Car trouble! Help please!!
02-09-12, 11:37 AM
#31
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Called the Lexus dealer back today because they never called me back. They forwarded me to Lexus HQ and a nice customer service representative put me in touch with a very nice lady who assisted me. She got my information and said she would hand it over to a specialist for my area to try to see how we can get the car fixed. She did say if it goes to Toyota I might have to pay out of pocket and they reimburse me, but if it goes to Lexus they can just bill HQ.
Feeling slightly better about this, but I'm supposed to hear from them in the next couple days and go from there.
Feeling slightly better about this, but I'm supposed to hear from them in the next couple days and go from there.
At least they're friendly and offer solutions.
02-13-12, 02:51 PM
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They just called me back a few minutes ago. I am slightly annoyed with Lexus HQ because it took them until today just to call and tell me the car has to go to a Lexus dealership. They said there was no possible way for them to authorize the Toyota dealership to do the work, so I had to tow it up to Lexus. If they had known that I don't see why they couldn't have told me that originally or at least called me back on Friday so I could have had it towed up there before the weekend.
Anyway, I signed up for AAA Plus so I get 4 free 100 mile tows per year and I'll call them in the morning and have them take the car up to the Lexus dealership. Already called them too and they are expecting the car. We will see how to go from there. Hopefully they will know early enough on and give me a timeframe so I can plan accordingly.
Last question...does anyone know if this is a recall issue as Toyota and myself already suspect, will they give me a loaner car? I've got a buddy coming down to take a trip with me and could hitch a ride with him on his way back to run by the dealership.
Anyway, I signed up for AAA Plus so I get 4 free 100 mile tows per year and I'll call them in the morning and have them take the car up to the Lexus dealership. Already called them too and they are expecting the car. We will see how to go from there. Hopefully they will know early enough on and give me a timeframe so I can plan accordingly.
Last question...does anyone know if this is a recall issue as Toyota and myself already suspect, will they give me a loaner car? I've got a buddy coming down to take a trip with me and could hitch a ride with him on his way back to run by the dealership.
02-14-12, 10:22 AM
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Well the AAA Plus services don't start for 7 days, but I decided to just pay for the tow and have it taken to the dealer anyway. $264 later this is how my morning started...
It should be at the dealership by now and I'm supposed to hear from them later this afternoon regardless of if they have a chance to look at it or not.
It should be at the dealership by now and I'm supposed to hear from them later this afternoon regardless of if they have a chance to look at it or not.
02-14-12, 02:55 PM
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Got the call from the Lexus dealership a little bit ago. They are now claiming the car has a cracked piston. They needed authorization to pull the motor and tear it down to find the damage and cause. Once they get it broken down, they will evaluate and HQ will make the call. If Lexus HQ decides not to cover it it'll be a $1,600 service. Then I will have to pay for parts that were damaged and the service for them to reassemble the motor and put it back into the car. All in all if this ends up not being at the fault of the valves I'm looking at probably about $4,000-$5,000 in service. They said they feel like Lexus will cover it, but couldn't make promises. I'm afraid to get my hopes up, but also feel like I'm being super depressed about it all and ruining my SO's V-day. She's understanding....I'm just extremely upset that this is all happening this way, so soon after I purchased the car.
02-21-12, 08:44 AM
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The dealership called this morning and said it looked like the problem was a valve that was not seated correctly. Both he and the tech were 99% certain Lexus should be covering this since they couldn't find any explanation that would be my fault. Just now waiting to hear the official word from HQ and he said I could possibly come up tomorrow evening to pick up a loaner.
02-29-12, 06:41 AM
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Dealership called me this morning...I guess they decided not to let me know which way Lexus decided. The car is about back together and the wanted permission to drive it 100 miles as Lexus recommended. Lexus decided in my favor, as they say the problem stemmed from an incorrectly seated valve when the other dealership performed the recall work. I went ahead and told them to drive it, so he's going to let his tech that did the work drive it home tonight and back tomorrow since he lives about 45 miles away. Car will have new heads, valves, and springs when I pick it up...apparently someone didn't know what they were talking about and it didn't have a cracked piston after all.
Lastly a couple questions...they told me the car would need an alignment as they had to pull the motor from the bottom. Now I'm not entire sure how this would work, but when they put the car back together will I at least have the alignment I did before or will it be completely off? I told them to hold off because I was about to have to replace the tires anyway and would just do it then; also they wanted to charge me $159. They claim Lexus will cover everything with the engine, but what struck me as odd is if the car needs an alignment BECAUSE they pulled the motor, shouldn't Lexus cover it too if it was truly necessary? The recall work and alignment would be directly related so I don't see why they wouldn't.
Lastly, should Lexus reimburse the cost of the tow because it was a recall related issue, or is that on me? I'm not going to cry over a couple hundred dollars in the grand scheme of what I escaped from, and don't want to push it as I am very gracious over the way this finally did turn out. However, if it is something they should be covering I would at least ask them. The car was NOT under warranty, so I wasn't sure if them covering towing was only related to warranty, or if it was also related to recall work.
Finally I can breathe a sigh of relief ...it's been a long two weeks
Lastly a couple questions...they told me the car would need an alignment as they had to pull the motor from the bottom. Now I'm not entire sure how this would work, but when they put the car back together will I at least have the alignment I did before or will it be completely off? I told them to hold off because I was about to have to replace the tires anyway and would just do it then; also they wanted to charge me $159. They claim Lexus will cover everything with the engine, but what struck me as odd is if the car needs an alignment BECAUSE they pulled the motor, shouldn't Lexus cover it too if it was truly necessary? The recall work and alignment would be directly related so I don't see why they wouldn't.
Lastly, should Lexus reimburse the cost of the tow because it was a recall related issue, or is that on me? I'm not going to cry over a couple hundred dollars in the grand scheme of what I escaped from, and don't want to push it as I am very gracious over the way this finally did turn out. However, if it is something they should be covering I would at least ask them. The car was NOT under warranty, so I wasn't sure if them covering towing was only related to warranty, or if it was also related to recall work.
Finally I can breathe a sigh of relief ...it's been a long two weeks
02-29-12, 07:00 AM
#43
Dealership called me this morning...I guess they decided not to let me know which way Lexus decided. The car is about back together and the wanted permission to drive it 100 miles as Lexus recommended. Lexus decided in my favor, as they say the problem stemmed from an incorrectly seated valve when the other dealership performed the recall work. I went ahead and told them to drive it, so he's going to let his tech that did the work drive it home tonight and back tomorrow since he lives about 45 miles away. Car will have new heads, valves, and springs when I pick it up...apparently someone didn't know what they were talking about and it didn't have a cracked piston after all.
Lastly a couple questions...they told me the car would need an alignment as they had to pull the motor from the bottom. Now I'm not entire sure how this would work, but when they put the car back together will I at least have the alignment I did before or will it be completely off? I told them to hold off because I was about to have to replace the tires anyway and would just do it then; also they wanted to charge me $159. They claim Lexus will cover everything with the engine, but what struck me as odd is if the car needs an alignment BECAUSE they pulled the motor, shouldn't Lexus cover it too if it was truly necessary? The recall work and alignment would be directly related so I don't see why they wouldn't.
Lastly, should Lexus reimburse the cost of the tow because it was a recall related issue, or is that on me? I'm not going to cry over a couple hundred dollars in the grand scheme of what I escaped from, and don't want to push it as I am very gracious over the way this finally did turn out. However, if it is something they should be covering I would at least ask them. The car was NOT under warranty, so I wasn't sure if them covering towing was only related to warranty, or if it was also related to recall work.
Finally I can breathe a sigh of relief ...it's been a long two weeks
Lastly a couple questions...they told me the car would need an alignment as they had to pull the motor from the bottom. Now I'm not entire sure how this would work, but when they put the car back together will I at least have the alignment I did before or will it be completely off? I told them to hold off because I was about to have to replace the tires anyway and would just do it then; also they wanted to charge me $159. They claim Lexus will cover everything with the engine, but what struck me as odd is if the car needs an alignment BECAUSE they pulled the motor, shouldn't Lexus cover it too if it was truly necessary? The recall work and alignment would be directly related so I don't see why they wouldn't.
Lastly, should Lexus reimburse the cost of the tow because it was a recall related issue, or is that on me? I'm not going to cry over a couple hundred dollars in the grand scheme of what I escaped from, and don't want to push it as I am very gracious over the way this finally did turn out. However, if it is something they should be covering I would at least ask them. The car was NOT under warranty, so I wasn't sure if them covering towing was only related to warranty, or if it was also related to recall work.
Finally I can breathe a sigh of relief ...it's been a long two weeks
However relieved you might be right now though, you absolutely MUST push back because Lexus is responsible for the alignment and towing cost. The only reason the car needed the tow and alignment is because the dealership didn't perform the recall correctly (which is why Lexus is covering the repair in the first place). Be polite, but be forceful with the dealership. Explain that they need to cover the cost of the alignment because it resulted from the repair which wasn't your fault or covered by you. I will say it's not really fair to make Lexus pay for the alignment but then ask them to wait until you get new tires. Either have them do the alignment now without the new tires or get the new tires now and have them do it all together. They also need to reimburse you for the tow.
02-29-12, 07:14 AM
#44
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Very happy that it worked out for you.
However relieved you might be right now though, you absolutely MUST push back because Lexus is responsible for the alignment and towing cost. The only reason the car needed the tow and alignment is because the dealership didn't perform the recall correctly (which is why Lexus is covering the repair in the first place). Be polite, but be forceful with the dealership. Explain that they need to cover the cost of the alignment because it resulted from the repair which wasn't your fault or covered by you. I will say it's not really fair to make Lexus pay for the alignment but then ask them to wait until you get new tires. Either have them do the alignment now without the new tires or get the new tires now and have them do it all together. They also need to reimburse you for the tow.
However relieved you might be right now though, you absolutely MUST push back because Lexus is responsible for the alignment and towing cost. The only reason the car needed the tow and alignment is because the dealership didn't perform the recall correctly (which is why Lexus is covering the repair in the first place). Be polite, but be forceful with the dealership. Explain that they need to cover the cost of the alignment because it resulted from the repair which wasn't your fault or covered by you. I will say it's not really fair to make Lexus pay for the alignment but then ask them to wait until you get new tires. Either have them do the alignment now without the new tires or get the new tires now and have them do it all together. They also need to reimburse you for the tow.
02-29-12, 09:35 AM
#45
Great that most of your problems are solved. Just read brief parts of the thread.
When the car was down, I believe you would of been given the 1-800 number from Lexus have your car towed for free. Do you not have this?
As for the alignment - I would also agree to hold off since you're getting new tires. The alignment would mostly have been affected because since the motor is bolted to the sub-frame, it also holds the suspension components as well. Knowing this, the geometry of the sub-frame most likely had shifted as the engine is being taken out because of the sub frame bolts taken off and because of the weight (engine) being removed, which would essentially throws the whole alignment off.
When the car was down, I believe you would of been given the 1-800 number from Lexus have your car towed for free. Do you not have this?
As for the alignment - I would also agree to hold off since you're getting new tires. The alignment would mostly have been affected because since the motor is bolted to the sub-frame, it also holds the suspension components as well. Knowing this, the geometry of the sub-frame most likely had shifted as the engine is being taken out because of the sub frame bolts taken off and because of the weight (engine) being removed, which would essentially throws the whole alignment off.
Last edited by Sango; 02-29-12 at 09:43 AM.