Richard Bosselman Motoring expert
Spring time in Lexus land
July 05, 2010

The chances of this happening are slim, but Lexus has still decided to replace the faulty components - a major and expensive undertaking.

Further, the brand has decided it's a task reserved for its most talented mechanics, the so-called Lexus Master technicians who have received special training.

Conceivably, this means a big workload lays ahead for the handful of accredited ace spanner-spinners in New Zealand.

Over the next few months they'll have to replace the springs in every engine of 185 cars. Since these are quad cam engines, with four valves per cylinder - it's a big count. With 24 springs in the V6, and 32 in the V8, it's a minimum tally of 4400.

And while initial comment from Lexus NZ might have left the impression that replacing them was but the work of a moment, reality is somewhat different.

According to estimates from Toyota New Zealand, the V6 rework is a nine-hour job. Sounds awful? Hey, it's a cinch compared to the 4.6-litre V8 job. That's estimated to be a full 22 hour surgery, basically three working days' toil.

Part of the eight-pot nightmare is that, whereas the V6 can be operated on in situ, the big boy mill must be completed removed from the car to allow full disassembly.

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While no issues have been reported here, and the chances of the issue arising was remote, the brand wants to be confident no future problems will occur.

Patullo did not respond to my inquiry about when the work will begin, but a spokesman at TNZ says the plan of attack is already being worked on.

"We have had one of our top techs here at TNZ attend a specialised course in Japan to ensure we have total competency," said Paul Carroll, who in the past has spoken about other Toyota recalls.