Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
Options
Comments
My son had an accident to my wife ES 300 -97 w/ 27,000 miles on it last Sunday morning,The car still under warranty.The impact so bad the whole front and side is gone.Luckily no bad injuries to my family.And so amazing, both airbags,driver and passenger side do not work.Stayed peaceful in their enclosures.It happened once during last year w/ my brother 91 LS 400 accident.The car was totally lost and the airbag still intact.So this time I want talk to the Lexus people before bring it up by my lawyer.Some one have Lexus representative in US email, phone # so I can call or email to them w/ all supporting pics.
Thank you- Can email me @ :"mle204@hotmail.com"
Any suggestions hyperopt or anyone else? Again thanks in advance!
As a car owner, I thought when someone purchase the car, he think about safety first by always picking the car w/more safety feature if they can afford it.Basicly seat belt first and after came air bags .Driver air bags,next is passenger side airbags and...now side airbags. No one told me that in order to make airbag working, the car must met a certain parameters as you said.Only they said that to provide more safety for oeople.Luckily no one want have opportunity to test the functioning of their airbag by involving into an accident.If not lucky, during a bad accident like mine, they lost their live and no one complains that his air bag do not meet some parameters to deploy and he not here either to understand why.
I'm not against Lexus,actually I driving a LS 400, and I still planning upgrade it to LS 430 this coming september.But before that,I will pursuit this matter till it's solved friendly or legally.
It's nt first time, it happened once w/ my brother 91 LS 400 last year which is totally lost and airbag not deploy.He got a 97 LS and forgot it because may be it's too old so airbag can be mal functioned.
Mine is different, it had two,driver and passenger side and none is deployed.
My goal is very simple, just to get the refund of the non functioning air bags when they are not working as advertised , secondly want lexus people provide some place, some way to test the air bag functioning of mine and other lexus owner (including you too,if you own a lexus.) So every one will be sure that their car are reliable and SAFE.
I don't want make any money on them.We are so lucky that no serious things happened to us.If some one tell me how to post pics in this page I will post them so lexus owner will understand why I wrote these lines. Thanks.
This accident happened during a curved turn in a 2 lanes drive, to avoid an other car head on us, we moved to the right and lost control, hit to a tree, bounced to an other tree......
Is it the purpose or airbag to protect us in these circumstances?
Yesterday I already talked to Lexus satisfaction department and they will send some one to inspect it within 2 WEEKS.I'm not yet know what's decision of my insurance 'bout the car now,only 2 days after the wreck, the appraiser back from towing yard, give me call telling that my car might be totaled.So you can guess what kind of impact the car already suffered.I'm waiting on Lexus inspection results and I guess will be similar with your opinion.Think about Ford Explorer problems , do they accept their mistake ? Obviously,never they recognize their mistake .They afraid of their consequences. My case very simple.Good things ubder God protection no serious things harm us.What I'm asking for very simple and easy too.My goal is for the safety of myself and all other Lexus owners.My self I'm a Lexus fanince 91, my actual car is a LS 400-96, 3rd revised model,my 1st was a 91 LS 400. Because they are so great, I got a ES 300-97 for my wife and planning trade mine in to get a LS430.Never checking paper work to find out air bag problem or some thing else, because I trust on their reliability and their safety.Thanks to GOD.Since 91 till now, no accident to me.And I'm sure that no body wish to have an accident to test the functioning of their air bags,so they can examine point by point as your opinion if they do not deploy.Remenber that, can test once only, second time if they are lucky enough to survive.Last night on TV there is an ad for a car, I forgot the brand name, the car just been hit by an animal, and driver airbag, passenger airbag, side air bag, every thing deployed.They do not mentioned anything 'bout accelarating or decelerating. Just saying to protect people . An other gentleman told me that in order to get it work, the speed must be 15 miles/hr min.Actually on the roads now , none driving that speed, may be in parking deck or garage.
I want mentioned one more time that never I want make money on this matter.God already gave me enough so I enjoying luxury cars now, not a Yugo.Just to ask Lexus to act now, how? don't know beside What I'm asking.Do not wait until dozen of lexus owner been killed or recall required by National safety Transportation Board or some thing else happened.Do we need bring cars within a certain years old in for inspection or ...
My ES 300 still under warranty.I copied these line for info to all actual or furure Lexus Owner.
I cannot find the filler plug anywhere on the radiator.
Thank you!
I've just drained, replaced tranny filter & gasket, and put in Valveline Dexron III Mercon in my car. I drove the car for about 80 miles after putting in new fluid.
Someone please clarify this for me as I am getting mixed messages. The owner's manual suggests T-II, and I guess Lexus only has T-IV right now, and I put in Dexron III!!!!!!
HELP!!!!!
Here is what I plan to do:
1) Drain the existing fluid via the drain plug.
2) Buy 2 cans (8 liters???) of T-IV from Toyota.
3) Fill it with 1/2 (2 liters) can of T-IV and take it out for a 10 minutes drive. Come back to the garage and drain the fluid out. Put the other 1/2 can of fluid in and take it out for another drive. Come back in and drain it out again. After 2 drains, I """think""" Dexron III is pretty much out of the system.
4) Fill it up again with the other can (or 2 liters) and call it done. Or I can drain the fluid out the 3rd time, and fill it again with the other 1/2 can.
What do you think? Any thoughts on this? Should I also lower the pan and change the filter too eventhough it only has 80 miles on it???
Thank you.
I contacted the Lexus 800 number as you have suggested, but these guys aren't that helpful. They said any issues or questions regarding service should go through local dealers. The guy at 800 number said there's no technical people I can talk to, except to contact local Lexus service department. They're very HELPFUL!
Anyhow, I called the local Lexus service dept., and they said not to use Dexron III. The charge for a complete flush and refilling with T-IV is about $200. The cost of 4-liter T-IV from Lexus is $32.95, while it's only $27.55 from a Toyota dealer! "wink...wink...wink!"
The old filter element was very clean with no debris whatsover when I took it off. I also cleaned the bottom of the pan before re-installing it. Everything went good EXCEPT for the WRONG type of tranny fluid I put in!
Anyhow, I am going to pick up 2 4-liter cans this week, and I will work on it this coming Saturday. I am not driving the car at all until I can get all the fluid out.
Can you tell me which one is the return line from the radiator??? I am also going to disconnect it and let the fluid out too besides the drain plug. Please tell me which line (left or right) standing in front of the engine looking down at the lines coming off the radiator.
Thank you.
Only 2L/8L = 1/4 of the total volume is changed for every drain plug removal, thus, 3/4 remains.
Drain cycle #:
1: 1 X 3/4 = .75
2: 1 X 3/4 X3/4 = .56
3: 1 X 3/4 X3/4 X 3/4 = .42
4: 1 X 3/4 X3/4 X 3/4 X 3/4 = .31
...
8: .... = .10
As you can see, to remove 90% of the old fluid (10% remains) you need to drain 8 times which requires 4 cans or $100(at $25/can). Not very efficient is it? As a matter of fact, the more drain cycle you do, the less of the "old" remaining fluid gets replaced, thus, less efficiency. Furthermore, you almost can never replace completely all old fluid from your transmission using the drain method. I suggest that you pick a suitable method of replacing the trans oil and do the best you can.
I specifically asked him how Lexus (or at his former employer) flush the tranny system. To my very much surprise, he said Lexus does not have the flushing machine as it costs too much money and not too many people have their tranny systems flush.
They do it the old fashion way he told me. Yes, unplug the return line, start the engine and let the tranny pump pushes out the old fluid while adding new fluid. Stop the engine after new fluid goes through the system. Put the line back in, start the engine and check the fluid level. This method is not "flushing" since no flushing machine is involved, but it will get rid of the old fluid.
While I was at the shop, I picked up 3 cans of T-IV fluid for $25 each! He has a room full of them since his shop specializes in Lexus and Toyota. I am coming back to pick up another can because here is what I will do:
1) Start the engine and let the pump gets rid of Dexron III. Stop the engine once no more fluid is coming out.
2) Fill up the system with 2 cans or 8 quarts/liters of T-IV. Start the engine with the return line back in place and take the car out for a 10-minute drive.
4) Come back and unplug the return line, start the engine and let the pump does it job. Once this is done, close the line and fill up with 1 can of T-IV. Start engine and start adding more fluid. DONE!
It will cost me $100 for fluid and a couple hours of my time, but it's WELL WORTH it. I bought this car a month ago with 148k, and I like it a lot. It's very clean inside & out and it has the usual burnt out LCD Temp display, but I am not going to bother with it.
Since I don't know its service history, so now I am just replacing all the fluids and spark plugs and go from there. At least it will give me a bench mark. With routine preventive maintenance I do on my own, I will be very happy if I can get another 50K out of it, and consider myself a very luck man!
Again, thank you both for your thoughts and suggestions!
The CHECK engine light is on. I know that taking it to the dealer will cost me an arm and a leg.
Any suggestions as to what the problem might be, and what I can do to fix it myself ? Is it safe to continue driving the car with this light on ?
Thanks.
http://www.batauto.com/Lexus.html
Thank-you for your suggestions on my problem with the CHECK engine light, 1991 LS400.
I was going to follow those instructions this week-end. However, the light no longer stays on.
It was on for about a day. I'll worry about it if it comes on again.
Thanks.
help!
What are those 2 hoses? It seems fluid is coming out from those 2 hoses from pump, and I want to stop it. Anythoughts or suggestions???
Thanks.
Gene
I also have seen NGK advertises "iridium" tip or something like that, is it better than platinum?
Thanks!
I am thinking about buying a used lexus LS400 but the only issue I am concerned is the maintenance cost for the car, can somebody tell me what is the average cost of maintaining a Lexus LS400?
Thks a lot for your great help.
Phung9
i would suggest that you ask the mechanic you plan on taking your car to first if they will do that for you (install parts you bring). my mechanic said he'd do it only if the part was still in the original packaging with the factory seal. i specifically asked about this because the air suspension is almost a $4k job at the dealer because of the high price of parts and labor. I can get it done at my mechanic for just about half that price.
if u also have the air suspension then i'd check into that b4 i did any other repairs cuz it's VERY prone to fail around every 100k. the standard suspension should still be fine at 100k altho i cannot speak from experience. the alignment u had done might be thrown off because of poor struts or mounts. my strut tops were also rusty and are causing a lot of the misalignment and wandering in my car and these symptoms occurred at only 75k when i purchased it. all depends on where u live. definitely get a second opinion before shelling out that kind of ca$h.
Snaps, pops, crackles on acceleration, turning, and braking. The later years are worse since the suspension is firmer.
Be glad you didn't purchase the air ride as the shocks are $900 each vs $100 for standard springs.
Qualifications: We are the largest independent [Lex/Inf only] repairer in US - 2 stores with 3,900 customers in Atlanta.