Utterly flabbergasted and disgusted

DarISF · June 7, 2019

Hi all 😄

So, had my 2008 ISF in for an airbag recall this week. As the MOT was due in a few days I asked that they (Lexus Swindon, UK) undertake this for me too.

Anyway, airbag replacement, no sweat. MOT, failed. Darn it! Excessive rear brake pipe corrosion. Quote to fix : £1390.31.

I raised my eyebrows somewhat at this but wasn't massively shocked thinking it might be relatively awkward on this car so let it slide. Notwithstanding I can source 12ft copper pipe and replacement connectors for £15.99! Add a brake pipe flaring tool at circa £40.00 for good measure.

Where it got really interesting was the 'advisories'.

Front discs and pads - £2687.83. When choosing to do this myself with non-blue print but high carbon, perforated discs (£151.00) and EBC yellow pads (£143.48) so a total of £294.48

Rear discs and pads - £2833.61. When choosing to do this myself with non-blue print but high carbon, perforated discs (£160.16) and EBC yellow pads (£131.39) so a total of £291.55

So a total cost to me for both axles, fit DIY as a simple job, £586.03. Note that I could have bought genuine OEM Lexus discs and pads, full set, for £589.99 just on a cursory search. Obviously I will replace the flexy pipes too so add £200-300 or so.

Radiator leak - £1120.37

Near side tail back box (one of the mounts had rusted and broken) - £545.17

So, at total dealer estimate of a staggering £8577.29! This equates to just over 50% of what I paid for the car last year. Even factoring in labour this is an absolute outrage. It's certainly no more than a 2 day job and that's being generous.

I've not looked into the radiator and exhaust yet but I can be sure it will be nothing close to what Lexus wanted to charge me.

Anyway, after I quietly lost my shi*t and said to them 'Well it's a scrapper then eh!?' they even had the audacity to suggest I sell the car to them for sub-trade price. I was flabbergasted! I did check the mirror afterwards to make sure I didn't have 'MUG' written on my forehead.

Has anyone else experienced this level of ridiculous quoting? I completely expect to pay a level of premium on a performance car but this goes way beyond reasonable. Needless to say Lexus stealerships will never get any future business from me. I love the ISF, best car I've ever owned but this has left a real sour taste in the mouth.

Dar 🙂

Vlady · June 7, 2019

Uau! Are you sure you drive a car? Based on these unbelievable prices you have a plane!

Did you ask them to justify these prices? I would woke away anyway! I had similar story with BMW garage a few years back, to repair all that they found would cost me (with them) almost £2300! (that was about 60% of the car price!!!) for mostly suspension repair, to be honest I didn't even know it needs repair, all worked well and was quite, they found issues somehow with it!

Anyway, took their quote to a BMW specialist garage in Glasgow and they wanted £1700. I went further and took this quote to a garage next door from my work and got all done for £800 including parts and labour!

SO it does happen with all of them, I guess this is how they survive in these competitive times!

Spunkmeyer · June 7, 2019

I just don’t give them the opportunity. I do MOTs and standard repairs like brakes etc at local garage rates at a garage I trust. Dealers only get the service if it’s necessary to have the dealer stamp in the book. But experiences like these above remind me of the risks owning these types cars when things do need manufacture knowledge. Having said that, I would try independent high end car specialists first and travel for that. SRD down south are a pretty clever bunch and are not the types of over inflate costs

Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

Herbie · June 7, 2019

Why are you so surprised?

ALL main dealers are complete rip-offs but as Lexus is a luxury brand you get luxuriously ripped off in style. I'm only surprised at one thing - why did you even ask in the first place?

Either DIY or take to a local trusted indy place.

Texas · June 7, 2019

No surprise on those telephone number prices, all those problems can be fixed to a satisfactory level at way way below those prices ( as you have found out by doing a few minutes searching)

If they get say 1 in 5 of those Mickey Mouse quotes to follow through to completion then that's gonna cover the biscuits at least!

Live and learn and get your car fixed without loosing an arm and a leg and you'll feel a whole lot more content for it.

be wary though of buying 'branded' parts on Fleabay as there are a lot of fake branded rubbish parts out there! ( not good on an ISF!)

paul m.

Farqui · June 7, 2019

Darren, those prices are eye watering and you're right to investigate alternate options.

None of the items require specialist skills that need a premium rate.

The brake lines is probably the worst job but only because of the time involved making up the replacement lines.

Do you have any reputable JAP specialists nearby?

giorgoXXI · June 7, 2019

Never do pads or discs at a dealer, its an absolute rip-off.

I usually get brembo pads from Eurocarparts for around £40 and my local garage fits them for £20!

Except maybe the brake pipes, everything else should be pretty simple for a local garage to do, you would just need to source the parts.

Thackeray · June 7, 2019

I haven't taken a car to a dealer or garage for MOT for years. I always use the local council MOT testing centre. They have no interest in failing items in order to get your business as they don't do any maintenance work, except to the council's own vehicles. I feel much more confident that they're giving an honest opinion.

Herbie · June 7, 2019

12 minutes ago, Thackeray said:

I haven't taken a car to a dealer or garage for MOT for years. I always use the local council MOT testing centre. They have no interest in failing items in order to get your business as they don't do any maintenance work, except to the council's own vehicles. I feel much more confident that they're giving an honest opinion.

Yep, last MOT I had done was at my local bus depot as again, they don't do the repairs.

paul99 · June 7, 2019

Disc's and pads cost are utterly ridiculous, Lexus Coventry quoted me ~£800 to replace front discs/pad which i thought was steep, i paid £150 for brembo pads and disks from ECP during a 50% off sale.

RgrWynne · June 7, 2019

I think to put it in context, and I do agree it is an unreasonable quote, this is a big reason why cars depreciate so much, which enables us all to own fabulous cars. In defence of Lexus they do give excellent warranties and in comparison with the German brands, they are much fairer. I remember when Japanese cars came into this country, they have always had a brilliant reliability record and if they were properly serviced, by the agent that understood the car, they rarely needed repair. But.....if they did go wrong.... expensive. I also think that it needs to be understood that if you want an agent with premises , they have to make profit. They certainly don’t make it from selling new cars these days.

I, like most of you, use a good independent , insisting on only Lexus Original Parts ( my choice) because the main agent cost would make running the car uneconomic, but I still need the main agent to remain in business.

Northern isf · June 7, 2019

10 hours ago, DarISF said:

they even had the audacity to suggest I sell the car to them for sub-trade price

I'll bet they did a nice profit to be had there when they fixed the issues greed pure greed

Killysprint · June 7, 2019

Like all dealers they’re there to make money, first and foremost.

They have “customer service” staff and complimentary coffee to pay for, marble to polish and acres of glass to keep clean - all this doesn’t come cheap.

however the prices especially for the brakes are unbelievable.

Even here in the impoverished north I’d like to wager the hourly rate charged is at £130+ per hour plus vat. Certainly the useless bastards at the local Mercedes dealers charge that for a std non-AMG car. I don’t see how they can come to those prices even considering you’re in the effluent south. the price of the parts must be through the roof.

One other point to remember is that all of the ‘F’ cars when new weren’t cheap. The ISF when launched cost £55k+, GSF’s were listed at £70k+, so running and servicing costs should be expected to be in the order of other cars in that price bracket. Also they’re pretty rare, so parts availability (and the number of parts made) when compared to more mainstream models will be less. Market dynamics will consequently push prices up, and I guess that’s what’s happening here.

I wish you the best of luck to get the problems sorted as quickly and in the most cost effective manner for you. As others have said - dealers for servicing (the important stamp in the book that everyone wants....), recalls and warranty work, anything else use a trusted independent.

PRT68 · June 7, 2019

Well, that's the second ISF to go down on brake pipes in a month. The first a 2009, and now a 2008 model.

Looks like preventative measures are needed. I'll be having my wheels off, wire brushing, rust treating and greasing mine.

gb1600e · June 7, 2019

I share you pain @DarISF as it was me who just had my rear brake lines replaced by LEXUS for the same £1300. Priced to me at 10hrs labour (and I believe it actually took 13 ) I sucked it up knowing it says Lexus on by bill as provenance for the next owner. While its not beyond a quality non franchise operation to remove the exhaust, rear diff, prop shaft, petrol tank and numerous heat shields and cover plates and put it all back together in the right order its not a job for the faint heated.

As for the discs I would agree that's not a job for the Lexus biscuit fund and I would save the labour and do it myself as a job any competent DIY car man could do on a Saturday morning (I enjoy fixing stuff). Or any garage you trust in. And the exhaust should be an easy fix but the cost of the exhaust is the pain.

It must all be put down to the joys of buying an old (but very nice) second had car.

Agree with Paul @PRT68 though with a preventative greasing, Oooo Errr, but steady with the wire brush.

Dealkent · June 7, 2019

Those figures quoted are crazy !? I had all discs and pads replaced on Jaguar XF about 3 years ago at a Jag main dealer for under £1000 . I was horrified at the time. Did you get a quote from Halfords or Kwikfit ?

On 5/7/2019 at 2:57 PM, BigChange said:

Dealkent · June 7, 2019

4 hours ago, Thackeray said:

I haven't taken a car to a dealer or garage for MOT for years. I always use the local council MOT testing centre. They have no interest in failing items in order to get your business as they don't do any maintenance work, except to the council's own vehicles. I feel much more confident that they're giving an honest opinion.

Never heard of a “ local council MOT testing centres” ??? Will have to do a search for one

royoftherovers · June 7, 2019

"even considering you’re in the effluent south"

you mean affluent Tim, or is that Northumbrian humour?

Womble72 · June 7, 2019

16 hours ago, DarISF said:

Hi all 😄

So, had my 2008 ISF in for an airbag recall this week. As the MOT was due in a few days I asked that they (Lexus Swindon, UK) undertake this for me too.

Anyway, airbag replacement, no sweat. MOT, failed. Darn it! Excessive rear brake pipe corrosion. Quote to fix : £1390.31.

I raised my eyebrows somewhat at this but wasn't massively shocked thinking it might be relatively awkward on this car so let it slide. Notwithstanding I can source 12ft copper pipe and replacement connectors for £15.99! Add a brake pipe flaring tool at circa £40.00 for good measure.

Where it got really interesting was the 'advisories'.

Front discs and pads - £2687.83. When choosing to do this myself with non-blue print but high carbon, perforated discs (£151.00) and EBC yellow pads (£143.48) so a total of £294.48

Rear discs and pads - £2833.61. When choosing to do this myself with non-blue print but high carbon, perforated discs (£160.16) and EBC yellow pads (£131.39) so a total of £291.55

So a total cost to me for both axles, fit DIY as a simple job, £586.03. Note that I could have bought genuine OEM Lexus discs and pads, full set, for £589.99 just on a cursory search. Obviously I will replace the flexy pipes too so add £200-300 or so.

Radiator leak - £1120.37

Near side tail back box (one of the mounts had rusted and broken) - £545.17

So, at total dealer estimate of a staggering £8577.29! This equates to just over 50% of what I paid for the car last year. Even factoring in labour this is an absolute outrage. It's certainly no more than a 2 day job and that's being generous.

I've not looked into the radiator and exhaust yet but I can be sure it will be nothing close to what Lexus wanted to charge me.

Anyway, after I quietly lost my shi*t and said to them 'Well it's a scrapper then eh!?' they even had the audacity to suggest I sell the car to them for sub-trade price. I was flabbergasted! I did check the mirror afterwards to make sure I didn't have 'MUG' written on my forehead.

Has anyone else experienced this level of ridiculous quoting? I completely expect to pay a level of premium on a performance car but this goes way beyond reasonable. Needless to say Lexus stealerships will never get any future business from me. I love the ISF, best car I've ever owned but this has left a real sour taste in the mouth.

Dar 🙂

I’ve had Lexus for many years and after two of them purchased with f/l/s/h both had the same maintenance schedule ignored, I swore other than recalls I’d never pay ANY main-dealer another visit let alone a penny!......I’m not car maintenance orientated but I use Westfield Lexus specialists in Rayleigh which isn’t far from me, they’re half the price of main-dealers and far more informative and knowledgeable being both old school and Toyota/Lexus background.....as for exhaust I had a cat back with resonator removal for £720. The garage I used was “Pipe Craft” in Basildon, Dean was excellent and half the price of others,

Paul

Womble72 · June 7, 2019

3 minutes ago, Womble72 said:

I’ve had Lexus for many years and after two of them purchased with f/l/s/h both had the same maintenance schedule ignored, I swore other than recalls I’d never pay ANY main-dealer another visit let alone a penny!......I’m not car maintenance orientated but I use Westfield Lexus specialists in Rayleigh which isn’t far from me, they’re half the price of main-dealers and far more informative and knowledgeable being both old school and Toyota/Lexus background.....as for exhaust I had a cat back with resonator removal for £720. The garage I used was “Pipe Craft” in Basildon, Dean was excellent and half the price of others,

Paul

That was Stainless Steel with lifetime warranty

Thackeray · June 7, 2019

4 hours ago, Dealkent said:

Never heard of a “ local council MOT testing centres” ??? Will have to do a search for one

Don't know where you are in Kent but a quick search turned up this one for Sevenoaks District Council.

Martin F · June 7, 2019

That price for the disks and pads is daylight robbery. There is no justification.

FTBBCVoodoo · June 7, 2019

1 hour ago, Martin F said:

That price for the disks and pads is daylight robbery. There is no justification.

This....

It's embarrassing how much Lexus want for them.

I have run ECP brembo discs/pads and also discs from MTEC Brakes. All been perfectly fine. My brembo discs from the dealer are the only ones that have cracked on me while on track.

I am currently running ECP brembo discs and Ferodo DS2500 pads at the front. A lot cheaper than Lexus (although pads were about £250) and lot better (pads certainly) than Lexus direct.

And as for the exhaust, I am fairly sure you can't get a nearside or offside back box replaced. The whole thing is one unit (I know as I have one since replacing my exhaust). If it's just the bracket that needs replacing then a fabricator can make one for you for a fraction of the price.

PRT68 · June 8, 2019

Just been looking at my rear brake pipes. Fortunately able to see them without jacking the car up. This I'm possibly able to do because mine has a modified exhaust with very small rear boxes. I should think the large stock boxes would obscure the view. I can see where the flexi joins the metal pipe at the mounting bracket, and there is no corrosion at all. I can even see numbers printed on the pipes. I'm assuming that's where gb1600e experienced his problems. If it was, there does appear to be enough exposed pipe to allow a repair with a short section of new pipe and a join. To do a thorough check would obviously require inspection on a lift. Be interesting to know where DarISF's failure was.

My car is a June 2011 model.

DarISF · June 8, 2019

Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of response I've been caught up with work and other such mundane activities!

Thank you for all your responses, it's been an interesting read. Sorry I can't respond to you all individually.

However, there is a new chapter in this story.

So, I took the car to my local independent today. I explained the situation and showed them the estimate I had been given by Lexus. After laughing for quite a while and actually running off with the quote to show other mechanics out in the bay I was directed to get my car up on the lift.

In their opinion there was NOTHING wrong with the brake pipes and certainly nothing to warrant an MOT failure. They reached in with a bit of emery cloth on the 2cm of offending 'corrosion' and promptly stepped out to say 'they were trying to have you bud'. Car is now booked in for the MOT again this Tuesday as they couldn't fit me in today but they see no reason at all the car should pass without issue.

This has obviously only gone to fuel my anger and disappointment in Lexus Swindon.

I've already sourced by replacement discs (Brembo) and pads (EBC YellowStuff) for a total of £537.01, a little less than my original estimate and a clear £4984.43 less than what they estimated.

I'll put a hold on the exhaust for now which will deffo need a full replacement unless I get a fabricator involved as suggested. There's no rush on this and it will be a nice excuse for a cheeky upgrade in the future. The 'leaking' radiator was nothing more than a historic weep which has since sealed itself (for now). It's bone dry, just got old residue sitting around a small part area of the rad.

Anyway, needless to say I will learn this lesson only once - I'll never return to Lexus even if it does mean losing my dealership stamps on servicing.

All the best

Dar