Recently purchased IS350 problems! Need advice please!
02-26-14, 10:47 AM
#1
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Recently purchased IS350 problems! Need advice please!
Hey guys, new here, but not to the car scene. Recently picked up a 06 IS350, which is by far the nicest car I've ever owned. I've only driven it for about a thousand miles before I took it in to for the cam gear recall and got some terrible news while it was being serviced. The dreaded timing chain cover leak was discovered and they told me it's going to cost $3000+ to fix, which seems on par with what other unfortunate souls have been estimated at after I researched this issue.
The car was under the 100k warranty when I purchased it from the previous owner but has now passed 100k and the time allowance for the warranty. Lexus was adamant about there being no wiggle room on the warranty expiration when I inquired.
Any comments, recommendations, would be great. Thanks, fellas!
The car was under the 100k warranty when I purchased it from the previous owner but has now passed 100k and the time allowance for the warranty. Lexus was adamant about there being no wiggle room on the warranty expiration when I inquired.
Any comments, recommendations, would be great. Thanks, fellas!
Last edited by allntrl; 07-08-14 at 04:01 AM.
02-26-14, 11:09 AM
#2
Hey guys, new here, but not to the car scene. Recently picked up a 06 IS350, which is by far the nicest car I've ever owned. I've only driven it for about a thousand miles before I took it in to for the cam gear recall and got some terrible news while it was being serviced. The dreaded timing chain cover leak was discovered and they told me it's going to cost $3000+ to fix, which seems on par with what other unfortunate souls have been estimated at after I researched this issue.
The car was under the 100k warranty when I purchased it from the previous owner but has now passed 100k and the time allowance for the warranty. Lexus was adamant about there being no wiggle room on the warranty expiration when I inquired. I just talked to the dealer again today and they offered to sell me a 12 month powertrain warranty for around a grand and I could bring it back in a few months and I'd just pay a $150 or so deductible to have it fixed, which seems like my only option right now outside of getting totally plowed in the pooper for the whole cost.
Before they offered me the warranty option, I was considering contacting "corporate" for this mythical goodwill assistance, but that seems like a crap shoot.
Any comments, recommendations, would be great. Thanks, fellas!
-Pete
The car was under the 100k warranty when I purchased it from the previous owner but has now passed 100k and the time allowance for the warranty. Lexus was adamant about there being no wiggle room on the warranty expiration when I inquired. I just talked to the dealer again today and they offered to sell me a 12 month powertrain warranty for around a grand and I could bring it back in a few months and I'd just pay a $150 or so deductible to have it fixed, which seems like my only option right now outside of getting totally plowed in the pooper for the whole cost.
Before they offered me the warranty option, I was considering contacting "corporate" for this mythical goodwill assistance, but that seems like a crap shoot.
Any comments, recommendations, would be great. Thanks, fellas!
-Pete
02-26-14, 11:12 AM
#3
Seeing as it wasnt covered under an extended warranty, you may wanna contact corporate or pricing it outside lexus. They are normally good on est. matches from outside places with a good reputation. This is just my experience and 2 cents. good luck
02-26-14, 11:16 AM
#5
Welcome to the Club. Sorry to hear about the dreaded oil leak. I am having the same issue with my 2006 (107k miles) right now. The cheapest indie shop I could find to fix this is $2400. I steam cleaned the engine and monitoring the leak and it doesn't seem so bad (only a few drops per week). The leak is about 2/3 up on the engine block so it seems to leak only when the engine is running. Hopefully it wont get too bad since I am not planning on fixing this ($2400 is way too much for the job). Maybe I will have it done once I need to do major services such as water pump, sparkplugs, engine/tranny mounts, etc...(since the labor will be free for these items).
Back to your situation! I wish I have your option. However, make sure you read the fine print to make sure they will cover it. Is it Lexus or 3rd party extended warranty? You might want to do other items I mentioned above since they need to pull the engine out anyway.
Good luck.
Back to your situation! I wish I have your option. However, make sure you read the fine print to make sure they will cover it. Is it Lexus or 3rd party extended warranty? You might want to do other items I mentioned above since they need to pull the engine out anyway.
Good luck.
02-26-14, 11:17 AM
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I'd rather not take it elsewhere, only because fixing it apparently requires the engine to be removed from the vehicle for disassembly. Thanks for your input! Might try calling corporate to see what they have to say.
02-26-14, 11:50 AM
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Welcome to the Club. Sorry to hear about the dreaded oil leak. I am having the same issue with my 2006 (107k miles) right now. The cheapest indie shop I could find to fix this is $2400. I steam cleaned the engine and monitoring the leak and it doesn't seem so bad (only a few drops per week). The leak is about 2/3 up on the engine block so it seems to leak only when the engine is running. Hopefully it wont get too bad since I am not planning on fixing this ($2400 is way too much for the job). Maybe I will have it done once I need to do major services such as water pump, sparkplugs, engine/tranny mounts, etc...(since the labor will be free for these items).
Back to your situation! I wish I have your option. However, make sure you read the fine print to make sure they will cover it. Is it Lexus or 3rd party extended warranty? You might want to do other items I mentioned above since they need to pull the engine out anyway.
Good luck.
Back to your situation! I wish I have your option. However, make sure you read the fine print to make sure they will cover it. Is it Lexus or 3rd party extended warranty? You might want to do other items I mentioned above since they need to pull the engine out anyway.
Good luck.
Good luck with your car, I feel your pain!
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02-26-14, 12:03 PM
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Yeah, just got off the phone with corporate. They just reiterated what the dealer told me. Oh, well, at least I'll have some peace of mind that it'll be under warranty for another year. 
02-26-14, 12:40 PM
#10
^Where in SC are you? To which dealership have you been taking it?
Personally, if the oil leak wasn't bad, I'd not worry about it and just monitor its progress. I've got a '06 IS350 and luckily don't have that oil leak issue; but it was my luck to have a bad NAV unit that needed to be replaced. Luckily that was MUCH easier of a fix!
GL!
Personally, if the oil leak wasn't bad, I'd not worry about it and just monitor its progress. I've got a '06 IS350 and luckily don't have that oil leak issue; but it was my luck to have a bad NAV unit that needed to be replaced. Luckily that was MUCH easier of a fix!
GL!
02-26-14, 01:02 PM
#11
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Hey guys, new here, but not to the car scene. Recently picked up a 06 IS350, which is by far the nicest car I've ever owned. I've only driven it for about a thousand miles before I took it in to for the cam gear recall and got some terrible news while it was being serviced. The dreaded timing chain cover leak was discovered and they told me it's going to cost $3000+ to fix, which seems on par with what other unfortunate souls have been estimated at after I researched this issue.
The car was under the 100k warranty when I purchased it from the previous owner but has now passed 100k and the time allowance for the warranty. Lexus was adamant about there being no wiggle room on the warranty expiration when I inquired. I just talked to the dealer again today and they offered to sell me a 12 month powertrain warranty for around a grand and I could bring it back in a few months and I'd just pay a $150 or so deductible to have it fixed, which seems like my only option right now outside of getting totally plowed in the pooper for the whole cost.
Before they offered me the warranty option, I was considering contacting "corporate" for this mythical goodwill assistance, but that seems like a crap shoot.
Any comments, recommendations, would be great. Thanks, fellas!
-Pete
The car was under the 100k warranty when I purchased it from the previous owner but has now passed 100k and the time allowance for the warranty. Lexus was adamant about there being no wiggle room on the warranty expiration when I inquired. I just talked to the dealer again today and they offered to sell me a 12 month powertrain warranty for around a grand and I could bring it back in a few months and I'd just pay a $150 or so deductible to have it fixed, which seems like my only option right now outside of getting totally plowed in the pooper for the whole cost.
Before they offered me the warranty option, I was considering contacting "corporate" for this mythical goodwill assistance, but that seems like a crap shoot.
Any comments, recommendations, would be great. Thanks, fellas!
-Pete
Otherwise, you risk paying for the coverage AND for the repair.
02-26-14, 01:59 PM
#12
I don't trust this solution AT ALL. It's easy for me to go and spend your $3,000 -- BUT, the dealer sells you this 12 month powertrain warranty, you come back in a few months to get this fixed, and then they say "Our records show that this problem was known before you bought the warranty--NOT COVERED." They know EVERYTHING that any Lexus dealer has ever checked out on your car during the life of the vehicle--look up the car's VIN on the Lexus.com owner's site. If you go this route, you need to get all the paperwork for this 12 powertrain warranty coverage, and understand everything that is covered and excluded.
Otherwise, you risk paying for the coverage AND for the repair.
Otherwise, you risk paying for the coverage AND for the repair.
02-26-14, 04:15 PM
#14
There is nothing you can do to prevent this. The design wasn't robust enough so any slight variations during assembly process will end up with a leak. The leaks usually starting out small and hard to spot. You will have get to remove the bottom engine cover to look for it. My car was religiously cared for by the previous owner (with every single service done by Lexus dealers) and they did not notice the leak. The leak was discovered by the another dealer when they were performing transmission fluid flush (after I have the car for less than 5k miles).