diehippied

I see a lot of you guys take your lexus to toyota dealers to get repairs, if not done by yourself or friends of course

I've got my 97 ES300's oil changed at Toyota dealers and it was fine and cheaper than Lexus, but I called them up the other day wanting to have my brake pads replaced, the mechanic was reluctant on taking my lexus saying I gotta call Lexus dealer first as they don't have lexus parts, aint 97 ES300 basically camry?

I got my friend looked at the brakes and he said the pads are not running out but its lost its resilience and became really hard thats why its making the very fint high pitch squeaking noise before the brake's warmed up. Does that make sense?

I've yet to replace the brakes, what do I tell the mechanic at the toyota dealer? I like their service and they are very close by (since my friends place are far away I cant get off work to go that far and I don't trust other garages around my places :P)

LEX ES300

This can be a common problem - Some Toyota dealers also service and stock Lexus parts (in which case you can get parts/service with little problem) and some don't, meaning they have to contact another Lexus or Authorised Toyota dealers who deal in Lexus to get parts etc.

Why not do what I do? - I get alot of my parts on line or shipped to me from an authorised Toyota dealer that deals with Lexus parts (Can be A LOT cheaper than going directly to a Lexus Dealer/showroom.) I then take my Lexus and the new parts to a private mechanic - or in your case the Toyota dealer that you like and have them fitted.

I understand it can be a bit of hassle sometimes, but the $$ savings often outweigh the inconvenience of obtaining parts yourself.

LEX ES300

jet_jockey

Between the combination of me always attempting to get the most bang for buck, and the closest lexus dealership being a good 60 miles away, I don't plan to ever take my car to a dealership. I believe the main reason though is because I have the ability to do everything short of major bodywork on it, and I've dealt with enough cars to know that most parts, especially routine maintenance things, can be bought at a parts store just as easy. Often times its cheaper even to go with higher quality things rather than oem. Most parts, belts, hoses, brake pads, spark plugs, etc, are made from a handful of manufacturers, then redistributed and often relabeled under different brands. So the extra price paid for oem spec is exactly that, assuring that vehicle manufacturer approves of the product for use in the car. It doesn't mean you get better quality from them than you can get anywhere else if you do your homework.

The best thing you can do though if you are adamant about using a dealership is call them and tell them the symptoms and ask them what they can do about it, they will tell you and give you an estimate. (probably pad replacement and rotor /caliper assembly check)

Even if pads are still in good shape, they are so cheap its not really worth messing with them too much as opposed to replacing them. Same with most basic rotors.

jet_jockey

oh I just thought about one reason why dealerships turned me off. A few years ago my mother in laws car broke down on us about 3 hours from here. So after having to leave it and find someone to come get us, I proceeded to call around to the local shops for an estimate to get a water pump put in it. First one I decided was the toyota dealership since this was an older camry, and I figure hey toyota can do this properly at least. Well the estimate I got quoted for the water pump was a little high, but not insane or anything. The thing that got me was then I asked the guy 'you gonna throw a new timing belt on there too?', and he said "yes but parts and labor is another 400 dollars". I almost flipped my lid at that point, but kindly responded "you have to take the timing belt off the car to access the water pump, how can you charge me labor costs for putting a new one on when you have to take the old one off to do the original work?" and he just said "thats just how we do it, we charge book time for every different thing we do". So anyhow I ended up having it taken to an ASE certified no-name place, and they assured me that they'd replace the water pump and toss on a new timing belt at part cost, since it had to be taken off and put back on anyway. So from that dialogue it scares me to think of how else they may handle things.

kphu

iTrader: (8)

diehipped,

I think most of us would agree that you should start learning to do basic fix it. Start off with a friend who knows a thing or two about fixing cars and have them guide you in the process. In no time you'll be a pro. Also, picking up the service manual and using that as a guide will speed up the process.

Brake jobs are very easy on the toyota's lexus (rotors, drums are a little more of a pia but still very do-able) .

Good Luck!

diehippied

Thanks guys, I convinced my friend to come up visit me in 2 weeks, so I'll have him do it and I can learn.

One thing that annoys me with DIY service is that I don't have the space, I live in the city and car parked on the streets, making it difficult to do any service involved the underside of the car. I used to change oil on my old mazda myself cuz I lived with my parents and they have the space : /

diehippied

So this brake pad thing, is it common for break pads to lose resilience and squeak? how serious is this? will it damage my rotor? Will I be able to tell if the rotor's damaged by inspecting the rotor without taking the wheel out?

I've been driving like that for 2~3 month now(like 5 mils a day, city drive, lots of braking, yea I don't drive much these days) But squeaking only occurs when cold (sometimes not at all) usually goes away when warmed up in 15 mins. Just want to get some different opinions

92ES5sp

Diehipped there are a lot of causes for brake noise, but the way you describe it leads me to believe that your pads and or rotors have become glazed. What I would do is find a Toyota dealer or local Lexus/Toyota shop and supply your own OE pads and have them resurface the rotors if they are still within spec. What wight happen is they wont warranty the work because you supplied your own parts. Not a big deal. If they put everything back together PROPERLY and I mean all contact points cleaned and re-greased including the caliper slides; then it should glide to a stop with no squealing. Allow for break-in of the new pads and dont jam the car to a sudden stop or youll imprint pad material onto the rotor which will cause a pulsation. I.E. shift into neutral just before you stop and let it roll to a stop or whatever you gotta do. If they make noise after the work is done either A) You used ****ty aftermarket parts; B) You prematurely overheated the pad and caused the glue to rise from the metal to the pad surface or C) The tech did a crappy job.

kphu

iTrader: (8)

Yup - a lot of reasons for brake noise.

Honestly, if your friend is coming down then just have him do the rotors too. The last time I did rotors they were pretty cheap to buy from an auto parts store, about $20 - $40 each. I wouldn't bother resurfacing the rotor just because you'll have to replace them at some later point and since they have to take it out to resurface them it's just easier to put in new ones. If I recall correctly I believe its just another 4 bolts to get the rotors out.

diehippied

Thank you all for your advice, its very helpful. But forget about the brakes, I got bigger problems now, and you won't believe what just happened to my car:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=338057