za3879

Hey CL members, its been quite a while since I've been on here. I have a 97 ES300 with 140,000 miles now. I was a bit overdue for my service and what not, ie tune up and timing belt, etc etc. Mind you my car is mint condition, and I picked it up 4 years ago with only 53k on it. Anyways, to make a long story short, I dropped a grand to the dealership for the maintenance, and they told me that my rear sway bar bushing was crappy, which was a legitimate diagnosis as the car made some crappy sounds when goin over bumps so I paid the extra 100 bucks to have that handled as well. Everything else checked out great. After about a month, now so many things are going wrong with my car, that I'm regretting the dealer service greatly. The issues i'm facing now are this loud whistling sound coming from the engine at revs between 2.5 and 3.5ish. Also, there is this very noticeable sound coming from the rear left side of the car thats similar to a crack or loud metal bending like audible. It usually occurs when I'm turning, going up my driveway slowly where there may be pressure applied. Its definitely not suspension though.
Also, the sound I used to get from my rear which went away with the replacement of the rear sway bar bushing now is duplicating in the front left, almost like they put the bad part in the front. Lastly, i recently had a bulb go out in the tail lights. I replaced the bad bulb, and now the indicator light isnt going away.

Has anyone ever felt as though the dealership is doin this kind of thing to get more service in? Is there anything I can say or do? I'm thinking about contacting the service manager and complaining my *** off. I'd love to hear any advice or input about this, cuz I'm VERY heated about it. I was expecting to hit 250k miles w/o any sudden bombardment of issues like I'm having since the dealership experience.

I'm pretty pissed off, and feel as though my buttersoft, dependable, problem free ES is all F'd up now and may be on a downward spiral.

Any opinions/suggestions would be cool. Hope everyone's doin good.

Z

Tammy

Most respectfully, with 140K plus miles, it is far from mint. Especially in north snow country, where you are located. It's the salts and rusting.

It might be time for new struts.

What maintenance did the dealer do? Were all the fluids exchanged, the spark plugs and the timing belt. How about the serpentine belts?

za3879

Hey - Thanks for the responses. Indeed it has 140K on it, but I wouldnt call the car neglected. I regularly had my fluid changes on time and what not. I just didnt do the timing belt/water pump/tune up service when its 'recommended'. I'd say the car is as mint as it would get for a 97 ES with that many miles. Not mint comparing a brand new car obviously. They're mostly highway miles too. I just find it ironic that after a visit for the packaged maintenance at the dealer, things start going wrong continuously.

To answer the question: I got a tune up, all fluid changes, water pump, timing belt, and all points inspection and whatever other little nonsense that comes with the package they sell. Everything checked out in great mechanical condition, verbatim.

The other dealer nearby is the larger one, which actually has higher costs for everything (if that makes any sense). When I lived a few hours away, I had taken my car to a Lex dealer over there, and things were way cheaper. I guess there isnt a standardized cost for things across the board?

Anyways, thanks for the input! Hope everyone's Monday is goin well.

Z