Vette Boy

I haven't really pushed this car hard yet, still getting used to it and it's been too cold for the tires to work well (below 40*F)...I have noticed bad handling over our famous roads. I think I need to ride in some cars before I jump into the mod game.

How 'bout them Hawkeyes!

markgs4

If it were me, I'd save the money and cancel the warranty. I bought my car used at 55K miles, and while Ive had a few minor things act up since Ive had it mechanically, I was able to get them repaired locally for what I would consider pennies on the dollar (well, compared to what I would have expected to pay at the dealership under the same no-warranty conditions). I had looked into extended warranties online when I bought the car, but figured that would have cost me a lot more than if I just found a reliable shop/mechanic in my area that could take care of my car when things went wrong...

I hope that made sense...

Hameed

NVH is hard to gauge as everybody is affected by this differently. To some people changes to the sway bars affect the car more negatively than others.

The sway bars - especially the TRD sway bars combined with the stiffer LCB's (TRD front and Toms rear) and the L-tuned springs/shocks (that was my first set of mods), affect the NVH somewhat, but not a great deal. There is another set of sway bars for the GS made by Diazen that is not as stiff as the TRD set which apparently don't affect NVH at all. I have not bothered to change my TRD set to those as I am fine with the TRD set.

You can read what an auto journalist thought of this set of mods here. (TRD sways, TRD front STB, TRD front LCB, Toms rear LCB, Cusco rear STB, L-tuned springs and shocks)

This review is on my car about 1.5 years ago

3dog

iTrader: (1)

I canceled my extended warrenty and pocketed the money, about $1300. Then my starter went out and a few months later the AC quit. In hindsight I'd of been better off with the warrenty as those two items came to $2400. Of course who knows how the claim would have worked out. You hear where they try to weasel out of things because of mods that have been done. But my feeling is that in most cases you are better off without the warrenty. These are really well made cars and the percentage of people who come out ahead on warrenties is low.


3dog

ps get coilovers

nyczdave

When i was at the lexus dealer before I purchased my car they offered me an extended warrenty for my GS. And they mention to me that I would get a refund for the warrenty if I never use the warrenty. You should check with your lexus dealer to see if this is valid.

hope this helps

Vette Boy

You guys convinced me, I'm cancelling today!

joshoowa

iTrader: (1)

did i mention that money u get refunded back can goto MODS!!!!

im going today to get my refund 1800 bucks some of it is going to my trip to brazil (spring break) and canda (summer) but im have to hit up some mods with the rest of the money.

let me reutter extended warranty only covers mechanical problems not electrical, and to top it off i was questioned about my maintenance who was doing the maintenance. well we all know doing regular maintenance outside of lexus is a void on warranty. so im opting to refund my extended warranty asap

joshoowa

iTrader: (1)

OK some B.S. i dont own my car my parents bought it... so i asked my mom to call in to the dealer to set an appointment for us to go in to cancel our extended warranty.

the manager of the finace office told my mom that she can not get a refund, because once we bought it extended warranty took over the standard warranty B.S.

before hand my mom contacted one of our friends that is in sales. he told my mom we could only get it prorated and it wasnt a good idea blah blah blah. i told my mom that extended warranty hasnt even kicked in yet because we're still under the 50k 4yr standard warranty.

i also spoke to my service advisor a few weeks ago and i even went to the finance office a few weeks ago to see if i could get a refund. they said YES but i told them i would have to come back (i dont own the car so im pretty sure they wouldnt cut me a check for a refund on a car i dont own)

so after my mom spoke to the manager i told her thats not true hes b.s. and told her thats how dealers make their money. well i called on my cellphone and no one picked up i left a msg around 1ish and never got a call back. im going to call again tomorrow .

3dog

iTrader: (1)

If you refinance your loan you can get the warrenty money back.

3dog

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well just to let you know that it's going to be pro-rated in most cases as well. i got extended warranty for my is300, but figure it's useless and cancelled it. they did a little pro-rate and then minus the fees, so it wasn't bad at all

Vette Boy

I cancelled, they didn't hasle me at all, just some frowns as I depleted any margin from the sale. I showed them the clause about 30 days/$25 and they agreed, faxed off the cancellation in front of me.

Then I went and ordered the mechanical service manual ($160).

joshoowa

iTrader: (1)

what clause is this u speak of?
and where did u order that manual from?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i guess it's something in the contract that it's about 25 bucks per 30 days?

Vette Boy

There's a cancellation clause in my Lexus factory extended warranty. It's only vaild for the first 30 days. BTW, $1700/24 months is ~$71 per month.
I ordered the manual from my local dealer. For the 2001 and 2002 GS430 there's three manuals:

- Mechanical ~$160 (shows how to do mechanical things like the timing belt change, installing swaybars, shocks, LSD etc)

- Electrical ~$120 (what the engine error codes mean and how to debug them, like bad EVAP or AIR, misfire etc)

- Electrical wiring diagrams ~$100 (bunches of schematics).

I think I'll need the first two, the last one I'll wait until I need it.