dvnandover

I am a newbie to this site so be please gentle with me. I would like to ask for your opinions about Lexus certified pre owned vehicles. I purchased a pre owned 2010 RX350 about 2 years ago (03/29/2013) and the car is under 3 years/100000 mile warranty but already I had to replace all 4 new tires 6 months ago that cost me over $1000. This week I brought it in for an oil change and they told me I will need to replace 4 new break pads and resurface the rotors which will cost $952.72. What condition should the car be in to be qualify as a certified pre owned? Or Does a certified pre owned has to be in good condition over all? Am I being screwed by Lexus?

ketleone14

I guess my question is how many miles are on your RX and how many have you put on in the 2 years?

It is 5 years old now so I can see some maintenance being needed but if you put say 5K miles on it and the brakes are gone that makes me wonder what they were at when you bought it.

hovbuild

I was told this by a dealer once. Took it to a service station and found the brakes were only 1/3 used up. Put another 15000 on it befor brake job.

milehighda

Brakes are really something you could do yourself. I never resurfaced rotors, because it just a little more to buy new. Brakes are the one fix I still do myself.

I would suggest taking it to a Toyota dealer or toyota service could do a chain service station also.

I would be careful with keeping them on. Check through the wheel and looks at the rotors for grooves. If it has grooves, get it done. It hard to explain brake thickness but if you see the pad is thin, you need new brakes. Best way to determine is just driving and checking how far you have to press to stop. Do you feel that it is soft? Is it to soft for comfort? That is how I judge my fiance brakes the last time.

SteveCraig

Believe the CPO process takes care of most wear items before it's put on the lot. Costs money to do this, therefore, the dealer will hold out for a higher price.
Both tires & brakes are wear items.
Miles since purchase, driving style etc. will all contribute to brakes & tires wear.
Don't spend the $$ resurfacing the rotors, have them replaced. A resurface job will make them thinner & more prone to warping from heat incurred while braking.

dvnandover

It was about 32000 miles when I bought it and I put in about 19000 miles in 2 years but should they fixed the break in the first place when they certified the car to be certified pre pre owned ? I hope they do more than just inspect the car and made it a certified pre owned because it costs more than a non certified ore owned. I would not buy another certified pre owned from Lexus ever again.

Does anyone know where the navigation DVD is located? I want to update my navigation DVD with the latest data.

SteveCraig

Problem is without a bench mark 19K miles ago, you don't have any reference at all.
Tires........I can see tires going after that few miles. What brand are they ? Have you consistently checked air & rotated ?
Mine had OEM Dunlops & about 16K miles on when I bought it used.It was not a CPO purchase. Replaced tires first or second week as they were finished.
About the only manufacturer I've seen back up their warranty has been Michelin.

Brakes..........get it to another dealer if convenient, even a Toyota dealer for a second opinion. Haven't heard of any shops turning rotors in a long while. One exception might be a very minor turning to get rust build up off if the car has been sitting. This process will generally use an abrasive rather than a cutting edge.

coolcam20

I'm on my 3rd Certified vehicle and this havs never been an issue. It is to my understanding that All pre-owned vehicles must pass certified inspection (Which included brakes and Tires) in order to be sold as Certified. If this was done correctly, you will have a Certified Sticker on the inside of your driver door, and your Inspection paperwork should tell you how they rated your brakes and tires prior to selling it to you. I'd dtart there to make sure they did what they were supposed to do before you bought it.

dvnandover

Replaced with 4 new Michelin tires 1 1/2 years after purchased and it cost me over $1k. Now I have to spend another $1k for breaks after having it for a little less than 2 years it does not make economic sense to me especially a Lexus CPO car.

SteveCraig

You bought 4 new Michelins 6 months ago. What was on the car prior to these ? Car was at about 40K mies for tires ?
Keeping the air at recommended pressure & rotating at regular intervals will effectively extend the life of the tire.
Lexus will wear out tires & brakes just as fast as any other car on the road.
Not sure what the CPO minimum is on pads but you may have bought the car with more than the minimum after 30K miles.. They won't replace them if they pass minimum thickness. Remember, the dealer is running a business for profit.
Add 19K miles on an already partially worn pad & it requires replacement.
Pro's & cons of buying a used car are endless.

sarphinius

Just joined the Lexus family myself this past weekend, bought a Certified 2011 RX 450h. Dealer gave me some details on the certification process, showed me the checklist they use to certify - it was about 3-4 pages long, covering various systems.

I specifically recall that tread depth was judged with an actual measurement, I think they said that 8mm was the cutoff for certifying? And perhaps an actual measurement of brake pads, too, though mine had all new pads, so I wasn't paying much attention there. I've done enough DIY maintenance over the years that I was comfortable giving the car a good look-over myself, too.

That said, they missed some things on the certification. Tread measurements for two of the tires were missing from the paperwork, but I made sure I was satisfied with the tires/tread depth myself. They also missed a crack in the front grille, which I spotted and they're going to swap out for me.

First time I've bought certified. I'm pretty happy with the process (and with only 28k on my 2011, so 3 years/100k is a lot of warranty for me), and it's certainly better than a straight-up used car, even it's not perfect.

Clutchless

Sounds like perfectly normal brake and tire wear to me. I would not complain if I got almost 50,000 miles out of my original tires and brakes. I have a 2010 with 37,000 miles that is overdue to replace the worn out original Michelins. I had to replace the rear brake pads at 32,000, but did them myself for a total pad cost of about $50. You should shop around for opinions on whether you really need brakes all around and for prices. Brake job prices and quality vary quite a bit. A highly reputable local independent repair shop is usually a better and cheaper choice than the dealer for a brake job.

txt

Brake and tire wear is very much dependent on how the car is used.

If car is used in lots of stop & go traffic, then brakes and tires will wear out faster than average.

I bought 2009 RX350 CPO with 10 K miles on it.
Today, it has 31 K miles.
The original brake pads still have plenty of meat.
This RX350 is used mostly during non-rush hour traffic where the brakes were not used much.

Contrast with my 2010 Honda Cvic bought used at 21 K miles.
At 40K miles, the 2 inner front brake pads was worn down to 1 mm, screeching loudly.
The Civic is used for work commute with lots of stop & go, so brakes wear faster than average.