Caveat Emptor!
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: OHIO
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Caveat Emptor!
My 20 year old son, a US Marine, just returned from Afghanistan and set out to purchase his first car. He wanted a nice ride at a reasonable price and asked Dad to check out some he'd found on the internet. Our family has had past experience with Lexus owning a '99 ES300 for several years before passing it on to our oldest son who is still the proud owner. The '99 was a reliable sweet ride. Anyway, we looked at a couple ES300's that were within his price range and opted for a 2001 model with 107,000 miles. It had a 92% score on AutoCheck, sounded good, rode nice, good sound system, needed an AC condenser we learned, but seemed like a reasonable deal knowing the dependability of Lexus. Before he got home on the 200 mile return trip, the oil light had come on. He added a couple quarts (we thought maybe we hadn't checked it properly at the lot) he had the AC condenser installed at a shop the next day and took off for a trip from Ohio to Georgia on his leave. During the ensuing 1800 mile round trip he added over 4 GALLONS of oil. As he called home to inform me of his problems I became very well acquainted with this forum as I learned of the monumental sludge situation with the 3.0L if not maintained properly. In addition, the engine started running rough, the check engine and Trac light came on and he paid a mechanic $200 to install new plugs. (Code 301 and another code came up) (one of the plugs was completely carboned over) This evening we did what was advised in this forum before you buy a Lexus...pulled off the front valve cover. I have not seen that kind of crap at the bottom of a waste oil barrel! I wish I knew how to post the picture. He now realizes that he is faced with $2500 to $3000 additional expense for a used engine and install. He is sick and said he didn't feel this much stress in 7 months on patrol in Helmand Province. In 40 years of buying used cars I have never been so bamboozled. I appreciate that the experienced DIY'ers on this forum are rolling their eyes at my ineptitude, but the vast majority of used car sales in this country are executed without removing the valve cover to check for sludge...any brand that forwards that as a prerequisite has a problem. I strongly suggest that anyone looking at a used Lexus take my warning...Buyer be ware!
#4
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (2)
^Ya, thats not true. I've been to mechanics where they would apart engines and thoroughly clean an engine of sludge and be able to restore the engine to running condition, just takes time and some man hours. Just a quick example http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/sludg...ng_sludge.html
#5
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: OHIO
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have been told by a mechanic that when you take a Lexus engine apart, every bolt has to be replaced and that makes it prohibitively expensive to rebuild. Is that the case? Also, to the above example of a Camry engine being cleaned, I suspect that with the oil usage my son has, and the number of miles on the car, the piston rings, etc are not OK.
#7
Lexus Fanatic
Check out Ebay for used engines, like this one although it's not cheap.
Trending Topics
#8
Lead Lap
iTrader: (10)
^Ya, thats not true. I've been to mechanics where they would apart engines and thoroughly clean an engine of sludge and be able to restore the engine to running condition, just takes time and some man hours. Just a quick example http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/sludg...ng_sludge.html
Read the reply below...
I have been told by a mechanic that when you take a Lexus engine apart, every bolt has to be replaced and that makes it prohibitively expensive to rebuild. Is that the case? Also, to the above example of a Camry engine being cleaned, I suspect that with the oil usage my son has, and the number of miles on the car, the piston rings, etc are not OK.
good luck!
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
dicer
LS - 1st and 2nd Gen (1990-2000)
6
10-16-14 05:23 AM