serbarry

I can confirm now that Lexus Cork did not try to rip me off and I am glad to discover this: my garage has confirmed the diagnose of Lexus Cork. Here below is the reply from my garage: "Yes the mudflaps are fitted and the tracking is done , the rear shock absorbers should be replaced as soon as possible as they are leaking and unsafe; the exhaust system is leaking as per lexus recommendation and there was signs that the left front brake caliper and the left rear brake caliper were seized as per the lexus report these would need to be change before you can say this car is safe to drive". So now I have to decide if to let Lexus Cork to do these works (for peace of mind I would prefer it even if is crazily expensive) or trying to shop around for a cheaper price. Anyway if I go to Lexus Cork maybe I can leave for now the exhaust which does not seem to be very urgent and try to find someone who could fix the leak. I would replace only the shocks and the calipers for now. What do you suggest?

You may save money on the cost of labour by going to an independent but for peace of mind I would trust much more the Lexus dealer in servicing my car, especially for some specific works like replacing the spark plugs. And if you can take a service plan (unavailable in Ireland unfortunately) it could even be cheaper to go to the Lexus dealer.

Oh what a very sad news!!! Apologies for not writing sooner but I was traveling back home to Sicily on Wednesday and didn't have a chance to look at the Loc. I joined the forum on January 21 and John was the first one to welcome me. He gave me some very precious advices when I was looking for a GS450H and I have always appreciated his active contributions to the forum. Following his most important advice to all members of the Loc, I have thoroughly read the owner's manual of the GS450H even before purchasing the car. I was very surprised that he had not replied to my last discussion about my car being serviced at Lexus Cork but I now understand why. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. You will be greatly missed John. RIP.

I have just received a call from a lady who asked me if I was satisfied with the service and I told her that I was not happy at all for being ignored for 2 days concerning the loan car. I would have appreciated even if they had told me that the car was not available but I did not like being left without an answer and me chasing them. I also added that as for the quotation of 3,689 euros of necessary works to be done in my car, I will think about it but it surprises me that these works are necessary now when my car passed the NCT in September without advisories. I might be wrong about this but I will see what my garage says next week.

Thank you very much John.

Hi David, I don't know the name of the managing director at Lexus Ireland but I guess I could still address the complaint to him. I have all the emails with date and time that I can print. I will wait for my garage to tell me what is the condition of my car in order to have the bigger picture.

Thank you both Ron and Frank. I will see what my garage says and I will report here. I had also thought about writing to Lexus Ireland but I would not want to make things too bad than they really are. I may still need to use the services of Lexus Cork in the future.

Why 8? They are 6 on the GS.

The only reason why I brought my car to the Lexus dealer is because the car has been serviced by an independent garage in the last 5 services and I don't know if the spark plugs were replaced at 180,000kms (the car has now 195,000 kms and I bought it at 189,000 kms). I just wanted it to have the proper major service with the spark plugs replaced which, I have been told, is a complicated work as there is much to dismount to access them. I simply preferred to have the job done properly by Lexus. It also passed the hybrid health check but it does not matter as there is no warranty anymore.

Hi Bart, nice to read you again after some time. Yesterday they did the pre-NCT check also for my car. It was anyway included in the price so I did not care even if I have the NCT again in September but in the invoice it says that "the car is ready and checked for NCT but they don't guarantee that it will pass". I was laughing reading it. This is why I usually never do a pre-NCT check. What is the point of paying for something which is not guaranteed and moreover if you fail the NCT and have to pay for a re-test, the garage would not refund you the money of the re-test or the money paid to them for the pre-NCT test. I prefer to fail the NCT directly and fix whatever needs to be fixed rather than paying for an useless pre-NCT test. I think sometimes with the NCT is just a matter of luck depending who checks your car. So you did not change the shocks in yours as Lexus suggested? I remember when I bought my car the seller told me that the previous owner he had bought it from 5 months earlier (yes he had kept the car only for 5 months as his wife did not feel comfortable driving it) had told him that the car had failed the NCT for the shocks. He replaced them and the car failed again. So he went to the garage which replaced the shocks ( I don't know if it was a Lexus dealer) and they told him to go again for the NCT with the switch of the shocks in Power (or Sport). He did it and passed the NCT. And I did the same when I passed the NCT last September. I will see what my garage says about the car but I am not so sure if I will bring it to Lexus Cork again for the next services. I don't see the convenience for a car out of warranty to overpay their services when my garage should be able to service it for much less.

I understand your point Linas and I hope it is just a genuine mistake as I would be very surprised if my car has deteriorated so much since last September. I will see what my garage says and hopefully it will be able to fix whatever needs to be fixed for a cheaper price than Lexus Cork.

I can't find the pushrod on ebay.

Is is this one below that I may need? https://www.ebay.ie/itm/275192263967?hash=item4012bcb51f:g:8GUAAOSw5M9aivTl&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA8NstOxFNTSRyGkeG6ib74TFHGOz63v%2FvX%2F9PeAC7pCy%2FaLrxB9H6waUbw8SPTqS48NjtCwn34lY2lfg8AlGqcvxi8qjS7I0dsapAlknNlkuiwoDBK8CyXLhTRSuXlDHTxECeERoPqM8te3eTnYp3LnJs909rQWPfwoh0PIM4X2FGaqMmajjw%2B98t1jt%2B4YM1Q8YfHdKfzWjN513VBZ8iTzQWrEk9uKXPDS0im6jzqk%2B%2BnIvf%2FLsXhFIZN1YWmoWekZMOz%2BhZHTeCJh6mZMQkgUDnYLP0kHmsnkwamzLOaM0vGIgjKh0%2FNlCezSpQzP0Glg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5zyiezYYQ

If the head office is the same as Toyota Ireland it will be a waste of time: some years ago I took my Prius to this same dealer (it is the same dealer for Toyota and Lexus even though with separate showrooms and entrances but they share the same garage) for the major service with spark pugs. When I dropped the car I asked how much it would cost me approximately and they said "200 euros more or less". I ended up paying 400 euros and they even put the oil 10W40 in my car. I wrote a complaint to Toyota Ireland who replied to me defending the dealer as "for the high mileage of your car (200,000 kms) that oil is correct". That was the first and last time that they saw my car.

I have always been pleased reading how you members of the LOC are so happy with the treatment you receive from your Lexus dealer, so I was really looking forward to my first ever service at Lexus Cork confident to receive the same outstanding treatment. So here below is the story: On the 19th January 2023 I emailed my local dealer Lexus Cork to reschedule the major service for my GS450H and I booked it with Mr Drazen Baotic for the 8th March 2023. I agreed that I would drop my car the day before around 5pm and drive away in a loan car that would be provided to me by the dealer. Mr Baotic told me that the loan car would have been available from 8:30am the day before the service (7th March) until the 8th March at 5pm. On the 6th March at 08:13 am I emailed Mr Baotic asking for the registration plate of the loan car in order to transfer my insurance temporarily. I did not receive any reply to my email. On the 7th March at 10:45am I called Lexus Cork and I spoke to someone at reception who, after listening to me, assured me that he would either call me back or email me as the person he needed to ask for the loan car was not there at that moment. After approximately 2 hours as I had not received neither a call back nor an email, I emailed again Mr Baotic asking again for the registration plate of the loan car (the time was 12:27pm and please note that I have always emailed Mr Baotic on the general email address and not him personally so I suppose someone else could have replied if he was absent). I did not receive any reply to my second email. 2 hours after sending my second email, having not received any reply, at 02:30pm, I called again Lexus Cork and I spoke to the same person I had talked earlier. He apologised for not calling or emailing me back and said that there had been a problem with the loan car and it would come back to them in 20 minutes from then and he surely would call me back to give me the registration plate. Nobody called me back. So I guessed that there was no loan car available for me (I wonder is there only one loan car for all Lexus customers? There was no other loan car available for me? Or for some reason that specific loan car had to be assigned to me?). At 4:15pm I asked my wife to collect me from Lexus Cork at 5:10pm. At 4:45pm I arrived at the Lexus Cork dealer to drop my car for the service booked. I went to the service reception and I was welcomed by Bernard, an employee who also spoke a bit of Italian. I think he was Albanian or from Macedonia. I told him that I was supposed to get a loan car but given that nobody called me back I guessed that the loan car was not available. He smiled and, showing me the keys, said that the loan car was there. I smiled as well and I replied that it was too late for me to transfer my insurance to the loan car, that I had sent 2 emails and called twice and nobody called me back or emailed me back even though they had told me that they would call me back. He said (without apologising) that they had been very busy that day (so I guess they just ignored a customer because they were very busy), but that I could purchase the insurance from them for 15 euros a day. I suddenly realised that there might have been a reason for being ignored for 2 days. I thanked him but declined the loan car. He looked very surprised: “ you really don’t need the loan car?”. “No I don’t, my wife is on the way to collect me” I replied. Before leaving I told him that I did not want neither the wipers nor the tyres be replaced and made sure that he would call me if extra works were needed before proceeding. The day after (8th March) at 11:30am he called me and said that some extra works were necessary but that he would give me a quotation when I would collect the car. He asked me to replace the wipers (40 euros) because they were sticky and I reminded that I did not want to replace the wipers and that after 10 days without rain the wipers could be sticky. I agreed to have the lights checked and focused for extra 20 euros. He told me that they could not fit the mudflaps that I had in the car (previously quoted 80 euros for 30 mins job) because there were no screws with them. I asked him if they had some spare screws as they were original dedicated Lexus mudflaps. He said that they did not have the screws and did not know where I could find them. So the only Lexus dealer for Cork city and county did not have some spare screws to fit a set of original Lexus mudflaps and moreover did not know where to source them. At 4:30pm I arrived at Lexus Cork to collect my car. I paid 720 euros for the major service and Bernard gave me the quotation for the extra works needed (LHF and LHR caliper sized; rear AFS sensor damage (I don’t know what it is); rear exhaust section defective; rear shock absorber defective (complete unit)) for the total amount of 3,689.53 euros!!! When I asked if these works were urgent he answered that they were not urgent but necessary at some stage. I remember when I bought the car the seller told me that the shock absorbers had been replaced by the previous owner 6 months earlier because the car had not passed the NCT (MOT) at that time but he had no receipts to prove it. Now, given that my car passed the NCT (MOT) last September without advisories there are 3 possible scenarios: 1) The mechanics at the NCT centre did not understand anything about my car or were drunk; 2) The conditions of the car have badly deteriorated since last September until now with only 3,000 kms done since then; 3) Lexus Cork is trying to rip me off. Obviously for the moment I am not going to do anything with Lexus Cork but I have already booked my car with my trustworthy garage on the 22nd March to have all these issues checked. Your views are highly appreciated

This one below appeared on sale yesterday in Dublin but I doubt they will sell it for that money https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-celsior-v8-56-motor-tax-lexus-ls400/33501237?campaign=3

My GS is going for the full service next week and they told me 700 euros. Actually 780 for an additional half an hour job to fit he mudflaps.

I did not mean the new plug in RX450H (even though my apologies as I wrote brand new) but the hybrid version like these below: https://www.carzone.ie/search?make=Lexus&model=RX450H&minYear=2018 (181)&page=2 I personally think that the road tax should not be based only on the emissions but also on the value of the car. I don't think it is fair that a 2004 Prius worth 1,000 euros pays 413 euros in road tax and a 2022 RX450H which costs 82,900 euros (the second in the list) pays only 280 euros in road tax. Could a 1.5cc Prius pollute more than a 3.5cc Lexus? Could a 2006 GS450H pollute so much more than a 2022 RX450H to justify 1,809 euros in motor tax (when the car is maybe worth 5,000 euros) against 280 euros of the RX? But I agree with you they should just abolish the road tax and spread the costs by increasing the price per litre of fuel accordingly so the more one uses the car, the more pollutes and the more pays.

If you consider that a brand new RX450H which costs 65-70,000 euros only pays 280 euros road tax and my 2008 GS450H which is worth 6-7,000 euros pays 790 euros in motor tax. And it is even better than a 2007 GS450H which pays 1,809 euros! It is just ridiculous.

Honestly I don't see anything wrong in a road tax of £ 145 on a car which costs over 60,000 euros (the GR). I actually think it should be more than £ 145. In Ireland it costs 600 euros.

It is the same unfair situation in Ireland where my 2008 GS costs me 790 euros in motor tax and the same model of 2013 only 280 euros.

The car runs very well, really smooth. I am only a bit disappointed by the fuel consumption but maybe I still have to learn how to get the best of it. I have no clue about any major repairs as the seller only knew about the shocks absorbers and the HV battery should be the original one. I don't even know when the 12V battery was replaced. The car doesn't have a Lexus FSH as the last 3-4 services were done by an independent garage. This is also the reason why I have booked it for the major service with replacement of the spark plugs as I don't think they were replaced at 180,000 kms service. Probably I took some risks in buying it without investigating deeply but after 14 months it seems that I have been lucky. If you need a large boot maybe this model is not suitable unless you are happy to drive always with a roof box fitted.

In December 2021 I bought a 2008 GS450H with 188,000 kms. The seller told me that the previous owner (the one he had bought the car from 7 months earlier) had replaced the shocks absorbers but he hadn't seen any receipts to prove it. Anyway so far so good, the car has shown no issues so far. It will have the major service in March. I hope that there's no need for unexpected works apart from the service. Fingers crossed.

For me it doesn't really make sense to put such a high starting price for bidding. The purpose of bidding is to attract buyers starting from a low price. It would have been more logical just to put a "buy it now" price then.

Zotto has these tyres on his RX450H and told me that they are very good. Maybe it is worth for you sending him a PM to ask information?