ES350 Ownership Experience...
#1
ES350 Ownership Experience...
I have owned two ES350s. A 2007 that was purchased used in 2014 with 69K miles showing on the odometer and a 2009 that was purchased used in the fall of 2016 with 26K miles showing on the odometer.
Both cars were purchased from the dealer who had sold the cars when they were new and had serviced them since the first owner had purchased each car. I have continued the practice of having both cars serviced by this same dealer, up through yesterday (3/20/2018) when I took the 2009 in for routine service and was told that the timing belt cover was leaking and it would cost $3,700 to repair. Not covered by the extended warranty and a serious detraction from the trade-in value.
Prior to the current fiasco BOTH vehicles had required that the right front CV boot be replaced at a cost of $1,100 EACH because the seals were leaking. Neither repair covered by the extended warranty.
In all three cases I was told by the service writer (and subsequently everyone in the chain of command) that these were "normal maintenance items."
I am having an exceptionally hard time accepting the idea that $4K repair on a car that has less than 50K miles on it is a "normal maintenance item." If this car was 4years old or less it would still be eligible for the manufacturer's warranty due to the low miles.
These are NOT the Toyota products that the company's reputation was built on. The newer Toyota AND Lexus vehicles are far less reliable and poorly engineered compared to their predecessors from 20 years ago.
Both cars were purchased from the dealer who had sold the cars when they were new and had serviced them since the first owner had purchased each car. I have continued the practice of having both cars serviced by this same dealer, up through yesterday (3/20/2018) when I took the 2009 in for routine service and was told that the timing belt cover was leaking and it would cost $3,700 to repair. Not covered by the extended warranty and a serious detraction from the trade-in value.
Prior to the current fiasco BOTH vehicles had required that the right front CV boot be replaced at a cost of $1,100 EACH because the seals were leaking. Neither repair covered by the extended warranty.
In all three cases I was told by the service writer (and subsequently everyone in the chain of command) that these were "normal maintenance items."
I am having an exceptionally hard time accepting the idea that $4K repair on a car that has less than 50K miles on it is a "normal maintenance item." If this car was 4years old or less it would still be eligible for the manufacturer's warranty due to the low miles.
These are NOT the Toyota products that the company's reputation was built on. The newer Toyota AND Lexus vehicles are far less reliable and poorly engineered compared to their predecessors from 20 years ago.
#3
The timing cover leak is a known issue and seveeal owners have reported the dealer fixing the repair under warranty, one of whom, I am very sure, had an extended warranty. Read your contract carefully. Otherwise, if oil is not dripping to the ground, you can get away with a thicker oil and just wipe off the excess oil seeping out when you change the oil. . That's how I dealt with our timing cover leak...switched to 10w/30 oil at about 90k, which greatly reduced the leak. Our ES continues to run fine at 210K+. Oil has never spilled on the ground and crankcase has never required make-up oil.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post