Mister P

So, I visited a Toyota dealer about 45 minutes away from my house here in Wichita, KS. (Midwest Toyota in Hutchinson, KS) to have my timing belt done on my '98 GS3 because it had reached nearly 131,000 miles and I didn't want to be stranded anytime soon. We had bought a Camry from this dealer back in November and had been really pleased--they said they would definitely do work on my Lexus.

Anyhow, I drove the car there for my 10:00 appointment on Saturday, I had made the appointment earlier in the week. When I pulled in, the service advisor had forgotten to put my name on the schedule (I could see their board with everyone's names written on it). He said that it could be done, so I left and went to browse the lot for awhile. Our salesman gave us a car to drive around town in (a Camry with 15 miles on it... impressive). We did our running around and blah blah blah... 3 o'clock comes around and my car is still not done. I finally get curious and check--they didn't even have the right timing belt in stock. So, I was given a rental '05 Camry and sent on my merry way.

Monday comes around and it's about 5:00 pm. I begin my drive to the dealership because I was told my car would be done around 4:45. When I got to the dealership though, I was greeted with some really bad news, to quote the service advisor "We attached the belt, buttoned it all up, and cranked it over. It ran for about a minute, made a funny noise, and then just quit." I wasn't very happy about this, but I kept my cool and drove back home--another 45 minute drive.

I received a call today, Tuesday, that the "funny noise" was even worse than expected--the belt "slipped" and valve damage occurred. My question to anyone who reads this is: what will be done to fix this? Could there be any future problems? What do you guys think my course of action should be as far as warranting the work done to correct the valve problem? They are paying for everything to do with their damage, but I just want to make sure everything is correct and as it was before it was damaged. Thoughts?

Oh, and btw-this is a great place. I don't post a lot because I simply don't mod my car and don't have much else to add here... I just put miles on it haha. Thanks guys!

vicestan

valve damage on a 93? does it have VVT-i ?, thats a problem with vvt-i equiped engines, its if the timming belt rips you can damage the valves. Im not to sure but I think thats the only damage you get from a ripped timming belt ( or in your case it sliped still the same effect ). Just have them warent the work and if you ever run into problems and they are tied with the timming belt/ valves then you can pin it all on them

KRGS4

1. Have them repair all engine damage as best that they can. Talk to the Service Manager.

2. Ask them to agree to the paying the $70 charge to have a Lexus Dealership take a look at it.

3. Bring it to the Lexus Dealership ASAP and have them check it out.

OR Get the manager to trade it in on a 01 GS400.

Lexus GS3

iTrader: (2)

I would take the car to a lexus dealership and get all the problems fix at their expenses (the toyota dealer you went)

GQD_GS4

call the lawyer to make a trip with you to solidify your position on this, then shoot for a better trade in! you dont want any car with previous engine damage, regardless of repairs...unless the engine is swapped...hehe

TLW

wait was this moved to first gen

its a 98 gs3

i thought those were non interference engines

hmmm

dude dont do a thing ....its alll on them ..they have the insurance if they breaks something

just make sure they dont feed you some bull

let us know

Mister P

I'm not really sure why it got moved to First Gen either... oh well. Yeah, I've read so much on here about it being a non-interference engine that I wasn't too worried to have a Toyota dealership do it for a lot less money. I'm beginning to think this car just has bad luck--three weeks ago, it nearly got T-boned without anyone in it while I was getting it washed. The car wash attendants weren't paying any attention to when any of the cars were done, so it got bumped from behind and rolled down the driveway of the car wash and into 4 lanes of busy traffic, finally coming to a stop in the parking lot across the street untouched. I felt so lucky... but I guess luck has its way of catching up with you.

varcity64

iTrader: (2)

well, he could NEVER trade it in for an '01 GS400 b/c the 400 became a 430 that year


BUT good luck w/ur engine man... make sure its running right before you drive off w/it when they are done.


and why is this in the 1st gen forums

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Not sure why it was moved but I moved it back.

vicestan

Oh its a 98 gs-300, hmm for some reason I read that as a 93. If its a 98 then yeah its a vvt-i for sure. Let them fix it all up and dont really worry about it just save all the papers, so that in the future if you encounter any problems related to this you can take it back to them.

Fisher503

I would make them give me retail blue book value on the car and free service for 3 years on the car I bought from the trade in.

SoCalSC4

I'd say the Toyota dealership should be able to do a fine job of fixing it- hopefully, they will ask a different technician to do it. This engine is the same basic architecture as the naturally aspirated Supras, so it shouldn't be a mystery to them.

If it really does have valve damage, this means they will have to pull the head & rebuild it and replace the head gasket. This is not a bad thing for a higher-mileage car if done correctly. Certainly, if they rebuild the head they will replace a few valves, hot tank the head, change the valve stem seals, etc.

Mister P

Well, I'm sure that they can probably do it--I'm just kind of antsy/nervous about this whole process. If they messed up a timing belt to begin with, what could they do to an entire engine? I do trust them, however, and their customer service has been great thus far. The only problem is in the communication. I have to keep calling up there every afternoon rather than someone calling me to update with progress and such. The actual service, however, is almost superior to my local Lexus dealership. When I go there to get oil changes and such, I'm charged $7.50 a day for a loaner, and they give you Hyundai Sonatas! I bought a Lexus, at least give me a Toyota for Pete's sake. My Lexus dealership would never have handed me the keys to ANYTHING on their lot with 15 miles on it, let alone let me touch one of their Lexus loaner cars. Yes, I'm nearly 20 years old, but I drive a Lexus every day and take care of it...haha I digress. Obviously I have a little pent up hostility towards my Lexus dealer.

Anyhow, here's a little update: When I called today, I was informed that the dealership was going to have their insurance adjuster look at it, and that they're probably going to have to drop in a new engine. The service advisor said that the valve timing was messed up... and he's going to be documenting everything that they do in writing. Hopefully, I can get my hands on a copy of this before too long. It would be very nice to have a brand new engine in my car... but I just worry about the warranty and such; vibrations, rattles, and all of that.

I'll keep everyone posted... the saga continues.

GQD_GS4

mister p, you're only 20 years old? dang dude i thought i was young to own a lexus gs4 at 21....hehe ...anyway good luck with the whole process...keep us updated!

Mister P

Haha, yeah actually I'll be 20 in about a week... I rounded up

The car was a friend of the family's, otherwise I probably never would've gotten it. It had nearly 112k miles on it when I got it back on August 1... and I got it for only $11,000. I had a '98 Dodge Intrepid with about the same mileage before this, and when I drove the Lexus off the lot I had the biggest grin on my face because the transmission actually shifted correctly! Hah... stupid Dodge.