Newbie Advice Please

Matty RX · March 30, 2015

Hi,

First up hello to all :-).

Having just purchased my first Lexus a 57 plate RX400h from a private dealer on Saturday and having carried out my own basic checks I thought I would take the plunge as it was at a very good price!!

I took the car into Lexus today for their free visual safety check and a hybrid check and was advised of the following:

1) They couldn't carry out the hybrid check as a new started Battery had recently been fitted and the car "locks them out" and I will need to drive the car for a couple of weeks and take it back in! Never heard of a main dealer not being able to override an ecu!?!?

2) The rear brake calipers were seized (appears a common problem) and the disks corroded on the inside. They quoted £900+ to replace but I will firstly be pursing the dealer for a resolution and worst case scenario I will get a good independent to sort them.

Have any other owners replaced their calipers or have you been able to refurbish them successfully?

On the plus side I love driving the car and once I'm fully used to driving a hybrid (any tips gratefully received) I'm sure I won't miss my old Audi.

rayaans · March 30, 2015

I'm guessing the car came with a thire party warranty as it was from a trade dealet? I'd be using that for the seized calipers personally.

nelmo · March 30, 2015

I took the car into Lexus today for their free visual safety check and a hybrid check.

Your first mistake - don't buy privately and then go into a dealer (any manufacturer) and expect honesty. I would never trust any dealer to do a 'free' check and NOT find something.

Rear brake issues on an RX is common because they don't get used much - the regenerative braking system ensures this.

Any garage should charge maximum one hours labour to free up the pads and maybe a bit of wire brush to clean them up.

Charging £900 is borderline criminal IMO ...

Matty RX · March 30, 2015

I'm guessing the car came with a thire party warranty as it was from a trade dealet? I'd be using that for the seized calipers personally.

Exactly my first move :-)

I took the car into Lexus today for their free visual safety check and a hybrid check.

Your first mistake - don't buy privately and then go into a dealer (any manufacturer) and expect honesty. I would never trust any dealer to do a 'free' check and NOT find something.

Rear brake issues on an RX is common because they don't get used much - the regenerative braking system ensures this.

Any garage should charge maximum one hours labour to free up the pads and maybe a bit of wire brush to clean them up.

Charging £900 is borderline criminal IMO ...

I don't totally disagree but it was free!!!! Agreed on the £900+!!! I didn't even get my free car wash as they were busy!

PCM · March 31, 2015

Hello,

As a former Lexus Soarer owner, I'm also just returned to Lexus.

Bought a slightly older Lexus RX from Lexus. As part of the pre-delivery stuff, they also replaced the rear disks, timing belt, plugs, trans fluid etc.

I know I paid a premium, but the peace of mind for me was important.

I guess the question here maybe, were the brakes on your car safe/fit for purpose. Check your statutory rights and do a 'reasonableness' check?

billgatesisaconman · April 1, 2015

Hi,

First up hello to all :-).

Having just purchased my first Lexus a 57 plate RX400h from a private dealer on Saturday and having carried out my own basic checks I thought I would take the plunge as it was at a very good price!!

I took the car into Lexus today for their free visual safety check and a hybrid check and was advised of the following:

1) They couldn't carry out the hybrid check as a new started battery had recently been fitted and the car "locks them out" and I will need to drive the car for a couple of weeks and take it back in! Never heard of a main dealer not being able to override an ecu!?!?

2) The rear brake calipers were seized (appears a common problem) and the disks corroded on the inside. They quoted £900+ to replace but I will firstly be pursing the dealer for a resolution and worst case scenario I will get a good independent to sort them.

Have any other owners replaced their calipers or have you been able to refurbish them successfully?

On the plus side I love driving the car and once I'm fully used to driving a hybrid (any tips gratefully received) I'm sure I won't miss my old Audi.

Hi Matt, You can get the rear discs, pads & shoes & full caliper assemblies (inc carriers, pins & boots) for around £280 (can be cheaper depending on part choice) from rockauto delivered.

the full caliper assemblies (inc carriers, pins & boots) are £150 from rockauto delivered & europarts do discs, pads & shoes for £130 so again all in around £280.

europarts do calipers at £107 each & a brake fitting kit at £16 (not sure whats inc in this, hopefully pins & boots, but this is england so probably just pad retaining clips in which case just use your old ones) so works out at £360 but I'm not sure if their calipers inc the carrier either so you would have to ask ...

If not you may still need slide pins & boots & carriers (unless your old ones are ok which I would doubt is the case) you could get them from Lexus for about £330 (last time I checked) or rockauto for £68 ... hope this helps.

IS200D · April 1, 2015

Hello,

As a former Lexus Soarer owner, I'm also just returned to Lexus.

Bought a slightly older Lexus RX from Lexus. As part of the pre-delivery stuff, they also replaced the rear disks, timing belt, plugs, trans fluid etc.

I know I paid a premium, but the peace of mind for me was important.

I guess the question here maybe, were the brakes on your car safe/fit for purpose. Check your statutory rights and do a 'reasonableness' check?

There's no question about it, if theres any faults with the brakes the cars not fit for purpose, the garage can either put it right or you can return the car....which is why I wouldn't fancy being a small dealer, far too much to be responsible for!

IS200D · April 1, 2015

I took the car into Lexus today for their free visual safety check and a hybrid check.

Your first mistake - don't buy privately and then go into a dealer (any manufacturer) and expect honesty. I would never trust any dealer to do a 'free' check and NOT find something.

I may have agreed with your view in the past, but experience has taught me otherwise.

I let the seller's recommended garage (halfords) look at my car when I complained about a leak under the bonnet and a brake noise. Halfords found nothing wrong with the brakes and said the radiator was leaking. Still not happy, I insisted Lexus look at it. Lexus found the discs were corroded, the pads were missing shims, and correctly diagnosing a leaking water pump. The seller agreed to Lexus fitting the pump and the dealer got their in house garage to replace all my discs and pads (lexus parts). Best thing I ever did was taking it to Lexus.

Matty RX · April 1, 2015

Cheers guys for all the replies, I'm currently waiting for the dealer to get back to me and I will be pursuing the rectification of the calipers as a minimum and hopefully the disks as well.

Tbh I factored in a small repair budget as I got the car for a good price and £280 for parts is pretty good :-)

IS200D · April 2, 2015

Cheers guys for all the replies, I'm currently waiting for the dealer to get back to me and I will be pursuing the rectification of the calipers as a minimum and hopefully the disks as well.

Tbh I factored in a small repair budget as I got the car for a good price and £280 for parts is pretty good :-)

Sounds very reasonable on your part Matt, cant see you having a problem.

ChrisKaye · April 8, 2015

I got quoted £59 + VAT for just the tiny rubber boots that go over the slide pins for the front brakes!

Got to be a pricing error when they are included in the toyota/lexus caliper refurb kit for £38, right?!!

billgatesisaconman · April 8, 2015

I got quoted £59 + VAT for just the tiny rubber boots that go over the slide pins for the front brakes!

Got to be a pricing error when they are included in the toyota/lexus caliper refurb kit for £38, right?!!

That doesn't sound like the right price ... even for Lexus, do you know whats included in the refurb kit chris ?

ChrisKaye · April 10, 2015

Yep, the kit consists of:

Caliper rubber/silicone seal

Caliper seal retaining clip

bottom slide pin bush

2 x rubber dust boot bushes

They are different kits for front versus back.

I just bought the following rear kit from eBay for £17 (doesn't have caliper parts) for when I look at the back brakes. As when I went to do the fronts last weekend, I had a stuck sliding pin and a dust boot had disintegrated. I had to put the wheel on and order a new bottom sliding pin. I decided to refurb/clean the caliper mount. Took about a day of time and virtually no cost using a homemade electrolysis rig!

I'll have to make time to do the other side and will also do me dust shields as they aren't too corroded, just ugly.

Ta,

Chris.

ChrisKaye · April 10, 2015

Forgot to add that it's been a b@gger getting the dust boots, have sourced some OEM ones from eBay as spares (arrive today) and got a refurb kit from Toyota, so will compare the 2 types and post a write up. Lex has been off the road all week whilst I've been at work and waiting impatiently.

I have tried cleaning up the old sliding pins, but they are just too pitted to be saved in my opinion, whilst a little pitting on the pin part I could live with, it has proven difficult to clean the pitting off the "head" of the pin where the new rubber seals should sit and I am sure if they don't seal well then all the moisture, dust and debris will just get back in to make life hard!

billgatesisaconman · April 10, 2015

Well done Chris, when you say caliper mount is that the one in pic number 4 ? ... if so you've done an awesome job m8 ... have a look on Rockauto if you are struggling for any parts.

ChrisKaye · April 10, 2015

Just to add, the bushes/boots from the toyota caliper refurb kit didn't work for my caliper mount, I am not sure if the mount was changed around 2004/2005 onwards - I had to get creative with my Dremil to improvise a temporary fix on the new metal collar (see first pic for bush/boot differences).

To answer the question, yep this is the caliper mount bracket that the sliding pins and caliper w/piston bolt on to...

Second pic is what the stuck pin did to my pads! Turned them wedge shaped!

Third pic is everything in caliper refurb kit plus two new shiny sliding pins.

Forbesy · April 10, 2015

Hi Chris... Incredible result on that caliper casting.. I spent a long time with a wire brush earlier this week getting my rears nowhere near as good as that... googling DIY electrolysis tanks now but any quick tips appreciated! !

Cheers

ChrisKaye · April 10, 2015

I used my bradex million year old Battery charger and a 5 litre emulsion container I had lying around with some scrap iron (not stainless steel) - a bag of soda crystals from tesco was my only outlay - £1!

12 hours at 5amps did the trick. Make sure it's well ventilated as a byproduct is hydrogen!

Wire coat hanger was useful too - used to attach the negative cable out of the water to the caliper mount.

Here's a pic of my rig...

Still need to clean the part with about 10minutes of sanding/small wire brush when it's finished it's bath.

Couldn't believe the results myself and will Definitely use it again for the other brakes on the car.

It's legal/safe to dispose of the waste water down the drain too, also may help clean them!

You may want to strain the chunky sediment left and dispose of safely, tho.

Forbesy · April 11, 2015

Beautiful - thanks Chris... Great to see that shed science isn't dead

ChrisKaye · April 11, 2015

As you can see, I'm lucky/cursed with toyota brakes, so the electrolysis trick is going to save me a lot of time and effort, just wish I stumbled across it years ago!