and called the non-dealer Toyota/Lexus shop for an estimate. That estimate was $1,920, so I had the car towed from the dealer to the aftermarket shop. After investigating, they said the entire engine and transmission had to be removed to replace the a/c compressor (which I had confirmed by another aftermarket shop) and that it would be $3,000 to repair). They ultimately charged me ONLY $2,801.60. The total cost to replace the a/c compressor, serpentine belt(s and whatever else was only about $4,160, but I now have a driveable 2015 Lexus LS460 AWD Ultra Luxury with just under 80,000 miles. I should also mention that when I balked at the dealer service representative's $5,400 estimate to replace the a/c compressor, she offered to have the car estimated for trade-in value, an offer which I also declined. I'll never do any kind of business with that Lexus dealer again!

 

They shredded two belts before discovering that the a/c compressor pulley was locked.

 

Unfortunate but I am wheezing laughing right now! That's astounding! They never once thought to I don't know....hand rotate everything a little by hand when putting the belt back to check if all is well?

 

After spending some time on these forums, the a/c compressor doesn't seem to be a common failure. Good thing you found the job cheaper. I try to call around myself, but there aren't many shops around here I trust to work on luxury level cars. Parts are expensive and if the tech doesn't know what they're doing, it can become an expensive nightmare quickly. In your case, even the Lexus dealer is incompetent. You shouldn't have paid for the belt replacement. I'd have run that all the way up to the GM, if needed, to have that taken off the RO.

I'm glad I have a good rapport with my Lexus service advisor. Those charges are absolutely nuts! $300 diag.? My dealer is $184/hour labor. I used to be a service advisor at a luxury dealership many years ago. If they misdiagnose or fire the parts cannon at the car without success, that should be on their dime unless they specifically state to you that X repair may not fix the problem and ask permission to try it first, knowing it may not fix the issue. I got into it with a fixed ops manager once over this and they wound up eating half of the repair bill. Basically it boiled down to "I paid you to fix the problem. You did not fix the problem, yet charged me for the parts you threw at it with a guess. The whole reason I brought it to the dealership is to ensure the job is done correctly with OEM parts. Your techs are supposed to be competent enough and when I was in the business, the shop ate the charges for their mistakes." Too long to get into that story, but same idea.

I've been down the expensive road lately as well. Wife's GX was just in with a cam tower leak and it was around $4200. When I called and said Toyota would do it for $3600, he reduced the rate; not quite to $3600, but he met me in the middle. Wife had their loaner already, and I've gotten several things done there. My Toyota dealer is very hit/miss when it comes to service and accurate quotes (quote one thing on the phone, get to the cashier and it's magically $200 more because they omitted fluids, shop charges, etc.) Advisor takes care of me at Lexus. The cost of owning these gets annoying, especially when 3 items happen close together and they're all $1500+ repairs.