comotiger

Are the repairs covered under warranty? The least they can do is give you a complimentary loaner for all your troubles (stress, daily inconvenience etc.). If this SA has worked with you for 8 years, how come he has allowed the situation to deteriorate to this extent? Do you ask for him by name at every appointment? I think they have NOT taken good care of you: The head tech calls and says one thing (rotors replaced) and they end up turning the rotors? After all that, they are now going to replace your rotors. And it is not even clear that would fix the problem. If you want to continue to use this dealership for a long time, I would not escalate to Corporate yet. Give them another chance, but make it perfectly clear that this is the last chance before you go elsewhere and file a complaint. I imagine you enjoy working with your SA (not that you want to be a regular at the dealership), but at some point, you have to cut your losses and go elsewhere.

vfr700f2

I'm with Tiger, I guess... They haven't said "no" yet. If your advisor won't get you a loaner, I'd go to the service manager, say how hard the advisor has worked to meet your needs but he's not empowered to get you a loaner and you require one. I mean, a week to turn your rotors?!? I got $4200 in bodywork in a week!

Does the desk noise guy have any qualifications beyond possessing ears? If not, how can I get a job like that??

superdenso

With any car you have to put that thing in neutral and then see if you hear it. Do this in a place without other traffic and take care not to put it in another gear. The deal is to take the drivetrain out of the equation and determine if the anomaly is still present.

LS430FL

It is considered a good will repair I guess you would say because I got car with the issue.Noticed it a couple days with car and brought it in the first time. Loaner is never a problem at my dealer. Had a new ES hybrid all week with 2000 miles on it. I only use this advisor for past 8 years. I guess I will try putting in neutral tomorrow and see if I can get it to do the noise and report back. However, I think now that they have turned the rotors twice I want new or its going to cost me in a couple years as a result of their repair attempts. This will be their last chance for sure then I am getting corporate involved. I had several things go wrong on my old 09 RX350 and it had 98K miles and corporate took care of me. They are usually pretty good.

LS430FL

Not too sure exactly what his job title is. But I told the greeter who checks me in it has a voice and he said oh you'll need to ride around with this guy and my service advisor said the same thing so I guess he is some sort of head tech?

realkrs

It's a CPO so should include a pretty extensive warranty, right?

Here's how I'd read this: the problem is not the rotors and never was. The car has another issue and they know very well what it is and hope not to have to repair it even while under warranty. They had hoped to sell the car and never see it again.

Warranty work in general is not a big money-maker for dealer repair facilities. They're compensated only for the exact job at the time rate specified and a minimal hour rate.All this rotor stuff is a smokescreen and is done to eat up any warranty remaining.

For some reason the shop does not want the work.

Nice friendly trustworthy service advisors are usually honors graduates from the nice friendly trustworthy car salesman school

I might be completely wrong in all of this in this particular case.

If you haven't already, register in Lexus Drivers: https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/home.do
Using the VIN you can put this car into your personal fleet on the site and obtain the record of every repair, maintenance, or inspection action done to the car at any Lexus repair shop/dealership anywhere in the country. The info might provide insight into what's going on now.

LS430FL

Yea, I hear what you are saying. That thought has crossed my mind however, they are stuck with the car at least 4 more years that's how long I have the cpo warranty extended for and this is the last chance I am giving them to fix the issue before I make the next move. No way I am chasing this for the next four years

LS430FL

also, at the suggestion of another thread, I put the car in neutral while it was still rolling at came to a complete stop and I still heard the thump thump thump so based on that I guess we can rule out drive line issues?

vfr700f2

Not really. Your axles, differential, driveshaft and transmission output shaft are still turning at the same speed as they would if the car was in gear at the same raod speed. You've pretty much ruled out the engine, flexplate, torque convertor and the transmission parts ahead of the output shaft, but those weren't likely part of the problem anyway.

LS430FL

Well the car is back in the shop. We will see what they say. Only positive is that I got a RC350 for a loaner. Neat car but I miss my big LWB

superdenso

Ok did you hear/feel the thump ahead of applying the brakes? So again with the car in neutral if you never apply the brakes (and rolled to a stop), do you hear/feel the thump routine. Some may discourage you, but this is the elimination method. Once you have this data someone has to sit in the back with a stethoscope and start listening (this may require seat removal). The only other method is to start changing parts.

superdenso

What do you feel is likely the problem, and what do you suggest?

GR6RR

If may sound stupid... but is your spare and other equipment in the trunk properly tighten down? Just a thought...

vfr700f2

Here's what I asked on the first page:


I'd insist on answers to these questions, given by a competent individual who actually knows the answers. (ie not the service writer - get him out of the equation now)

From behind a keyboard, 1400 miles away, I predict a tire/wheel issue is most likely, followed by an axle issue, followed by a wheel bearing issue, followed by a rotor issue that will be fixed by replacing them (which should be done anyway at this point). I also predict that until a competent diagnostician (not the oil change guy) works on the car, the problem will continue.

LS430FL

I am going to be asking all these questions when I pick up the car this time so that you get those answers. It has been very frustrating to say the least. They just say they will take care of it, however now that this is the third time its in the shop, I feel like I have already given them the opportunity to take care of it. If it isn't fixed this time, what action do you guys suggest I take with the dealership? The issue has been reported the first week of ownership without a remedy. I traded in my 2006 LS430 that I had for three years with not one issue. The same goes for my 2001 that had 180K on it now issues for almost 4 years. All I would go to dealer for was regular maintenance and oil changes.

Now I am in the shop with this car more than I am driving it, I've had it for a little over a month and I am making my second car payment on the thing in a few days and its always in the shop. I can't believe it...

**Only time the noise occurs is when brakes are applied. The easiest way to produce the noise is to slow the car down to 1-5 mph let off the brakes and then reapply them to a stop. This will always produce the Thump thump thump from the right rear. Sometimes you can almost feel the car sort of bump/minor jolt as if the brakes are rubbing over something that isn't flat or is catching causing a faint movement. (i know its hard to put it to words vs. actually experiencing it). If you feel the noise I guess you could see why they would think it was the rotors but their idea has not led to a resolution of the problem.

Is it out of line to get the pre-owned sales manager involved in this? Perhaps they should have done a better job at checking the car for issues before selling it to me considering it is a CPO car (i know not all dealers are great with the CPO process and it varies drastically from dealer to dealer how they interpret the CPO guidelines).

Any and all opinions are welcome on this thread! or feel free to PM me.