Unusual Judder

[Shahpor]

Hey all.

Just wanted to relay the story of what has happened to my IS recently in case it might be of some use.

So, about a month ago, I started experiencing the infamous clutch judder when moving off.

Since I have an extended Lexus Warranty, I took it to my local dealer to have a look. Sure enough, they diagnosed a faulty dual mass flywheel. Luckily, Lexus UK agreed to foot the bill for the flywheel under my warranty, and they would change my clutch as long as I paid for that part.

So far, so good.

The complications began after I collected the car and discovered that the judder was still there. I took it back to the dealer, who immediately agreed that the problem was not resolved. My old flywheel was worn out, but that was obviously not the end of it.

During the next week or so, they kept my car for testing while giving me a Prius to drive around in. In that time, the mechanics check my fuel injectors, remounted my exhaust, checked my prop shaft and rubber donuts, examined the diff along with the drive shafts, and finally the rear wheel hubs. They even rebalanced my rear wheels because I had a vibration on the motorway.

Still not fixed.

So, for the next step, they took the car back and removed the gearbox again to check the flywheel and clutch. They found the flywheel slightly out of spec, so they changed that along with another new clutch.

Judder still there.

Running out of ideas, they next wanted to change the engine mounts, but at this point, Lexus UK let me down. The warranty people said that the mounts were wear and tear items and not covered. This is even though the dealership staff reckon they weren't wear and tear, and in fact have never sold a set!

At this point, my dealer came to the rescue and a deal was done for changing the mounts. I picked the car up last Tuesday and have been giving it a road test since.

Finally, no judder :)

This, apparently, is such a rare occurrence that the master tech at the dealership is submitting a technical report to Lexus UK in case others experience it. Previously, they had contacted Lexus for ideas, but were told they didn't have any.

Anyway, at this point all that is left to do is praise my local dealer; Jemca Edgware Road. The staff there have bent over backwards trying to solve this issue for me. For example, after I complained that the Prius was uncomfortable, they lent me a 65 reg CT with 400 miles on the clock for a week while they worked on my car. Also, because of the inconvenience caused, the service manager agreed the knock off £850 of the cost of the engine mount replacement. So in the end, I got my engine mounts changed at a main dealer for £150 all in. It is service like this that will keep me coming back to Lexus for my future cars.

If you have read this far, well done :)

Apologies for the essay, but I found it an interesting journey, so I thought I would share.

[madasahatter]

Well thats brilliant news and yes great service from your Lexus dealer.

[toffee_pie]

That's what you call service.

[Shahpor]

Thanks Keith :) You know what, I have only had mine 4 months, but I love it. And now that it is performing the way it should be, it makes my journeys effortless and pleasant.

Yep, the customer service was very impressive.

In fact, I am probably moving out of London soon, but I will still be taking my car back to them even though they wil be over an hour away.