mulasien

Heh, it's actually the older model Impala that they still make brand new for rental fleets.

Link: http://blog.caranddriver.com/rent-me...on-for-fleets/

Yeah, it's on an older suspension and looks like a rental car. It's also hella cheap, VERY comfortable (much more than the GS), good power, good mpg, actually roomier than the new model and makes for an outstanding highway/family cruiser. It's not flashy and it won't get any driving excitement awards, but I don't care. Like I said above, I'm past needing to impress strangers with the car I drive. I also know it's not nearly as refined as my old Lexus (more hard plastic, missing several luxury features) but it's got it where it counts.

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

As long as you're happy, that's all that counts!

I still don't agree with your decision, but different strokes for different folks.

BayAreaLex

whenever someone suffers a catastrophic failure like a timing belt on an interference engine or a blown transmission, I certainly understand the decision to say the hell with it and acquire a new car with a warranty despite the upfront expense.

it comes down to priorities... if working on cars isn't up there for you, then a new car with a warranty I can certainly understand.

best of luck to you sir.

bruceb58

Out of curiosity, what were they quoting on rebuilding your engine?

I have a 2005 with 185K miles on it. This is the best car I have ever owned and would put a rebuilt or used engine in it if it is cost effective.

mulasien

I'm sure that this was partly the dealer reaming on prices, but:

to rebuilt existing engine - $10-11K
to source a rebuilt engine and swap it out - $5-6K

I know that if I had the time to find a replacement engine, and the time, space, and ability to swap it out myself (or shop around to other shops), I could have had it done for much cheaper, however such time and mechanical ability was not available to me, and I needed to do what I needed to do.

NickTee

http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-05-LEXUS-...VWEGlP&vxp=mtr

mulasien

Good to know, but read the rest of the posts.

Car is already gone and replaced. I don't have the mechanical ability, nor time, nor facilities to swap out an engine while I have no transportation back and forth to my job, all this for a 10 year old car.

You're looking at this from a hardcore enthusiast's perspective. Keep the car and do whatever it takes, at any cost, over any amount of time to keep it running while also assuming that engine swaps are no big deal for everyone on this forum, not to mention assuming that I have space to keep a dead car, a spare engine, and that I can pull another car out of thin air to go to work while doing all of this. Oh, and I can spend a weekend doing nothing but this.

The reality is much different. I've already mentally divorced myself from the relationship and have moved on with my life.

NickTee

I already saw your posts on the GTO forum.

mulasien

....Audacious?

NickTee

Indeed. Lol

Vegas

Definitely, a buddy has 260k and 12 years on an original belt on his GS300. Not recommended but.......

UDel

I believe they switched to Kevlar reinforced timing belts for the 2001 model years, they are supposed to last well past 100K miles, one going at 75K miles is not ordinary at all, something was wrong for it to go out that soon. I would have fought a little harder at the dealership to try to make you happy or not to incur such a financial burden considering the car they sold you had a catastrophic and hugely expensive failure less then 2 years after it was supposedly inspected but things turned out differently.

I really wish car making technology like belts, motor mounts, valve gaskets,etc that last the lifetime of the car would evolve more so these kind of things don't have to happen or you have to do expensive maintenance on them anymore.

newgsman

iTrader: (4)

I believe the real issue here is that the car had such low mileage over a ten year period. If the low mileage is because the car sat idle for extended periods of time, it is not necessarily a good thing. Lack of lubrication and humidity are not good for cars. A car which sits for long periods can suffer from both of these issues and it is quite possible that components will age prematurely as a result. When a car sits for a long time, bearings and other moving parts are susceptible to corrosion which can lead to less than optimal operation further leading to additional stresses on components like the timing belt.

My brother recently bought a 2002 Honda Accord with only 30K miles. Apparently it was hardly driven in the past three years and sparingly in its first ten years of life. Within six months of purchasing the car my brother had to replace calipers, rear wheel bearings, ball joints, and exhaust. Most of these failures are attributable to the car sitting for long periods of time. Rarely do you see these kinds of failures occur on new cars freshly driven to 30K or even 100K. My GS400 with over 250K is still running on original bearings.

tradosauru

Given that you bought the car over the 72 month recommended timing belt replacement I would think you have a case against the Lexus dealer. I know its too late now but I would have pushed it harder and debated whether to bring the case in a civil court.


BTW, I have a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu since new and its awesome. The Impala is more comfortable so I share your enthusiasm. I also just bought a 2005 LS 430 which I like too.

kamlung

iTrader: (8)

sorry to hear it turned out this way...