Hello everyone,

This is my first thread and it's a doozie. Just got off the phone with service guy and he has informed me that our 2008 LS 460 now needs a new transmission. It currently has approximately 98,000 miles.

Backstory:
Noticed the car wasn't shifting gears properly a few weeks ago and took it in to the Lexus dealership to see what the issue was.

The dealership informs me that this could be the inside transmission harness. I have attached the qoute for doing that work and the technician notes. We also needed some other work done such as replacing both drive and passenger side fuel pump gasket plus all 8 control arms in the front. The service guy said the the arms were ok but the bushings were bad which prompts replacing the control arms.

My wife and I were thinking about getting the transmission work done at a different place so I picked the car up to get it looked at a different place. During the trip home we changed our mind and decied to just have Lexus do the work since its the transmission. When we decided that the car started overheating and I had to get it towed back to Lexus. (Mind you this is all in the same day)

So after looking at the car again apparently the work we had done for the water pump was done incorrectly. (Got that done at Firestone) But the doozy for the day is that apparently the Transmission is now dead and we now need a new transmission.

I was shocked. I would like to get anyone's perspective on this. What should we do? In the conversation I had with the service guy I told him that this didn't feel liike a normal wear and tear issue.

We live downtown Dallas and don't drive the car much. I just find it hard to believe it needs a new transmission at this point unless there was some underlying issue already.

Soooooo. Please help! Any advice/information/kind words are welcomed.

I apologize for the long post.

Regards

384

 

Was it leaking fluid and not taken care of? Reading the picture, it looks like he is saying fluid leaked enough to ruin the wiring harness. That would lead me to think it lost a lot of fluid and wasn't cared for. How long have you owned the car?

 

My wife bought the car in 2010. It started having issues a couple weeks ago with the acceleration which is why brought it to Lexis last Friday. We have always kept up the maintenance as well.

 

Hello everyone,
This is my first thread and it's a doozie. Just got off the phone with service guy and he has informed me that our 2008 LS 460 now needs a new transmission. It currently has approximately 98,000 miles.
Backstory:
Noticed the car wasn't shifting gears properly a few weeks ago and took it in to the Lexus dealership to see what the issue was.
The dealership informs me that this could be the inside transmission harness. I have attached the qoute for doing that work and the technician notes. We also needed some other work done such as replacing both drive and passenger side fuel pump gasket plus all 8 control arms in the front. The service guy said the the arms were ok but the bushings were bad which prompts replacing the control arms.
My wife and I were thinking about getting the transmission work done at a different place so I picked the car up to get it looked at a different place. During the trip home we changed our mind and decied to just have Lexus do the work since its the transmission. When we decided that the car started overheating and I had to get it towed back to Lexus. (Mind you this is all in the same day)
So after looking at the car again apparently the work we had done for the water pump was done incorrectly. (Got that done at Firestone) But the doozy for the day is that apparently the Transmission is now dead and we now need a new transmission.
I was shocked. I would like to get anyone's perspective on this. What should we do? In the conversation I had with the service guy I told him that this didn't feel liike a normal wear and tear issue.
We live downtown Dallas and don't drive the car much. I just find it hard to believe it needs a new transmission at this point unless there was some underlying issue already.
Soooooo. Please help! Any advice/information/kind words are welcomed.
I apologize for the long post.
Regards
384

 

That sucks, you might want to get a second opinion. Get everything documented and question Firestone, you may have to consider litigation if it is clear mistakes were made. Contact Lexus Corporate too, it is unacceptable for such a expensive sedan to have a dead transmission in less then 10 years, they may cover some of the cost. Since the car overheated could it have triggered some kind of limp home mode and affected the transmission, don't know.

 

$1092 is far from a new transmission. Bet for that they're just dropping the pan, replacing some harness and refilling it.

 

Thanks for the reply Udel. I am creating a timeline of events so I can go back and talk to both Firestone and the previous Lexus dealership that worked on our vehicle. I made the same type of comment to the service advisor about the transmission going out so early on the vehicle. I feel like I am some type of detective trying to figure out what the hell happened.

 

Yeah no kidding. Heck, if they're replacing a trans for 1000 bucks, I'll drive down there and have them replace mine, even if it doesn't need it!

This doesn't sounds as bad as the title suggested,

 

Advice: source a low mileage used transmission. So maybe now you're out $2000 instead of $1000 in the Trans. The control arms are the more complex concern: some ppl have the bushings replaced and others source aftermarket arms. In either case the pricing beats the dealership. Even at $3,000-$3500 these two major upgrades are cheaper than my first maintenance at MB for $9,000.

Source a used trans. with less than 60k miles for $1500 with this search engine:
http://car-part.com/

 

+1, if you read the service quote its replacing an "inside trans harness", changing gaskets and re-filling trans

 

Or....perhaps this was the first quote he walked away from BEFORE the transmission was deemed "dead".

 

I was bringing the car back to the dealership to get the first piece work done to the transmission (price qoute you see in the attached image) when the car overheated. Now they are saying the transmission is dead when 3 weeks ago everything seemed to working just fine. Just seems too sudden for a transmission to die like that.

 

definitely get a second opinion at another Lexus dealer

dealers will always try to rape you - my Audi A5 was in the shop for an oil change and they wanted to replace the front control arms for $1700 (@62K miles) because I told them there was a creaking noise when backing out of my driveway....LMAO

 

I would definitely do that but the lexus dealership that is close to our apartment is terrible and the one we're at now is super far away plus the car is undriveable. I would have to get it towed from that dealership. Big hassle. Still putting together my research to see what options I have available. Supposed to sit down with the service manager sometime today or tomorrow.

 

Why on earth would you take an LS460 to Firestone for a water pump replacement?

I'm pretty sure there are several competent indy Lexus/Toyota shops in and around Dallas....

Before you get any more work do I'd recommend finding the best indy shop around and have a discussion with them.