Brake Actuator Failure at 97k mi & 10yr & 1month of service
01-09-19, 01:36 PM
#16
Lexus Fanatic
your missing the point JLAWS, and it seems like Lexus has your number with the term “goodwill warranty extension”. The whole point is that this part failing is a safety issue and should be handled as such and it has not. It should have been replaced long ago back in 2011 when they redesigned the part. Instead the company decided to wait it out and see how many people would come forward and hush them with a goodwill warranty extension. I have read in much detail regarding this issue and I am completely convinced that is the case. Many customers have brought their cars in within the timeframe making noises that show the failure is immeninet and the company said well it hasn’t failed yet so you do not qualify that to me is postponing at the risk of safety of their customers and I’m not ok with that. Especially for a world class companies supposed “flagship” vehicle. The ls430 was great the ls 460 seems to have missed the boat on reliability even if the motor and trans is strong these issues cannot be dismissed.
This attitude is what keeps Lexus from doing a goodwill repair. Entitlement isn't going to get you anywhere. Its an old car, and its experienced a failure outside of Lexus' already generous warranty extension. Lexus owes you nothing. I would recommend you take the advice given to you further up in the thread and take it to an independent mechanic.
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JLAWS (01-09-19)
01-09-19, 02:02 PM
#17
Lexus Fanatic
Safety parts fail on old cars. Nobody has ever said safety equipment on old cars should work forever. Guess what? ABS sensors and systems go bad, traction and skid systems go bad. Airbags go bad. Seat belts go bad. People have to pay to repair them on old cars. This is no different.
This attitude is what keeps Lexus from doing a goodwill repair. Entitlement isn't going to get you anywhere. Its an old car, and its experienced a failure outside of Lexus' already generous warranty extension. Lexus owes you nothing. I would recommend you take the advice given to you further up in the thread and take it to an independent mechanic.
This attitude is what keeps Lexus from doing a goodwill repair. Entitlement isn't going to get you anywhere. Its an old car, and its experienced a failure outside of Lexus' already generous warranty extension. Lexus owes you nothing. I would recommend you take the advice given to you further up in the thread and take it to an independent mechanic.
Continuing to accept unacceptable flaws, design failures and not complaining or demanding rectification as it is just a fact of life after cars age could/will lead to a general acceptance of those flaws more and more, basically what has happened to BMW, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, etc. We buy Lexus cars because of the quality/reliability and expect them to last a long time if we want to keep them longer, if that stops happening and it becomes more and more acceptable to have all these issues with the LS460 then we might as well by European cars.
Last edited by UDel; 01-09-19 at 02:05 PM.
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NotFasty (01-09-19)
01-09-19, 03:05 PM
#18
I don’t think that asking the regional rep for a one month and ten day extension on an arbitrarily set extended warranty, on a well documented safety issue is the equivalent of screaming for a lollipop in the check out lane at the grocery store. Their 10/150 is generous (which actually illustrates the depth and breadth of the problem),but it was a line drawn in the sand by bean counters. Moses didn’t bring the warranty bulletin down from Mt. Sinai on a stone tablet. Push them, if you get no satisfaction, take your lumps and fix it as inexpensvly as possible.
The sad thing that the OP pointed out is that “Potentially “, if he drove the car like an animal, the actuator may have more likely failed in warranty. Furthermore, he probably paid a premium for a low mileage car, when in actuality, it probably cost him money in the long run on this actuator and a bunch of other parts that are coming due. The part lasted 10 years: is that considered unacceptable? Well, if we looked at all the parts on the car that way, yes, it’s unacceptable. What would our cars be worth if everything started to self destruct at 100K? I reckon,that if you have an older LS, with an original actuator you lose 2k in value the day you roll out of extended warranty. I think it may also be to early to know how the replacement holds up.
With all that said, I’m impressed and pleased with Lexus for stepping up with the extended warranty. I moved from Mercedes because of Lexus quality, and I’m here to stay. What I’m certain about is that the more inexpensive and fewer the repairs the lower our cost of ownership and the higher our residual value
My car’s a low mileage ‘07, well out of extended warranty. I love the car, and when the inevitable happens, I’ll get off my wallet and pay.
The sad thing that the OP pointed out is that “Potentially “, if he drove the car like an animal, the actuator may have more likely failed in warranty. Furthermore, he probably paid a premium for a low mileage car, when in actuality, it probably cost him money in the long run on this actuator and a bunch of other parts that are coming due. The part lasted 10 years: is that considered unacceptable? Well, if we looked at all the parts on the car that way, yes, it’s unacceptable. What would our cars be worth if everything started to self destruct at 100K? I reckon,that if you have an older LS, with an original actuator you lose 2k in value the day you roll out of extended warranty. I think it may also be to early to know how the replacement holds up.
With all that said, I’m impressed and pleased with Lexus for stepping up with the extended warranty. I moved from Mercedes because of Lexus quality, and I’m here to stay. What I’m certain about is that the more inexpensive and fewer the repairs the lower our cost of ownership and the higher our residual value
My car’s a low mileage ‘07, well out of extended warranty. I love the car, and when the inevitable happens, I’ll get off my wallet and pay.
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NotFasty (01-09-19)
01-09-19, 03:13 PM
#19
Lexus Fanatic
You’ve never heard of an ABS sensor failing on a car? Seriously? I’ve replaced several ABS sensors on cars over the years.
I totally agree theres an issue, clearly Lexus does too. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for Lexus to offer something here because it’s so close to the end of the warranty. My guess is some of the OP’s attitude about it we’ve seen here came across though and that’s why they didn’t. Plenty of examples of them doing that here, and I have had Lexus cover things for me just outside of the warranty.
BUT, carmakers aren’t going to warranty a car forever. There has to be an end date, and if you keep pushing it a month, just another month there’s no end date. At some point you have to chock it up to the car is old, and this is a common well documented issue and just eat the repair yourself. The LS460 is an old model now, Lexus has a new LS out and quite frankly they don’t really care about people buying these used beyond a certain point. What’s your solution, buy something else? Nobody else makes a more reliable or economical to own car of this caliber.
It would never even occur to me to expect that the manufacturer of my car would cover anything when it’s 10+ years old. If they will, great but that’s a bonus. 10 years old is old, and beyond where any manufacturer warranties their cars. Lexus has done a lot to extend warranties when these issues come up, more than almost any other automaker but there has to be an end.
I totally agree theres an issue, clearly Lexus does too. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for Lexus to offer something here because it’s so close to the end of the warranty. My guess is some of the OP’s attitude about it we’ve seen here came across though and that’s why they didn’t. Plenty of examples of them doing that here, and I have had Lexus cover things for me just outside of the warranty.
BUT, carmakers aren’t going to warranty a car forever. There has to be an end date, and if you keep pushing it a month, just another month there’s no end date. At some point you have to chock it up to the car is old, and this is a common well documented issue and just eat the repair yourself. The LS460 is an old model now, Lexus has a new LS out and quite frankly they don’t really care about people buying these used beyond a certain point. What’s your solution, buy something else? Nobody else makes a more reliable or economical to own car of this caliber.
It would never even occur to me to expect that the manufacturer of my car would cover anything when it’s 10+ years old. If they will, great but that’s a bonus. 10 years old is old, and beyond where any manufacturer warranties their cars. Lexus has done a lot to extend warranties when these issues come up, more than almost any other automaker but there has to be an end.
Last edited by SW17LS; 01-09-19 at 03:21 PM.
01-09-19, 03:19 PM
#20
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
OP:
I know your intent is to get Lexus to pay part of it no matter what, but have you tried taking your car to an independent Lexus mechanic (Davenport Motors both in Dallas and Plano come to mind) to get an estimate from them? They are usually cheaper (much cheaper) than the dealership and the guys there used to work at Lexus dealerships and are well-regarded. If you can't get Lexus to pay any portion, you might as well get a a discount by going to an independent Lexus mechanic.
I know your intent is to get Lexus to pay part of it no matter what, but have you tried taking your car to an independent Lexus mechanic (Davenport Motors both in Dallas and Plano come to mind) to get an estimate from them? They are usually cheaper (much cheaper) than the dealership and the guys there used to work at Lexus dealerships and are well-regarded. If you can't get Lexus to pay any portion, you might as well get a a discount by going to an independent Lexus mechanic.
Last edited by burgdorf; 01-09-19 at 03:23 PM.
01-19-19, 07:21 PM
#21
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
So for anyone that was wondering, I spoke to the regional rep out of Plano regarding my brake control module issue. The conversation was not very positive, I remained calm but firm and ended up being told I'm not a loyal Lexus customer. I did get a call the next day, after much request, from his supervisor and she basically explained that they have specific direction to not extend any further support for any customers that have this part fail outside of the extended service bulletin warranty. She even went so far as to say she has had several customers recently whom she had to turn away as the company would not allow them to extend any support for customers with this problem outside of the warranty period. Weather truth or not I will never know but she seemed genuine and apologized for the way the previous rep handled his conversation with me, I guess good enough for me at that point.
I went ahead and repaired the car at the dealer, total cost for brake actuator and alignment was about $2800.00. I am happy with the service as everything is put back together correct, as well the alignment leveled the car out, I had some issues with my recent install of front control arms at a local indy shop. I would have preferred to not pay that much for this service but it is what it is at this point. I did inspect to ensure the part installed was the updated ('improved") part number and not the old part number. Hopefully I'm good with the brakes at this point. Now I'm planning for the starter at some point and if and when it fails I will have covered all major three problems with this car in the first year of my ownership(previous owner got lucky/smart getting out of this one)!! What a joke! $2800 for brakes/alignment, $1700 for control arms, & at least $1000 for starter that will put me at $5500 (not including oil changes and regular maintenance) minimum for one year of service on a car that books for maybe 12 - 14k if I'm lucky. I like this car a lot and does ride very smooth but my sanity will be gone if I have to pour more money into this thing! I'm ready to get some longevity out of this car instead of headache and worry about the next thousand dollar cost for repair. For perspecitve we also have a 2006 Lexus GX470 with 165000 miles on it, it is super easy to work on and I have spent maybe $1200 in the last two years for service on that truck including rear air bags for suspension replaced (DIY), radiator, water pump, and timing belt service (Indy). The quality of build from my perspective does not compare from 2006-2009 for Lexus. Rant over, Happy driving to all and enjoy your Lexus but if you haven't got your brakes repaired and are under the extended warranty still, I highly recommend you test them a lot so they can fail within the time frame of having Lexus foot that bill.
I went ahead and repaired the car at the dealer, total cost for brake actuator and alignment was about $2800.00. I am happy with the service as everything is put back together correct, as well the alignment leveled the car out, I had some issues with my recent install of front control arms at a local indy shop. I would have preferred to not pay that much for this service but it is what it is at this point. I did inspect to ensure the part installed was the updated ('improved") part number and not the old part number. Hopefully I'm good with the brakes at this point. Now I'm planning for the starter at some point and if and when it fails I will have covered all major three problems with this car in the first year of my ownership(previous owner got lucky/smart getting out of this one)!! What a joke! $2800 for brakes/alignment, $1700 for control arms, & at least $1000 for starter that will put me at $5500 (not including oil changes and regular maintenance) minimum for one year of service on a car that books for maybe 12 - 14k if I'm lucky. I like this car a lot and does ride very smooth but my sanity will be gone if I have to pour more money into this thing! I'm ready to get some longevity out of this car instead of headache and worry about the next thousand dollar cost for repair. For perspecitve we also have a 2006 Lexus GX470 with 165000 miles on it, it is super easy to work on and I have spent maybe $1200 in the last two years for service on that truck including rear air bags for suspension replaced (DIY), radiator, water pump, and timing belt service (Indy). The quality of build from my perspective does not compare from 2006-2009 for Lexus. Rant over, Happy driving to all and enjoy your Lexus but if you haven't got your brakes repaired and are under the extended warranty still, I highly recommend you test them a lot so they can fail within the time frame of having Lexus foot that bill.
01-19-19, 07:47 PM
#22
At least it’s done, and you’re back on the road. It sucks that it all happened in the first year of your ownership, but it’s behind you instead of in front, like it is for me and many others.
They say the best revenge is living well. It’s a beautiful car; enjoy it. The financial impact of those repair cost decreases with every smiling mile behind the wheel. I saw a post where Roadfrog, I think it was him, said he had 160K on the original starter. Not worth worrying about.
Thanks for providing a conclusion to your thread.
They say the best revenge is living well. It’s a beautiful car; enjoy it. The financial impact of those repair cost decreases with every smiling mile behind the wheel. I saw a post where Roadfrog, I think it was him, said he had 160K on the original starter. Not worth worrying about.
Thanks for providing a conclusion to your thread.
01-19-19, 11:28 PM
#23
Sorry to read here about your issues. I bought our 08 9 months ago and have put 20k miles on it since.
Car “clicked” constantly when purchased at 54k miles.
replaced the oem grabby pads and factory warped rotors with Akebono parts.
Zero ro clicks now.
Had to wear the box. Especially since I have no noises anymore.
my opinion is that the grabby pads overheated and warped the rotors and the warped rotors caused the failure of the box.
hard to wear it out I would think if it’s not “clicking”
Car “clicked” constantly when purchased at 54k miles.
replaced the oem grabby pads and factory warped rotors with Akebono parts.
Zero ro clicks now.
Had to wear the box. Especially since I have no noises anymore.
my opinion is that the grabby pads overheated and warped the rotors and the warped rotors caused the failure of the box.
hard to wear it out I would think if it’s not “clicking”
01-20-19, 08:45 AM
#24
Lexus Fanatic
SI went ahead and repaired the car at the dealer, total cost for brake actuator and alignment was about $2800.00. I am happy with the service as everything is put back together correct, as well the alignment leveled the car out, I had some issues with my recent install of front control arms at a local indy shop. I would have preferred to not pay that much for this service but it is what it is at this point. I did inspect to ensure the part installed was the updated ('improved") part number and not the old part number. Hopefully I'm good with the brakes at this point. Now I'm planning for the starter at some point and if and when it fails I will have covered all major three problems with this car in the first year of my ownership(previous owner got lucky/smart getting out of this one)!! What a joke! $2800 for brakes/alignment, $1700 for control arms, & at least $1000 for starter that will put me at $5500 (not including oil changes and regular maintenance) minimum for one year of service on a car that books for maybe 12 - 14k if I'm lucky. I like this car a lot and does ride very smooth but my sanity will be gone if I have to pour more money into this thing!
For perspecitve we also have a 2006 Lexus GX470 with 165000 miles on it, it is super easy to work on and I have spent maybe $1200 in the last two years for service on that truck including rear air bags for suspension replaced (DIY), radiator, water pump, and timing belt service (Indy).
Its all your perception, and where you choose to have the work done that dictates the cost of the work your vehicle needs. You very easily could have had more repair costs in your GX had you made the same choices about the people doing those repairs as you did with the LS.
I understand your frustrations, but these things are just part of having a luxury car this age IMHO.
01-20-19, 11:28 AM
#25
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Sorry to read here about your issues. I bought our 08 9 months ago and have put 20k miles on it since.
Car “clicked” constantly when purchased at 54k miles.
replaced the oem grabby pads and factory warped rotors with Akebono parts.
Zero ro clicks now.
Had to wear the box. Especially since I have no noises anymore.
my opinion is that the grabby pads overheated and warped the rotors and the warped rotors caused the failure of the box.
hard to wear it out I would think if it’s not “clicking”
Car “clicked” constantly when purchased at 54k miles.
replaced the oem grabby pads and factory warped rotors with Akebono parts.
Zero ro clicks now.
Had to wear the box. Especially since I have no noises anymore.
my opinion is that the grabby pads overheated and warped the rotors and the warped rotors caused the failure of the box.
hard to wear it out I would think if it’s not “clicking”
Just My 2 Cents.
Last edited by burgdorf; 01-20-19 at 12:23 PM.
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