I am looking at buying this car, a 97 sc300 auto, and when I asked the guy selling it if he had the timing belt changed he said that the lexus dealership told him that it had a timing chain and changing it was not neccessary. I could have swore all models and years had a belt, am I insane???

 

Woah.. hehe.. the only lexus vehicle with the chain is the lx450... everything else has a timing belt.

 

you should have raised the bs flag on him, where is the icon?

 

Agreed! The guy is hiding something &/or has no idea what he is talking about.

 

Ya, sometimes these dealerships don't know much. I went to a Toyota dealership to get my GS300's transmission fluid changed and I asked to have my differential fluid changed too, but the service manager said there is no need because there is no differential in a front-wheel-drive vehicle I immediately left the dealership and went to another Toyota dealer who knew what they were talking about.

So regarding your purchase, you at least know the timing belt wasn't changed because he believed it had a timing chain. Most likely the dealership gave him the wrong information.

 

Yeah and since it has about 104k I would think it is due which means I am going to have to get this down as soon as the car is in my possesion.

 

Why don't you have the guy fix it first or have him subtract from the purchase price the cost to have the belt replaced?

 

What would you suggest I ask to take off the price???

 

How much is it to do the work that is needed? That should give you an idea.

 

I'm not sure, I've seen the cost of replacing the timing belt range from $700 to $1,200. It depends on the dealership or shop. Call shops around your area and find out how much they charge to replace the belt. I'm pretty sure that you should get the water pump and idler pulley replaced at the same time because these parts tend to go bad and changing them when you change the timing belt saves money in the long run. I think those prices I quote about includes changing the water pump.

 

Having the cam seals replaced at the same time is also a good idea, along with the front crank seal.

 

Does Lexus have any type of high mileage maintenance where they do all these things in one shot and at a set price? Maybe if I can call around here and ask about it then I can find out what to through this guy as an offer.

 

whatever they charge you to replace the t-belt, it shouldnt be more than an extra hour or so of labor to replace the water pump, idlers, and front seals. since everything is apart already, it is very easy to change these items, and its a very good idea due to age.

 

Just changing the T-Belt shouldn't be more than $500, if that.

 

Call Steve at Carson and ask him what it would cost and maybe you can have deduct that amount??