bopc1996

My 2002 sc430(1 yr left on certified warranty) with 47k miles overheated; Since I was 120 miles from nearest lexus dealer Lexus corperate headquarters(after 2 days of haggling)let me have it towed to a Toyota dealer nearby. Lexus customer service rep said I had to pay Toyota myself but they would reimburse me IF the problem was covered under warranty.Actually the owners supplement manual says if lexus dealer not "reasonably" available local repair can be done and then reimbursed. Diagnosis by Toyota was a blown head gasket. Minimum $1900 much more if valves damaged. Anyone ever heard of a blown gasket at 47k miles? Think any problem of it not being covered under warranty. Would you be concerned that a toyota mechanic doing this job?

loveslexus

iTrader: (2)

How is a 02 under warrenty?

mrblister

Must be an extended warranty or maybe the factory engine warrany to 50,000

Harold57

bopc1996 mentioned that it was a certified warranty, though you can purchase a Lexus warranty for a used '02 SC if it has less than 90 kmi (I believe) on it. (I just did and mine is a '02 with 65 kmi on it.)

I guess that 120 mile was farther than Lexus was willing to tow it, otherwise they should have offered to tow it to their facility.

Poqman

I can't think of any problem why it would not be covered under your warranty, unless it overheated due to a simple coolant leak, but you kept driving. Hopefully, they can't say it was your fault. I'm guessing that the Toyota dealer has not pulled the head to know for sure if it was the head gasket that gave up first. It's possible that the overheating caused the head to warp, which lead to the head gasket failure. The fix may be to machine the head to make it flat again and then replace the gasket. Gasket failure has several symptoms. The gasket failure could have leaked exhaust gas into the cooling passages. You can sometimes see bubbles in the radiator reservoir while the engine runs when this happens. Another failure is to leak coolant into the compression chamber noted by a loss of coolant. The coolant turns to steam and can be seen in the exhaust out the tailpipe. With luck, there should be no valve damage. Hope all goes well with your warranty claim.

naked

Wow, have never heard of that problem before! My 2002 has over 100k miles and has been running strong ever since!

tromly

^^^^1, first time I've ever heard of this happening with such low miles

bopc1996

Yes my 2002 has 1 year remaining on its certified car warranty; i immediately pulled over when i saw the needle on the temp gauge going up fast;then had it towed to my house; I was sort of curious how the toyota mechanic made the diagnosis of head gasket blown when they had yet to pull the head; but i know very little about this sort of thing so it might be easy to tell without doing so.

IS_250

iTrader: (2)

finding oil in the coolant is usually a dead giveaway to diagnosing a blown head gasket... the head doesnt need to be removed to diagnose this.

scdroptop

iTrader: (1)

2002 with a CPO remaining is rare, but it could be done...like customer buys the car in 2007/2008 with CPO 3 year...expires in 2010/2011. Remember they changed the requirements last year for CPO or maybe two years ago now. I was shocked the first time I saw a 2002 with like 70k miles that was a CPO. Smart move by lexus to sell more cars!

I can't think of any reason why Lexus would not cover, unless they can prove mods caused, abuse or neglect, which I doubt. I would trust Toyota, absolutely. Is the dealer good?