mattie

I just brought my car in for 5K mile service and repair of harsh suspension(new bushings) on 4-18, but I was told today that my car will not be ready until 4-23 or 4-24. That's 4-5 business days. I know it takes a long time to replace bushings, but I was expecting may be 1-2 days. I also told them about the repair when I made my appointment, but my service guy was not even aware of the technical bulletin and I had to tell him about it.

I have owned '93SC400, '95LS400, '98GS400 and now this '02sc430. I think their service has gone downhill over the past several years(IMHO). This is not the first or second time I was not happy with the service department(We had to deal with them a lot with our '98 GS). I have a much better luck dealing with the local Jeep dealer! (their work is done promptly and accurately) I was just curious about other members' experience. I do realize that the service you get really depends on the dealership and please feel free to post your experience with your dealership. I curretly use Putnam Lexus(Northern California), but if you can recommend someone else...

Sincerely,

Mattie

P.S. I guess it's still better than BMW or Mercedes dealers...

LexFather

mattie, check this link out

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=14459

It is a rating on our service dealers. You may find some supporting info.

antigeek

I just took my 10/2001 SC430 (acquired 11/23/01) in for it's 5k mile check today. I had the following list of things to address:

1. Possible new bushings. At my 1k they told me I had the latest, but other recent posts have indicated that there are even newer ones (March?). Why not take a shot at a smoother ride?
(DISCLAIMER: please, no thread here on run-flats)

2. Passenger door sometimes doesn't close without a solid push. I don't have this problem with the driver's door, and it gets a lot more work.

3. The trunk clicks into place on the driver's side when the top is going back up. Probably a minor adjustment.

4. Detail -- sorry folks, but I'm just not up to doing it myself. I must be inZaino.

Needless to say, the info on Club Lexus has put me ahead of what my service technician knows. I GUESS that's a good thing, but I wish he did some research ahead of time.

I took it in at 8am, and they're always super-busy on Mondays, but I haven't gotten a call back today. At least I have an IS300 to drive in the meantime. We'll see what's up -- updates to come.

Knicksfan

I had my bushings replaced along with 5000 mille service in about 3 hours

Unfortunately, its been about 600 miles since they were replaced and I can already feel the jarring returning as others have observed. Its is better than it was with the originals but I would say about 50% as good as when I drove off the lot with the new ones.

DropTop430

Is this your 1st attempt at the new bushings or have you gotten the new updated ones. I have the inital fix/upgrade and am now thinking that I am hearing the clunking returning...But I must admit I am looking and listening for the noise a lot more..

tfischer

My dealer said he would need the car for two days to do the bushing replacement because they had to drop the whole back end out of the car, whatever that means. He said the mechanics don't like to do it (but Lexus is paying them, so who cares if it's a big job.)

Based on that, 3 hours seems a little quick, and 5 days seems like the dealer is busy and is spacing this work out longer than necessary to keep the crew busy.

That's all I know about it.

I'm picking my car up tomorrow, so we will see how the new bushings help.

DropTop430

"He said the mechanics don't like to do it (but Lexus is paying them, so who cares if it's a big job.) "

Did the service advisor really tell you that they don't like doing the job?

Well isn't that too bad. Someone should tell them that its their job to fix WHATEVER is wrong with the car. Especially when Lexus deems it necessary to have it repaired.

Sorry I just read that comment and got a needed to vent a little. Maybe they would feel a little different if it was them who just shelled out 100 000 (Cdn $$) for a car that went clunk.

tfischer

Lighten up. The service manager was only saying that dropping the rear end out of a car is not much fun. If I were a mechanic, I'm sure I'd rather fix the electric window motors.

Anyway, I just picked it up, and, based on a fifteen minuite ride back from the dealer, (none of us like to generalize from insufficient data), I think the improvement is noticable. The ride seems quite a bit smoother, and yet no loss of control at high speeds (which is all relative -- I don't think I got over 90, so I was not going really fast).

So I am pleased with the new bushings.

By the way, I still don't know what a bushing is. Why do they make such a difference?

BlackLXSC

I had the 5k service done on the car on Monday, and the rear bushings were replaced. Following are the part numbers that were on the invoice:

SU1002 TSB
5227130080 Qty:2 - Cushion RR Suspension
9091706078 Qty:4 - Gasket, Exhaust Pipe
9017710001 Qty:8 - Nut, Lock

The car has a build date of Nov, 2001, a delivery date of 12/15/01, and the VIN number for the car fell right into the range of the VIN numbers affected by the TSB.

They had quoted 4 hours to do the job. I had also blown one of the tires the day before (driving in Jersey can get quite treacherous at times), so it was in for a new tire as well. The car was dropped off in the morning, and it was back in my hands around 8pm.

The ride at the end of the day was quite significantly better than before. It would be interesting to see if the quality of the ride reduces over time, as others had indicated.

DropTop430

Point taken, I was just commenting on the fact that the service manager would mention that to you. I just found it funny more than anything. The good thing is that its fixed. How much did the tire cost you or was it pro rated with warr'ty? Do you have run flats?

antigeek

Ah, synchronicity.
Got mine back this evening.
Here are the results.

1. They replaced the bushings -- 2 part #5227130080's, and 4.00 units of labor. I have to say it's more sure-footed. I was even insane enough to run over some manhole covers (lower than the road, of course), and it's much smoother. But as others have posted, I'll keep an eye on it.

2. The passenger door closing -- "door is properly adjusted". Not sure if they did anything about it. I didn't test it.

3. Trunk clicks into place -- this one is interesting.
They "ordered a new left side deck lid hinge. Part is on national back order and may take 2-3 weeks to arrive." It's not preventing the deck lid from latching, it's just kinda notchy, but they found need to replace it.
Wanna know how much a hinge is? How about $4,500!!!

My service tech said that they saw a coupe that was T-boned in the rear, taking out the deck lid, both hinges, etc. The insurance company totalled the car! My coworkers were also surprised -- "your two hinges cost more than BOTH of my cars!"

4. Detail -- looks great. HOWEVER, I noticed some chips closer to the nose. I believe that Xpel is in my immediate future. If you haven't already, check out your car and protect it now! Even without it, I'm a believer.

5. I had them look into the rattling doors again -- "door panels are properly adjusted. No abnormal vibration felt." Oh well, maybe next time, when I take it in for the rear hinge.

BlackLXSC

DropTop430,

The new run flat tire did not cost anything, as I had purchased an extended warranty to cover the tires for the life of the car. My dealer had just started to sell this warranty around mid-December for an additional one time fee of around $590 (can't remember the exact amount). This pretty much covers the replacement of any run flat tire with another run flat tire (I don't seem to mind the quality of the ride) in the event of flats, or other unusual wear and tear beyond the basic warranty on the tire.

The extended warranty sure came in handy this week. Based on the amount of potholes in Jersey, it was worth the price.

RodF

Brought my car in yesterday for 5K oil change and bushing replacement. Haven't heard back from them yet. Thanks to this forum, I'll be sure to check the bushing part number on the work order.