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Do I have any recourse to a compensation? Please could anyone advise me? Thank you.
I think if the dealer replaced your entire brake system it should work properly or he should still be working on it until it does.
On paper, I'm struggling to argue with her. size is similar. When maxed out in options, it has many of the important luxury's. It's a little slower, but 1 second in 0-60 is hard to justify 25k.
Help me with my argument. How do I convince her to spend 63k on this car instead of 35-40 on an Avalon?
Do I ever understand your situation. Take both for a good, hard test drive---interstate and all. Check trunk space. The newer Avalon trunk is smaller than it used to be. Have her drive both cars as well.
Historically, I think the LS has better resale value.
Read this month's Consumer Reports magazine --- it just came in my mailbox today (the September issue) but in giving their review a quick browse, I think it will support your wife's side of the argument.
Have you browsed the Edmunds.com discussion forum for the new Avalon? You'll pick up on any quirks or complaints there.
Good luck. Either way, both are great cars, IMHO.
Thanks....Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the car....Believe it was a good buy!!
I've never had any brake issues with my 92 LS thus far. I just replaced my rear brake pads at 95K miles. The rotors are all original. Lexus dealers normally offer a one year warranty on all work, so you really should not be paying a cent. I don't see why you should have to replace rotors so often. Have a good independant mechanic have a look. Lexus dealers unfortunately aren't created equal.
Vibration issues are almost always due to tires. Find a machine shop with a Hunter Load Force Balancer. It is possible that the vibration may be due to ball joints or bushings, but I'd doubt it. I had a severe vibration problem back in 1995 with this LS and they found in the end they had to shimmy the U-Shaft (If I remember correctly) to solve the problem. Also they switched the tires over to a set of Bridgestone Turanzas as well.
Hope this helps,
SV
When we take our '05 LS out of the garage in the summer heat, it takes over an hour before the true outside temp shows up on the dashboard, even after it has sat parked in the sun (in 95°F heat) for 30 minutes between errands.
Finally, after 1 1/2 hours or 2 hours, the true outdoor temp will appear.
Is this normal Lexus experience, or should be contact our dealer? We've never seen this take so long, with our other cars ... past or present. (Volvo, BMW, Toyota)
Instead of moving the OAT sensor away from the radiator/condensor where it is influenced by radiant heating effect from same Lexus decided to use some DSP, adding a significant delay.
The OAT is also used to heavily influence the climate control operation and the radiator heat was fouling things up.
Right after I bought my new 92 I moced the OAT sensor into the right front bumper area.
Driving city streets when radio cut out and then went off. Dash lights went out including gauges. Car continued to run OK. Shut off car, re-started and everything worked OK. Later that day same thing happened. This time I could not put the car in PARK before shutting off the engine. Charged the battery all night and the next day ran fine. Charged again overnight and this morning, the battery warning light came on twice when stopped at a light. What component of this fine car being going bad?
1996 Lexus LS400
Thanks
$3100 bucks to dealer: Ouch!! :mad: .
Lesson. If your having to add pwr steering fluid it may be wise to see if it is leaking into your alternator.
$3100 sounds like too much to me. The Alternator Job itself is around 1,000 but they take apart a significant part of the engine to do it. The Power Steering Pump is $525 or less at Irontoad.com. I had my Power Steering Pump, and Timing Belt along with the 90K service done for $1300 here in Boston. Shop around and get the best price.
Sorry to hear about that,
SV
The bug has bit me again and I want another LS. I've been looking at '95 & up models for the past month and haven't seen anything I felt I wanted to make an offer on until yesterday.
The car is a silver 1996 LS with only 75K. Seller is asking $13K.
The Good: the car had 1 local elderly owner and who put on 75K. Drives very well. Very smooth. Clean and sharp looking with chrome wheels.
The Bad: no moonroof and no CD (odd for an LS), one minor 5" scrape on the front, a couple scratches on the rear bumper, and a couple missing pixels in the radio LCD. Big-O tires. Hmmm.
The car seems to have been serviced at an independent, but not one that really knows the LS. This is my biggest worry about the car. There's NO repair work that's been done.
So I'm thinking - at 9 years old this car could need some work in the near future.
I'm thinking:
Timing Belt Change (past due in terms of time, if not mileage)
PS Pump
Lower Ball Joints, Knuckle Bushings
EGR Pipe
Alternator
AC
The likelihood that all these things will crop up soon is low, but I want to think about what the car might need in the near future so I can plan ($$$) accordingly.
I'll get the car inspected at the dealer or a Lexus specialist, but I'm kinda worried about seeing no repairs done on the car.
Also, the price seems high - I think $11K is about the most these cars fetch.
What do you guys out there think?
synthetic transmission fluid to keep the seals soft and keep down the heat. I also saw someone was told that the older Lexus engines would break a valve if the timing belt broke no not normally I recommend changing the timing belt at 90,000 miles with the water pump and the idlers pulleys and all fan belts this way you take care of everything at once. Another tip use the two dollar car wash to clean out your condenser and radiator
to help run your car cooler during the summer don't spray the engine with water it goes down into the spark plug tunnels and shorts the electric system. Just spray the outside of the radiator and condenser a lot of junk comes out. Remember always change the water pump when changing the timing belt needed or not change it or it will go out a few thousand miles later and the cost is big then it will rip the timing belt to bits. Happy motoring.
I sold my 1993 Buick Park Avenue 2 years ago with 189k on it, and all it ever needed was struts, front brakes, and an alternator. The guy I sold it to now has 260k on it and it works fine. I guess I'll start shopping for a low-mile Buick. I guess Lexus is just too rich for my retired blood.
Three more LSes in the "family", two more 92's and a 95. Same story with those xcept the intake manifold exhaust line broke, another DIY.
One of the 92's was totalled by the insurance company and I repurchased it and it is being repaired for about $8,000.
Personally I would buy a used 98-2000 LS before even considering a new one.
Even if you use the dealer for scheduled maintenance the expenses can be kept well in line by forcing the dealer to abide strictly by the factory recommendation guidlines.
Don't let the do ANYTHING (scheduled) that isn't recommended in the owner's manual, PERIOD!
Water pump failures have been a constant, persistent, failure in all cars for as long as I can remember. Drive belt side pressure on the one single shaft bearing is a part of the failure mode as is the rubber seal that prevents the water pressure from getting to the bearing.
AND:
The PS stearing pump location and the fact that it develops a leak has absolutely NOTHING to do with the alternator failure!
Until the alternator failed in my 92, and the PS was leaking, I assumed that the leak story was well founded.
NOT!
Having been through a few a alternator "failures" previously I purchased a set of slip ring brushes for it at the same time I purchased the PS overhaul kit. In the end I could have left the PS pump intact, leak and all, and it wouldn't have mattered.
It turned out that the slip ring brushes were in quite good shape but the slip rings themselves were worn through all the way down to the metal shaft.
I suspect Lexus would very much like us to believe that these alternator failures are due to PS leaks. Other than a manufacturing flaw how is it possible for a set of "soft" graphite slip rings brushes to wear the solid copper slip rings out in ~100,000 miles?
I have done a lot of reading over the years about Lexus, and until reading this forum was under the impression they are nearly fault-free if maintained properly. If I do eventually buy one, I can look forward to it being at least a little like working on my old motorcycles; a hands-on bonding experience.
My wallet sure took a beating at the dealer today...I have to spend $2500 on the 92 to replace the following things: Upper Control Arm (Right Side) Strut Rod Bushings, Power Steering Rack, Power Steering Pressure Hose, Rear Assembly Bushings, and possibly some more depending on whether they can find what is causing the clunking noise in the front side suspension...Initially they quoted me $3700 and I promptly told them where to go..Their attitude was beyond comprehension, "We have customers that spend $9-10,000 on these cars..It depends how much you really like the car.."
I told them that this was one of the most absurd things I've ever heard...What is the point of purchasing these cars if they fall apart within 13 years? They gave me a 15% discount on parts so we agreed to $2500. Maybe it's time for a Mercedes. There are plenty of Independents who can fix those..
SV