Vegassc400

I have a 95 SC400 with 100k miles on it When I bought the car, they told me the car had received ALL of it's maintenance at 30k, 60k and 90k. LIARS! Anyway, I took it to one of my clients who owns a garage and does a ton of Toyota and Lexus work. He cut me a hell of a deal on parts and labor. $600 including labor for new denso iridium plugs, Toyota plug wires, caps, rotors, coolant flush, compression check and fix my bad antennae. Pretty good deal.

When he got working he found some other problems. Water pump is going out. That is a repair I can't wait on. While he's under there have to change the timing belt as well. Another $900 there. These were both supposed to be changed at 60k.
Then he found the boot on the rack and pinion was ripped and needed to be replaced. Another $1000 here. Fortunately, this can wait.

Just a lesson to me I guess. If they say the maintenance has been done, find out what was supposed to be done and check.

EmeraldLexuSC3

I always ask for my old parts back! I And their invoice are to denote that old parts are given back to the customer. I believe that it's a California law that if you ask for the parts, they are to give them to you.
And these are parts that should came off of your car, and not from the Mechanic's Garbage bin.

Vegassc400

Same law here too. I totally trust this mechanic and the prices he's given me are more than fair. I do his book keeping and taxes so I know he buys all new parts for all the cars he works on. I see the receipts. I was just venting about being lied to about the maintenance history of the car.

THE_CEO

Well your timing belt can vary...some last 100k some last 160k...but i wouldnt wait past 120k for one...and the rack and pinion..can wait for a while so..you will still save 1900 bucks...when i got my car i started replacing things every month...and i got to a point where most of the things are almost up to date...everything except the timing belt...i just rebuilt my alternator yesterday..and i looked at the power steering pump and its fine...but i just keep doing stuff to it every month..changing fluids, tires, batteries...small things...so take your time and you should be ok but dont go dropping a ton of cash if you dont have to..unless you got it like that...but even then it not always good...my 2 cents!

CEO

JAKnudson

$900 for a timing belt? I need to throw in my engineering degree and start repairing these things. I spent $40 for a new belt and replaced it myself. Granted I have most of the tools and I had to fabricate a tool to do it but $900 for a timing belt... Ouch

JPI Racing

Timing belt need to be replace at 90k not at 60k. I see toyota belts last up to 150k. $900 for timing belt and water pump? That is a little too much.
JPI

Fred Smith

$900 for a timing belt and water pump job???? The Amazing Neil over here does this job in like 6 or 7 hours' labour. Add to that the parts cost of 220 AUSTRALIAN dollars... you're looking at maybe 600 bucks AUSTRALIAN. That's like 400 USD.

$1000 for a boot? WHAT??

Even the $600 doesn't sound that good to me. Wires $100. Plugs, what $50? 1 hour labor. Coolant flush and compression check 30 mins and $50 at the local radiator shop. Not sure what caps and rotors are worth there, but I bet they arent $300.

siniquezu

It's too bad that maintanence can add up quickly. Good luck.

Vegassc400

Well then, the question to anyone who's had their water pump replaced by a dealer or mechanic is "How much did you pay?".

hansjl

Sounds like the machanic you trust may be good, but expensive. If it was maintained by Lexus, then the work that was done should be in their records and the seller should have provided them to you. Some where on CL is the estimate that a water pump lasts an average 113K miles, so you're just a bit early for that. You may want to price shop the work at a Toyota dealer to see the best prices they can offer. Since I live a distance from the 3 area Lexus dealerships, I use Toyota for most of my work and maintenance on both my GS and SC.

So who did you buy the SC from, a dealer or private party? If it was a dealer, you may have recourse, if a private party, then your client would have been a good person to have checked it prior to making the purchase. So was it a bargin priced SC when you bought it?

I picked up my 95 SC in March with 84K paid what I thought was a premium ($500) over suggested private party on Edmonds or Kelly just for the fact that it had a pedigree maintenance record, including a timing belt at 60K. Then came the Dent Whiz, the scratch sanding, and the new wheels, and now I have my very clean 95 Red SC 400. Just remember the old "consumer beware" and act accordingly, and be prepared to have deep pockets.....

Good luck on these being the only big bucks you're going to have to spend on it.

VQT

I had my water pump, timing belt, cam seals, idilers (sp), caps & rotors, plugs, wires replaced by a Toyota mechanic working a side job (after hour in his work bay at the dealer ship) cost me $300 labor and ~$400 for parts.
For you the labor and part might cost a little more, $900 should cover timing belt, 3 cam seals, idlers, water pump and maybe free labor for the plugs and wires. You pay the cost of plugs (~$50) and wires (~$180). All this should be charge the same labor as chnaging the belt. To change the belt you have to take all those thing apart anyway so when putting it back why not replaced with new parts.

Most of these parts were bought from Carson Toyota (Steve Ganz)

Pianoman72

You can get an EZ-boot at Autozone. It straps on so all you have to do is take off the wheel. I wouldn't wait on that because dirt can get in there if the boot isn't there to protect it. Should set you back $15 or so and anybody can do it. At least that was my experience on another car, hopefully the same for the SC.

Vegassc400

Thanks Pianoman. Anyone know where the rack and pinion are and the best way to get to it?

Pianoman72

Umm I was just assuming that your mechanic was talking about the CV boot, a rubber thing that protects the bearings right behind the wheel and it also holds the grease in there. Here's a website and pic. Don't know why you'd have to replace your "rack and pinion."

See the pic? If you hit a rock or debris it can tear it. DO a visual inspection for anything that looks like this and then find the one that's torn. EZ-boot probably makes a replacement for it you can strap on without removing any parts.

http://www.nca.qc.ca/ncaen/ez-boot-tm.htm

kaotiq

CV boots tear easily and are usually the 2nd thing to go after the stock shocks for any lowered car. The pressure that the lowering loads onto those CV joints causes the boot to tear.

are you sure its torn? one way to tell is that you get this thick dark greenish grease on the inside your rims or so.