Tjz

Hi all...

One month into ownership and I still LOVE this car.

I read on this site something about new bushings that will improve ride quality. I mentioned this to the service dept. and of course they had no knowlege of this.

After having the clear bra installed on the car the service manager tells me they found a bulletin from Lexus and can install the new bushings on my next visit. I said sure no prob.

I need to know...Are the new rear bushings an upgrade to ride quality or not?? I hope someone out there can give me their opinion before I have Lexus drop the rear susp.

There is a slight line from the clear bra where it starts/stops on the hood. I think it is worth it for the extra protection, but I do wish it was completely invisible.

A funny aside,......

When I bought the Sc , I purchased it from a dealer 30 miles from my house. At the time I told the dealer I had reservations about buying it from them because they are so far away for service. The dealer tells me no prob, we will pick up and drop off the car for you and give you a loaner whenever you want. So, of course I say no prob let's do it. Well the first time I need to schedule a service appt. the service person tells me that they cannot do a pickup/dropoff. If I want that service, then I have to pay for it. The only people who get that service for free have been grandfathered in from a long time ago. So I told him that my dealer "guaranteed" me this feature, and after going back and forth a bit he agrees to do the pickup for me for free.

This is probably why Lexus is not first in service rankings anymore.

The only thing worse than not performing great service, is not providing the great service that you promised.

Whew, well I am exhausted ...Great Site !!!

TjZ

DropTop430

If you just bought your car, it should already have the new bushings on it, when is the build date on your car?
If for some reason you don't have them, then yes the improve the ride quailty and get rid of a thump/clunk from the rear end of the car...Do I search there has been a lot of posts about these...
I had the fix done and its light years better..but I picked up my car in March of last year so it had the old ones on it....Hope that helps...

Tjz

Umm, right ... the search feature...of course..... ;-)

I have now found the answers to my questions.........

Thnx
Tjz

daviey

My sc430 was made on 3/02 can I assume it has the new bushings?

DropTop430

I would think so, how is the ride of small bumps, do you get a clunk sound from the rear when you drive into your driveway or into a parking lot? Thats the real test...

daviey

No clucking sound, but a very firm ride on small bumps. Can you tell by looking at the bushings.

VVT-i

You can not tell by look at the bushings. It's inside the rear sub-frame. If your car don't make any chunking noise over the bump, don't worry about it. They have to drop the rear sub-frame with Differentail, axle and all of the control arms to get to the bushings and sound like your car already had an update bushings. Ask your service manager to check the VIN# on your car and compare with the TSB.

alfa2600

sc430 obtained 5/01, new bushings installed 7/02 at 15,000 miles, considerable improvement in the ride, did not improve the jerky steering which is caused by the pesky run flat tires - and which is the only real functional deficiency of this excellent automobile.

alfa2600

Let me amend that, there is a slight improvement in the steering, enough to notice, not enough to be satisfactory.