xis

dealer sold vehicles (used) have an 'implied' wty for (I think) 30 days... At least they do here in AZ

You could have remaining powertrain wty also, but not sure if that is 7 yrs 70K or 100K??

infinirx

Yes I have a 30 day warranty. Trying to take full advantage of it the best I can. I am dropping the car off at the dealer Monday so they can do there own check on the differential and the timing belt.

infinirx

So far so good as it gets I guess. They spent a few hrs looking over the car. Timing belt was not changed so we gotta do that. There is definitely a leak somewhere. They cleaned up the engine really good and told me to please drive it for a week and bring it back next Monday so they can look over the engine again.

At least they are looking at it and not charging me a thing till we find out the exact problem. Then I can look forward to paying 50% of all of this. They seem legit so far and willing to work with me on this. I hope it does not go sour next week. At the moment I think they are going to be fair with me.

infinirx

So I am updating for the sake of that I think it's a good thing to do and might help some one else later. Who knows.

So they are servicing the car now. I dropped it off Monday. They found there was no leak after week of driving around after a good cleaning. I am going to get a second opinion just to be sure but so far it seems the front differential was fixed or what not a while back but never cleaned.

second is they are doing the 90K major service timing belt package that includes the water pump and seals etc. etc. for less than half of what the Lexus dealer quotes me. Lexus dealer told me $1,850!! Screw that.

Other than that I am good to go. thanks for all the feedback. I will post again if there ends up being some problems related.

infinirx

Hmmm well a roller coaster ride I am on here. Finally after over 24hrs later I have the car and am at home. The dealership boss told me like I wrote before there was no leak. Right..... Well looking at the bill it said there WAS a leak and they repaired it. I talked to the mechanic and he said for sure there was a leak in the differential and he explained how they repaired it. I cannot remember the details. I should find out though again. Well so I guess they repaired the leak and did the timing belt package (there is a list of related stuff).

I figure I will wait a week or two. Bring it back to the Lexus dealer for a 40 point check again and see if they really repaired it.

infinirx

Sorry to bring this thread back. But I did a nice oil change to full synthetic two weeks ago. While my buddy was looking under the engine for the filter he checked and said the differential was leaking. Oh well. So Back to needing to Reseal the differential and change out the fluids.

So look can anyone have an idea of the cost of this? I do not want to go to Toyota and get a ridiculous quote. I already got a BS one from Lexus.

bagsbie

First of all, sorry for all your troubles... Reading through the thread you mentioned on 06/29/2010 that you were going to find out what exactly the dealership mechanic did to reseal the diff. Did you ever got that info? Also, as Lexmex said, a lot of people, including some mechanics, customarily refer to transfer case and the front differential on our cars interchangeably. Can you possibly provide a photo of the area where the leak is found, if anything, for the sake of knowledge?

infinirx

I dunno where the part is. I would prob. need to get under the car with my mechanic. But the lexus dealer was the one that caught it to begin with. and the shop that fixes stuff for that dealership says it was/is the front differential as well.

Lexus says $1,800 cause the engine needs to be lifted. I am thinking maybe $1,200 from Toyota dealer? I hope allot less though. To me if it's not done eventually it will be a HUGE problem, not just a leak. So I gotta get it done.

infinirx

I am really annoyed I have to pay $100 for the toyota dealer to check to see if the lexus dealer was correct that it IS the front differential that is leaking. I know, Lexus knows, my personal mechanic knows, and many more.

Just want a dam quote...

bagsbie

yeah, some, if not most, dealers will charge you a diagnostics fee, approx. 1 hour's worth, in case they tell you what it is and you opt to go elsewhere. For instance, I worked on my audi a4 to replace the intake flap motor, got it done but the new motor would not adapt to the ECU. I was puzzled and went to the original dealer where I bought the part and said I had a CEL code I wanted them to check. the SA was happy to take the car in and gave me free diagnostics. came back to tell me they needed to replace the motor again for $550 including the part!!! I refused. You can imagine how pissy the service adviser got! called another dealer and it turned out, the original dealer sold me the wrong part! picked up the right part and replaced it in, ready for this... 30 minutes! the point is, dealers are all about maximizing profit. that coffee and snacks in the waiting area are not free, after all. I wish you can find a good and reliable indy mechanic to sort your car out and save you a ton of money. although, they are a dying breed, I must say... Keep us posted on how you progress.

infinirx

lol the along with the powdered milk right? Hehe yeah I was just *****ing a bit cause I was not getting what I wanted and am really wanting to get this behind me before it's a really big problem.

Gonna start working some of my friends that are connected with dealerships. See what I can do.

infinirx

Yeah so had it checked at a local family owned Toyota Dealer. $50 and they spent allot of time digging trying to actually find where the leak was coming from. Yup front Differential. It's a bad leak and the only way to fix it right it to remove the trans!!!!!!!!



Well it's very depressing as there estimate is $2,300! Heh still not really sinking in yet. They said it looked like some one tried to fix it without taking the tans out and started a whole new leak. Looks like I have a possible legal battle on my hands with the lot dealership since I caught the problem before the 50/50 warranty was up and in there receipt it says they fixed it after I got them to look at my Lexus 40 point check.



I am now looking for a Toyota/Lexus specialist in SoCal so I might get some kind of better price and in some way force the seller to pay for 50% as was in the original warranty. I have at the very least a paper trail.

Oh well got allot to do.

phlfly

WOW, I told always dealers are stealership. You need find small shop with friends you know good. Ask people on your work, it's more likely you will find someone knows a good small shop with honest people.
I had a kind same problem. I bought an Audi from Nissan dealer, and only thing I asked was about timing belt, they stated it was done. Then 3 month later, one of the tesioners failed, so result 5 valves bent. So I took a car to the friends on mine so guy told me and showed me a belt has never been replaced, it has cracks everywhere. So I took estimate from my body's shop and went to dealer, of course dealer said to me it's BS and is not going to pay, after argue with general manager for hour I was honored with full repair reimbursed.
So try to take a fight and scare them with court and bla bla bla.

infinirx

Yeah got a couple of good referrals yesterday. Both certified Toyota shops. We shall see.

I am not sure if I am going to even contact the stealership till I get it fixed cause the way I see it they lied to me twice. Once when they sold the car and the second time when they said they fixed it. You know the saying fool me once, fool me twice, fool me three times?

Yeah gonna bring my Mom too and all my paperwork. A business card from my Lawyer in NYC just in case. All I want is to get what legally is in my rights. Let them pay the 50% of the bill. What ever it may come to.

infinirx

So this guy I am taking it to Tues. went to a Toyota sponsored college and is certified. He's gonna do a full inspection and then check the leak. I hope I am not wasting my time with him. Seems pretty knowledgeable and professional.

He's not charging me for any of this inspection/check today so all I have to lose is my time.