Cambelt / 60k - What's A Reasonable Quote

[Mike IS200]

Perhaps look here for some of the parts ...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170393667241

75quid for genuine parts from Lexus dealer .....

TG

Hi all,

My IS200 LE is due for its 60k/6 year service next March. My local indie has quoted £142 +vat for the belt, idler & tensioner

and labour is 3 hours @£50+vat p.h. I'll source the parts more cheaply myself.

They said they'll have a look at the water pump when their 'in there' so to speak. Hopefully should be o.k. as some 'o' rings were replaced by Lexus just before it came out of warranty.

Mike

Thanks for that Mr Goose, I'll have a look.

Mike

[gokhan]

mate to be honest its such a long horror story that all i can say is i was quoted £500 for a cambelt + 2 idler replacements also they could not find a vibration that is very evident by the gearstick shaking like a leaf , furthermore i was quoted £320 labour for a cambelt + water pump change with me supplying parts which i thought was high considering its a 3hr job and lexus would charge £360

Let me know how you guys get on with westfield but the fact of the matter is unless you come across a very honest and knowledgeable mechanic , lexus is going to be an owners best bet , i plan to ring and ask a price match from lexus ilford for a figure quoted by a member on here who had cambelt + major service for £430 at lexus leicester

p.s eBay part link does not have idler order from jap parts or a member earlier on this thread for a proper kit

[Parthiban]

mate to be honest its such a long horror story that all i can say is i was quoted £500 for a cambelt + 2 idler replacements also they could not find a vibration that is very evident by the gearstick shaking like a leaf , furthermore i was quoted £320 labour for a cambelt + water pump change with me supplying parts which i thought was high considering its a 3hr job and lexus would charge £360

Let me know how you guys get on with westfield but the fact of the matter is unless you come across a very honest and knowledgeable mechanic , lexus is going to be an owners best bet , i plan to ring and ask a price match from lexus ilford for a figure quoted by a member on here who had cambelt + major service for £430 at lexus leicester

p.s ebay part link does not have idler order from jap parts or a member earlier on this thread for a proper kit

Sorry you had to go through that, seems a bit of a faff in the end and wasn't much of a saving (a Lexus stamp probably is worth an extra £50!)

Mine at Lexus Woodford just over a year ago was £695, I think they have dropped the price further since then - not sure if they'd come as low as £430 but worth asking :)

[Maffison]

The 60,000 mile service comes in around about £360.00 Includes: Plugs,Air & Pollen filters, Rear diff oil, Brake fluid renew, Engine oil and filter change, Lights levels and top ups, Inspect brakes and trye pressures. Price for the timing belt, Tensioner and water pump and by pass hose £472.00 All the above include VAT.

Kind Regards

Kevin Barnett /quote]

Ok this was the quote i received from Albins a couple days ago (his response was very fast!). I have Emailed Westfield also so will post there quote up when i receive it.

[fil4362]

I keep mentioning Vauxhall ford and the other dealers because they are all the same. Still a man in overalls. Like i have mentioned many times a mechanic is a mechanic doesnt matter what it says on his overalls.

[Parthiban]

I keep mentioning Vauxhall ford and the other dealers because they are all the same. Still a man in overalls. Like i have mentioned many times a mechanic is a mechanic doesnt matter what it says on his overalls.

As has been proved by the actual Toyota mechanic's comments, they aren't the same, they get sent on tons of training courses to stay at the top.

Also the comments above have also proved that a decent well recommended Lexus/Toyota indie in London is not a lot cheaper than Lexus - so I rest my case :)

[fil4362]

What case?? Every dealer sends all the mechanics on courses. They do courses to keep up with the new stuff coming out. So a mechanic starting now will be ok on the new stuff but have nothing to do with the old stuff. I bet any dealer mechanic and i do mean any dealer i bet non of them under the age of 25 has got a clue about how to set tappets or even how to fit a set of contact breaker points how to recondition an alty or even a gearbox. Points condenser are not fitted to any car any more so no one teaches it. No one actually repairs anything any more its all remove and replace i know it is as i cant usually but the parts i need to recondition a gearbox or even a real simple job like re bushing an alty.

Any monkey with a bag spanners can strip and refit most parts of a car, repairing it when its of just doesnt get done any more.

As for a slightly more complicated job like a timing belt, simply mark the pullies and put the new belt on in the same place the old one came of not a difficult job. Car mechanics isnt a difficult job, diagnostics and repairing is the skill, anyone can be a parts fitter.

If your refering to Lexus inparticular then i would say their even less of a mechanic as Lexus dont break and so most of the work to do will be simple stright forward servicing.

If you want to keep going to Lexus mearly for the experiance be my guest i wont stop you infact as of tomorow morning i am a Lexus specialist, £1000 for service and timing belt bring it on will give you a Lotus Esprit turbo as a courtesy car with a full tank of fuel.

I forgot no use to you that car is it i built it myself, using my experiance, i have never worked at Lotus so i am probably not good enough for you to trust yourself driving one of my cars. Tell you what i will talk nicley to one of my customers maybe he will lend you his ferrari 355 i did the timing belt on earlier this year of his Lincoln Navigator i service every 12 months. I could get you a Moris minor if you like i still do loads of them or a Reliant Ant i maintain or better still go Isle of Man Motor museum have i look at the Peel P50 i sold them last year. They bought it of me as they didnt have one in their collectionAnd afterall they were built on the Isle of Man. (its the orage one i believe they have 2 now i thought it was fun to paint it orange you know an orange peel).

I bet any Lexus mechanic wouldnt have abloody clue of what half the cars i just mentioned are let alone know how to repair them

Do i need to go on, 1897 Dedion 1937 Crossley (ex raf staff car) 1912 model T and no it wasnt a black one Bond micro car porsche 911 this is some of the stuff i do regulaly what does your Lexus mechanic do 5/6 models choice of 5/6 engines? good mechanic or one trick pony.

As i have mentioned before doesnt bother me in the slightest what a guy has on his overalls i couldnt careless

[Parthiban]

Look mate, I'm not disputing the fact that there are a lot of mechanics out there that are just as good as Lexus techs - my point is that Lexus techs are not worse though, so I don't mind the fact that I'm paying a premium for a little extra peace of mind.

If you really do have a lotus esprit as your courtesy car and you're as good as you say you are, then I'd be happy to use your services, but you're just too far away, so I'll have to stick with Lexus and an IS250 as a courtesy car.

[gokhan]

What case?? Every dealer sends all the mechanics on courses. They do courses to keep up with the new stuff coming out. So a mechanic starting now will be ok on the new stuff but have nothing to do with the old stuff. I bet any dealer mechanic and i do mean any dealer i bet non of them under the age of 25 has got a clue about how to set tappets or even how to fit a set of contact breaker points how to recondition an alty or even a gearbox. Points condenser are not fitted to any car any more so no one teaches it. No one actually repairs anything any more its all remove and replace i know it is as i cant usually but the parts i need to recondition a gearbox or even a real simple job like re bushing an alty.

Any monkey with a bag spanners can strip and refit most parts of a car, repairing it when its of just doesnt get done any more.

As for a slightly more complicated job like a timing belt, simply mark the pullies and put the new belt on in the same place the old one came of not a difficult job. Car mechanics isnt a difficult job, diagnostics and repairing is the skill, anyone can be a parts fitter.

If your refering to Lexus inparticular then i would say their even less of a mechanic as Lexus dont break and so most of the work to do will be simple stright forward servicing.

If you want to keep going to Lexus mearly for the experiance be my guest i wont stop you infact as of tomorow morning i am a Lexus specialist, £1000 for service and timing belt bring it on will give you a Lotus Esprit turbo as a courtesy car with a full tank of fuel.

I forgot no use to you that car is it i built it myself, using my experiance, i have never worked at Lotus so i am probably not good enough for you to trust yourself driving one of my cars. Tell you what i will talk nicley to one of my customers maybe he will lend you his ferrari 355 i did the timing belt on earlier this year of his Lincoln Navigator i service every 12 months. I could get you a Moris minor if you like i still do loads of them or a Reliant Ant i maintain or better still go Isle of Man Motor museum have i look at the Peel P50 i sold them last year. They bought it of me as they didnt have one in their collectionAnd afterall they were built on the Isle of Man. (its the orage one i believe they have 2 now i thought it was fun to paint it orange you know an orange peel).

I bet any Lexus mechanic wouldnt have abloody clue of what half the cars i just mentioned are let alone know how to repair them

Do i need to go on, 1897 Dedion 1937 Crossley (ex raf staff car) 1912 model T and no it wasnt a black one Bond micro car porsche 911 this is some of the stuff i do regulaly what does your Lexus mechanic do 5/6 models choice of 5/6 engines? good mechanic or one trick pony.

As i have mentioned before doesnt bother me in the slightest what a guy has on his overalls i couldnt careless

I agree whole heartedly the skill of a mechanic is to diagnose technical issue with a bit of reading anyone can perform mechanics to some degree but it takes skill to diagnose a misaligned bolt etc

I am not saying just cause a mechanic has lexus he is good far from it but it does help that you can sort issues out with a dealer if there are inconsistencies where as some indie's may tell you to jog on

[flyeris]

A bit off-topic question: I have recently bought my IS200 and I am very happy with it, however, I have no track of its previous service history. After seeing some pictures of possible wear and tear of the timing belt I checked mine and after quick inspection I was not able to find any signs of wear on it. The question is - was the part number for the timing belt always the same or did they sometimes release the updated versions - would it be possible to tell by the markings on it, when approximately it could have been made. My car has ~150k kms on its clock and I would like to know, whether it had its timing belt done before or not (probably it had, but I would like to be on the safe side in this case). Thanks for any possible information that could help :) I have written off the markings of my timing belt if they are of any help.

[jaylex]

Im in Evington. Its a 54 plate dark green metallic, why?

change the belt and tensioner genuine on eby about £80 shouldnt cost no more than 100 quid to fit , the idler is only for the freek

[flyeris]

A bit off-topic question: I have recently bought my IS200 and I am very happy with it, however, I have no track of its previous service history. After seeing some pictures of possible wear and tear of the timing belt I checked mine and after quick inspection I was not able to find any signs of wear on it. The question is - was the part number for the timing belt always the same or did they sometimes release the updated versions - would it be possible to tell by the markings on it, when approximately it could have been made. My car has ~150k kms on its clock and I would like to know, whether it had its timing belt done before or not (probably it had, but I would like to be on the safe side in this case). Thanks for any possible information that could help :) I have written off the markings of my timing belt if they are of any help.

Mine has the following markings:

129Y27

13568-70100

I have seen other for sale having different part numbers, like:

TOYOTA 1356870080

TOYOTA 1356870100

TOYOTA 1356879085

TOYOTA 1356879235

is it somehow possible to relate the model number to its production date?

[jaylex]

idler only for the freek

[fil4362]

My company has many cars the usual courtesy car the one thats usually used is a 04 plate punto. This is because most of my customers dont need anything more than this. I do have a Lotus esprit turbo which has been used as a courtesy car if i get the ferrari in i cant give him the punto can i. To be honest if the punto is out i use what ever i have shoul di need another courtesy car. I have even lent out my personal cars in the past. Its just good busyness to keep the customer happy.

As for comeback i recently sold a car onbehalf of a customer who bought a car from me. They didnt want to trade it in so i offered to help sell it for them. That was 2 months ago, I towed it in last week with diesel pump gone. £450 for new pump plus labour. the car only sold for £800. The guy is currently driving round in one of my cars while i find him something else. The car he bought was nothing to do with me i sold it on behalf of a customer, but i am standing buy it and helping the guy out. will get him a car to suit at cost. I dont even want the guy going in his local telling his mates he bought it through my garage. I could very very easily walk away from the problem after all its not my problem. So there is come back from even back street garages even when there isnt any. Not all garages are as good as mine but then again theres still trading standards when it really does go wrong

[jaylex]

i'll find out tomorrow what our labour rate is matey.

get the tensiner and belt done , dont need the idler as it is only for the freek

[Garysean]

Im buying a Tensioner and timing belt kit and water pump and bypass hose ? from Lexus Birmingham on friday...as Lexus Glasgow arnt very helpful :( do i need anything else to get the job done to my is200...what is the idler and is it needed ?

[kam05]

Im buying a Tensioner and timing belt kit and water pump and bypass hose ? from Lexus Birmingham on friday...as Lexus Glasgow arnt very helpful :( do i need anything else to get the job done to my is200...what is the idler and is it needed ?

You need an idler (similar to tensioner) and 2 rubber 'o' rings (for the bypass pipe/hose) as well.

[gokhan]

My company has many cars the usual courtesy car the one thats usually used is a 04 plate punto. This is because most of my customers dont need anything more than this. I do have a Lotus esprit turbo which has been used as a courtesy car if i get the ferrari in i cant give him the punto can i. To be honest if the punto is out i use what ever i have shoul di need another courtesy car. I have even lent out my personal cars in the past. Its just good busyness to keep the customer happy.

As for comeback i recently sold a car onbehalf of a customer who bought a car from me. They didnt want to trade it in so i offered to help sell it for them. That was 2 months ago, I towed it in last week with diesel pump gone. £450 for new pump plus labour. the car only sold for £800. The guy is currently driving round in one of my cars while i find him something else. The car he bought was nothing to do with me i sold it on behalf of a customer, but i am standing buy it and helping the guy out. will get him a car to suit at cost. I dont even want the guy going in his local telling his mates he bought it through my garage. I could very very easily walk away from the problem after all its not my problem. So there is come back from even back street garages even when there isnt any. Not all garages are as good as mine but then again theres still trading standards when it really does go wrong

I wish all indie were as good as you but most are not so thats why i am in two minds as to how to proceed , my mind says lexus and i supple parts but my wallet says indie though its a critical job so ....

Got to phone lexus tomorrow and see what they say plus i might cal an indie i kind of know and see what he says

[imperial1952]

i'll find out tomorrow what our labour rate is matey.

get the tensiner and belt done , dont need the idler as it is only for the freek

Don't agree with you on the "DONT NEED THE IDLER AS ITS ONLY FOR THE FREEK" comment.

I speak from experience as i did the Cambelt + Tensioner + Idler + Waterpump + By-pass Pipe & Seals + A/Conditioning unit Belt + Alt Belt + Power Steering Belt + 60,000 service to mine yesterday.

When i removed the Idler and checked its bearing (spun it by hand and listened to the noises it made) it was obviously on the way out as it sounded rough and would not have lasted another 60,000 miles before giving up the ghost with possibly catastrophic cosequences to the engine and my Wallet

If only for piece of mind and the cost of £50 it must surely be worth replacing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Following on the theme of costs etc i detail below what the part costs to me were:-

Items supplied by JAPARTS (OEM Lexus/Toyoto parts supplied) TOTAL COST OF £287.47(includes V.A.T)

ie:-Tensioner + Idler + Cam belt + Waterpump + Bypass pipe + 2xseals +3 No Belts (A/C; Alt & P/S).

Items supplied by OPIE OILS; TOTAL COST OF £70.60 (includes V.A.T)

ie: Fully Synthetic Oil 5w-30 (Motul 8100 Eco-energy) + 6 No Denso iridium IK20 Plugs.

Items supplied by LEXUS Chester; TOTAL COST OF £10.75 (includes V.A.T)

ie: Oil Filter + Sump Washer.

NB: I did not require an Air Filter as i have a re-useable K&N Filter one fitted and the Gearbox Oil (Redline MT-90) + Diff oil (Redline 75w 90) + Pollen Filter were changed on the last service in 2008.

Hope the above helps and safe motoring everybody.

[Maffison]

Thanks Imperial, I'm looking to buy these service parts so handy to have a shopping list.

[imperial1952]

Thanks Imperial, I'm looking to buy these service parts so handy to have a shopping list.

No probs - glad to be of service.

That's what an Owners Club for me is all about; ie: sharing info and helping each other out.

If you require more info/details just ask :winky:

[IZZZY]

Thanks Imperial, I'm looking to buy these service parts so handy to have a shopping list.

No probs - glad to be of service.

That's what an Owners Club for me is all about; ie: sharing info and helping each other out.

If you require more info/details just ask :winky:

Excellent attitude mate - Brilliant!

:winky:

[Jimmywales]

My IS200 sport is nearly on 60K and it's approaching the dreaded cambelt time!

I haven't obtained any quotes yet, will probably take it to a Lexus dealer, could anyone give me an idea of the kind of money I'd be looking at.

I've also thought about changing it myself, roughly how long would this take (I'm fairly competent and should have the tools), what would be the likely saving (assuming I source the timing belt from a Lexus dealer.. and indeed, should I source it from a Lexus dealer)?

In reference to the above discussions and to a separate post regarding excessive quotes for the 60K/6yr service I tried Toyota Aberdeen (who are owned by the same group that owns Lexus Aberdeen). They were extremely reluctant to carry out the service and told me that they could only do it on Christmas Eve if I wanted it done. They told me I should try Lexus as 'they're very good' and their labour rate isn't actually that much different to Toyota. I pointed out that the labour rate at Lexus Aberdeen was £97.00/hour to which she responded that it wasn't really that much different to toyota's £66.00/hour!

I ended up negotiating with Lexus Aberdeen and managed to get them down from £850.00 to £580.00 for the major 60K service, belt and tensioner change. This also includes new plugs as well so I'm content with that and it's all booked in. I assume there'll be others out there who think I'm paying over the odds, but for the peace of mind and maintaining the full history I'm prepared to stump up the cash on an okay deal. They also did me a good deal on a couple of new Bridgstone's not so long ago - I think I paid £102.00 per tyre fully fitted and balanced.