therocker

I got my 3rd flat in the 3 1/2 months I've owned my SC 430. And it is the 3rd time a nail in the rear tire has forced Lexus to replace the tire at their own expense, since these runflats cannot be replaced. Who gets nails in their tires every month? My dealer will only replace the tires for free if I have 75% or more tread life left. What happens if it occurs again in 3 months from now? I don't want to have to pay for a tire which normally would be patchable. By the way, my dealer informed me that Lexus will soon offer a snow tire run flat sometime in the near future.

WJSOLOMON

So, how much does a new Run Flat coat through a Lexus Dealership?

For a $65,000.00 new Car, this Run Flat situation is really frustrating. But, I guess, if we can afford the car, we can afford to replace the tires out of our pocket.

We're born. We drive our Lexus SC 430's. And then we die.

WJSOLOMON

Hey Rocker - I talked to my Lexus Dealer here in Indy this past week, after reading your Post about having 3 Flats on your R. F., and that your Dealer indicated that Lexus would cover free replacements only for the first 25% of the original Tread Depth. Jummy, one of the nicest, and best informed Parts Department Managers you will ever find at ANY Dealership, assured me that our Local Indy Dealership would take a very "relaxed" position on replacing R. F. at no cost to the Owner. He also indicated that the Tire Manufacturers (Good Year & Bridgestone) both have a OEM Policy of Depreciated Replacement Costs for the R.F. based on remaining Tread Depth. A Tire Maintenance (Insurance) Policy may be available through the Selling Dealer, from the Tire Manufacturer, or local Tire Retail / Service Stores. Jimmy is checking this out for me.
With an anticipated Tread Life of say 16,000 Miles ("..........Tire life may be substantially less than 15,000 miles."), it won't take long to run out of the Free 25% Tread Life Period, but the "Discretionary Bounderies" that Dealers are allowed to have from Lexus, apparantely varies from Dealer to Dealer.

I don't know about you other Guys (and Gals), but this dude will be remembering both the Parts and Service Managers with some Top Shelf Libations for the Holidays! ("The Future Belongs To Those Who Prepare For It.")

My Parts Manager also indicated that the Good Year R. F. were each costing about $100.00 more to purchase than the Bridgestones. He ventured a guess that it was because Bridgestone was in the business with both feet from the beginning with the SC 430, while Good Year is still playing "Catch Up" on their market share, and apparent high Cost Of Sale, due to the lower volume / market share.

Part of the Higher Sales Price for the Good Years ($400.00 ++ per set????!!!!!????) is probably due to the "Premium" that they had to pay Lexus to have their Trade Name proudly displayed in the 2002 Lexus SC 430 Sales Brochure on Page #38. That had to be quite a bidding war between Bridgestone / Firestone and Good Year, with all of the fierce competition between these two Major Tire Producers involved in the Indy 500, and all of the Mass Media attention on the Ford vs Firestone Feud in the Courts.

Tough call on which brand will afford the better Tire Service in the long run. As usual, Lexus Design Engineers have taken the long term hassle out of this decision for us, by giving either (RF) Tire such a short Service Life. "....substantially less than 15,000 Miles", can mean 12 - 18 months for a lot of the 32,000 anticipated owners over the first three Years of Production Runs.

Let's see......32,000 Owners x 4 x $400.00 = $12,800,000.00 to Good Year within the next 48 months, hmmm.....they should have their initial investment returned in pretty good time.

On the other hand, to accelerate from 0 - 60 mph in less than 6.0 seconds, braking from 70 - 0 mph in less than176 feet, and ripping along at speeds approaching 157 mph, all comes at some expense. "The more Lively the Dance, the more you always end up paying the Fiddler."

"LEXUS - THE ULTIMATE LUXURY / PERFORMANCE AUTOMOBILE!"