Thanks for the regular updates Lexusk8. Hope it all works out fine...I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to have your lex exhibit those symptoms.

 

hey man good luck with that. $100 seems like a bargain to repair the problems you describe. wish i had a warranty still

 

Thanks dude. Everyone here at work has been telling me how lucky I am to use extended warranty at a critical time like this

As of right now, the car is still at the dealership, with the transmission already removed from the car. A rebuild is out of the question as it is not truly cost-effective from a dealership perspective. The dealership and I have already spoken to the warranty company about this matter, and it looks like a new transmission replacement will be in line (as soon as the work authorization and paperwork b/w the dealership and the warranty company all go through). That may take a few days, hopefully sometime early next week. Turnaround time for this job is N/A at this moment (not worried since I have an ES loaner), but I'll be sure to keep my CL family informed.

 

Doug, are they talking totally brand spankin' new tranny or a remanufactured unit.

If you get the brand spankin' new one, you just added at least 200k to the life of the car. Kinda like starting from go again.

good luck.

steviej

 

A new transmission would be awesome. I hope they do it! Any updates?

 

A brand new tranny would definately be sweet!!

 

It's impossible to diagnose tranny problems over the Internet. Sometimes a weak alternator with failed diodes will give the "supercharger" whirring sound. And the tranny could shift funny because there isn't enough electricity to do the shifting. So who knows? It could be just a bad alternator.

You are really lucked out with extended warranty. Let the dealer worry about it.

 

It has been 2 weeks since I left the car in the dealership's hands for diagnosing the transmission problem. I called up the warranty, and they told me that for some odd and unknown reason, the dealership cannot go through a teardown of the transmission in the ES (although the tranny is already removed) And they're telling me that they're going to have to bring the car to another shop or repair facility to finish the teardown process. The warranty company has emphasized that they won't go through the warranty claim for the transmission work until the teardown is verified.

As a loyal customer for that dealership, I'm already quite p***ed about the lag in this process. Everyone's telling me things should be OK as long as all the tranny work goes through OK, but waiting for 2 weeks and not hearing any news of work coverage for my car is absolutely ridiculous. I've tried calling the service advisor a dozen times, but he's never at his desk. I'm considering calling up Lexus National about this, but I'm not sure how much assistance they can provide based on a non-Lexus extended warranty matter. So to say the least, I feel like I'm lost in the middle of an island, and not sure what to do

 

Damn thats rough...from past experience I know that you have to raise hell to be noticed at the dealerships unless the service manager knows you quite well. I doubt if lexus national will be able to provide much guidance on the non-lexus warranty issue...just hang in there and keep pushing...and please keep us updated. Good luck!

 

Go stand in the doorway of his office with a complaint form to the BBB and the phone number of your local news station's consumer reporter. That will get you noticed.

Just keep enjoying their loaner vehicle.

steviej

 

agreed, local media will eat up stuff like this...they do it every day!

 

Agreed! IT will make them move their butts faster at least.

 

BTW for those who are curious, my extended warranty company is called Heritage Warranty (based in Nebraska).

After doing a little detective work, I found out that this warranty company has gotten a bad rap in the past, namely described in this link: http://www.networkdimension.com/heri...tinsurance.htm

 

The dealership finally was able to speak with the warranty company today; it has been hell trying to deal with this aftermarket warranty since the start of the tranny issue. Unfortunately the news I received from the dealership was not the greatest : The warranty company won't pay for a brand-new, warranty covered transmission on my ES. Instead, they will pay a certain amount of $$$ towards a Lexus remanufactured transmission, and I will end up covering the difference. I know my dealership tried their hardest to fight for a new transmission in the last 3 weeks, but the reality is that it is generally a hard sell with an aftermarket warranty company. They work almost like an insurance company, one who is willing to lowball the affected item(s).

At any rate, the transmission will be eventually be replaced, but not with a new one like I had hoped for I may have to suck this one up and let the dealership handle the tranny work My dealership and I will come up with a firm plan and figures for the work on my transmission within the next 2 days, so I will keep this posted.

 

call a lawyer, thats bull****.