vscout

I noticed today my 2012 IS350 was braking really harsh pulling into my driveway. Had someone drive my car and saw my right rear caliper move when the brakes were applied. Does anyone know the cause of this and what needs to be done to fix it? Any information is appreciated. See below for the video (I know I filmed it portrait, please don't hate me)

scott1256c

I don't know if you have problems with your brakes or not, I can't see anything in that video, so maybe the "movement" you see is not normal, but SOME movement is normal.

I'm assuming the brakes on the rear didn't change between 2007 and 2012, so what follows is 2007 info.

The rear caliper only has one pot, on the inside of the rotor. The caliper part on the outside of the rotor connects to the opposite side with two pins. The pin on top is like a bolt and screws in to connect the two parts together and the bottom in just a pin. So when the pot on the inside engages, the part on the outside is pulled toward the rotor, which is why I say SOME movement is normal. The slide pin on the bottom of the rotor has a tendency to seize. I don't know if it seizing would explain your problem or not. To check it you will have to pull out the brake pads and see if you can spread the caliper apart, or compress it back together. If the bottom is stuck, you should replace the caliper. You can just clean it (I did), but it is time consuming. You have to get the rust off the inside and outside and polish both pin and hole. I only did this because I couldn't find a caliper locally, and I had an event coming up in a few days and couldn't wait for a replacement.

Don't suppose you drove thru a puddle shortly before going into your driveway?

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Remove the wheel and check it out closer! Don't drive it until you fix it either!

vscout

scott1256c & Gville350:

I ended up it taking to my local Lexus dealer. They discovered one of the bolts that holds the caliper in place was missing. Not sure how it could've come loose but Lexus wanted $250 for the bolt. In additional to that, they also found the left rear CV boots were missing (wanted $1450 for the repair) and the left rear lower control arm was missing the mounting nut (wanted $100). All in all, they wanted almost $1,900 for the repairs. I called the place I purchased the Lexus from originally and luckily they are taking responsibility for everything.

I must say the repair costs were a little surprising. $250 for a bolt?

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^Guessing you just recently purchased the car? Care to mention from where so that others are aware that they obviously don't thoroughly check their vehicles before sale?