Ughh, Toyota dealership destroyed my engine after timing belt replacement
10-28-11, 10:50 AM
#18
i am all about being nice to the SM, but make sure you are stern in your demands... don't sell yourself short here and be very clear that you have lost faith in their service and want to ensure your car is properly corrected by a qualified person i.e.. Lexus...
personally i would have been leaning more towards saying something like "i understand that accidents happen, however, the car was flawless when i brought it in and now because of your tech and his inability to properly perform the service, i have a blown engine... if this happened from what should be a common timing belt service, i don't have confidence in his ability to rebuild or replace my engine. i want it done by Lexus since they seem to be more familir with my car...
personally i would have been leaning more towards saying something like "i understand that accidents happen, however, the car was flawless when i brought it in and now because of your tech and his inability to properly perform the service, i have a blown engine... if this happened from what should be a common timing belt service, i don't have confidence in his ability to rebuild or replace my engine. i want it done by Lexus since they seem to be more familir with my car...
But hey, the OP gets a new engine with 0 mileage so that would be nice knowing that you are the true owner of that engine from 0 miles.
10-28-11, 10:52 AM
#19
OP, how much were they charging you for the TB service? I have a independent guy here that specialize in Toyota and Lexus and he quoted me $956 for new TB, Service Belt, Radiator/engine coolant flush/change, and WP. I don't know if that's a good price though.
10-28-11, 11:12 AM
#20
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I agree with majority of comments here. First off:
1)You shouldn't pay a dime for pulley. It wasn't broken when you took it there, so it's not your problem but theirs.
2) Definately new engine. You don't want them rebuild this one as it's complex and you don't need to worry about if they did it right later down the road.
3) You shouldn't honestly have to pay for anything because this has been too big of an inconvenience. When you took your lexus there it was perfectly fine and now you have to drive some camry
Good luck and keep us posted. BTW definately replace engine mounts before they drop new engine
Kris
1)You shouldn't pay a dime for pulley. It wasn't broken when you took it there, so it's not your problem but theirs.
2) Definately new engine. You don't want them rebuild this one as it's complex and you don't need to worry about if they did it right later down the road.
3) You shouldn't honestly have to pay for anything because this has been too big of an inconvenience. When you took your lexus there it was perfectly fine and now you have to drive some camry
Good luck and keep us posted. BTW definately replace engine mounts before they drop new engine
Kris
10-28-11, 11:12 AM
#21
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Update: Stopped in and spoke with the director of parts/service and the service manager that's working on the case. Their insurance company is due in soon to check things out. I requested they ask for a brand new engine. They replied that it seems unlikely that the insurance company would go for that since the car has 126k miles, but that they'd try.
They are tracking down some used engines with various mileages; I advised that I need a warranty with any engine I get (who knows how the previous owner treated/maintained it!).
They aren't going to charge me for the botched timing belt service ($450 - I didn't want to pay the extra for the water pump, pulleys, etc ($450 more) as I was hoping to sell the car within the next year, so I opted to gamble and only do the belt), they aren't going to charge me for anything related to the new engine, and they aren't going to charge me for the power steering pulley that they somehow broke during the timing belt service.
I requested that the new engine have a timing belt that didn't need to be changed out (service interval is 90k); they'll do a VIN search for Toyota/Lexus service records and find one that had been changed out, or would replace it on the new motor before/during install.
They seemed to think that replacing the engine will cost approx $12k to them/the insurance company, not sure if that's accurate or not...seems a little high to me...but, not my problem!
I also asked if they could replace the engine mounts when they did the engine swap, since that'd be the perfect time to do it. They said they could do that.
Sounds like I'll be driving the Camry for another 7-10 days.
They are tracking down some used engines with various mileages; I advised that I need a warranty with any engine I get (who knows how the previous owner treated/maintained it!).
They aren't going to charge me for the botched timing belt service ($450 - I didn't want to pay the extra for the water pump, pulleys, etc ($450 more) as I was hoping to sell the car within the next year, so I opted to gamble and only do the belt), they aren't going to charge me for anything related to the new engine, and they aren't going to charge me for the power steering pulley that they somehow broke during the timing belt service.
I requested that the new engine have a timing belt that didn't need to be changed out (service interval is 90k); they'll do a VIN search for Toyota/Lexus service records and find one that had been changed out, or would replace it on the new motor before/during install.
They seemed to think that replacing the engine will cost approx $12k to them/the insurance company, not sure if that's accurate or not...seems a little high to me...but, not my problem!
I also asked if they could replace the engine mounts when they did the engine swap, since that'd be the perfect time to do it. They said they could do that.
Sounds like I'll be driving the Camry for another 7-10 days.
10-28-11, 11:29 AM
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Side topic - if the engine swap is really $12k in costs to somebody, I wonder if the insurance company will decide to total the car? More drama could be on the horizon...
10-28-11, 12:01 PM
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10-28-11, 01:08 PM
#27
DO NOT i repeat DO NOT leave there unless they change and give you a brand new engine...they ruined..so they change it..its not coming out of there pay checks either...YAY for new engine....and yea the 430 enging brand new runs $11,875....i HAD to order one for a friend before...but hey tell them give you 17k and call it even lol
10-28-11, 01:14 PM
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From the discussion I had with the sales manager and his director, the chance of their insurance company coughing up for a brand new engine sounded pretty slim due to the mileage mine had (126k), but they said they'd try. I don't feel very confident though. If they give me a used engine, I'm going to request a 1 year warranty, minimum.
10-28-11, 01:15 PM
#29
I got all new OEM parts when Best Buy screwed up my car. I demanded it, not requested it. I'm sure they probably wanted to go with used parts from LKQ after the diagnostic was ran on the car, but that wasn't going to be acceptable for me.