Found LX with Great Service Records But Dealer is Repairing Oil Leak...?

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04UZJ100

04UZJ100

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I found a 2011 LX with 75k miles with an impeccable dealer service history every 5,000 miles.

I spoke with the selling Lexus dealer and they are in the process of fixing a very minor oil leak on the front of the engine.

Would this be a red flag to anyone? Seems like a rare occurrence as I can’t find any reported oil leaks in that area on this board....??
 
04UZJ100 said:
I thought that LX’s were completely out of that as I read that somewhere in here. I am well aware of the manufacturing issue with the light oil on components. Just though LXs were out of scope.
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Why would you think that? It's the same engine as the Land Cruiser.
 
Mine has a small leak at the timing cover on the driver side cylinder bank. This is on the front of the engine.

It is small enough and enough work to fix that I’m just dealing with it.. and I HATE leaks. Eventually I’ll repair it but the whole front of the engine has to come apart..
 
bloc said:
Mine has a small leak at the timing cover on the driver side cylinder bank. This is on the front of the engine.

It is small enough and enough work to fix that I’m just dealing with it.. and I HATE leaks. Eventually I’ll repair it but the whole front of the engine has to come apart..
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Sounds like that’s what they’re doing as he mentioned the timing chain.

Would that be a show stopper to you?

Seems like these 200s have way more leaks than the 100 ever did.
 
My personal opinion is not to trust an engine where the dealer got that deep into things. If these needed timing system work often and the techs were well versed? Sure. But most likely they rarely have the front of these engines apart and it is somewhat complex.

Also why go through that much effort and cost for a “very minor” leak? I understand I’d do it but I’m OCD and can do my own work to factory documented procedures.

Unless this is a smoking deal, I’d pass. Personally. Keep in mind what I said About OCD when taking my advice. But I’m also unsure how many 200s are out there with impeccable service histories.
 
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Mins had the dreaded cam tower leak and front cover leak at 88k. All four cams had to be removed, amazing bad experience. Has been a few years now and time will tell. These engine do not have traditional gaskets, they will all eventually leak somewhere. The front cover seems to be very very common on the 5.7 and the 4.6 that shares the same design. I see it as just a maintenance thing. Would not bother me.
 
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They let me see my truck during the operation! This is the cam tower plate, this is glued onto the top of the head, the cam’s sit on this part and the valve cover then goes on top. The major leak issues that people are worried about on the 5.7 is this one. To reseal this engine doing both sides and the front will run you $4,000. Not a big deal when you consider how much we paid for these things a few years ago. I would buy mine again.
 
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I would also check the steering rack on a PPI, mine started leaking at 98k and was $3,500 to replace. If they are doing the front cover have them install a new water pump and radiator as Part of the repair. Radiator’s fail at 115-120k it seems like, mine does not have that many miles on it, but the forum is full of warnings on it.
 
Do not be scared, these are great trucks. I do not miss my 100 series at all.
 
Ive been shopping for a LX and looked up a 2013 LX 570 service history yesterday, it had the cam tower leak(written as “roller bearing” replacement) on the right side reparied, as well as the coolant leak in the engine valley repaired around the 60k mark. This is to confirm the cam tower leak is not limited to earlier year or LC specific models. ( vehicle also had front and rear bumpers replaced, repaint work and some other body work performed at the dealer that was not on the Autocheck report- vehicle is in Lenior TN so buyer beware or pass on it).



Back to the service concern, If someone thinks this is an acceptable maint item, to experience oil leaks under 200k let alone 100k miles that costs upward of $4,000 repair is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable (to me).

On a $80k++ vehicle with a image built on being the most reliable brand, and then owners are experiencing expensive, extensive to repair engine oil leaks, premature starter failures, coolant leaks arising under 100k miles on a platform of this caliber concerns me. Never thought the idea of a $2500 for extended warranty would be a worthy consideration for a 200 series LX ot LC platform until now.
 
abuck99 said:
( vehicle also had front and rear bumpers replaced, repaint work and some other body work performed at the dealer that was not on the Autocheck report- vehicle is in Lenior TN so buyer beware or pass on it).
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Was all that repaint work on its Lexus service history or did you find this out through another means? I saw that ad the other week and figured it looked like a decent opportunity... maybe not so much. Thanks for putting this info out there!
 
abuck99 said:
Ive been shopping for a LX and looked up a 2013 LX 570 service history yesterday, it had the cam tower leak(written as “roller bearing” replacement) on the right side reparied, as well as the coolant leak in the engine valley repaired around the 60k mark. This is to confirm the cam tower leak is not limited to earlier year or LC specific models. ( vehicle also had front and rear bumpers replaced, repaint work and some other body work performed at the dealer that was not on the Autocheck report- vehicle is in Lenior TN so buyer beware or pass on it).



Back to the service concern, If someone thinks this is an acceptable maint item, to experience oil leaks under 200k let alone 100k miles that costs upward of $4,000 repair is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable (to me).

On a $80k++ vehicle with a image built on being the most reliable brand, and then owners are experiencing expensive, extensive to repair engine oil leaks, premature starter failures, coolant leaks arising under 100k miles on a platform of this caliber concerns me. Never thought the idea of a $2500 for extended warranty would be a worthy consideration for a 200 series LX ot LC platform until now.
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This is kind of where I am at. It is VERY evident that the 5.7 was not tested nearly as much as the 4.7. The 2UZ was and is BOMBPROOF and that alone is swaying my decision to look at GX/LX 470s.

The evidence on this board and the Tundra’s is clear evidence of that.
 
JohnJB said:
Was all that repaint work on its Lexus service history or did you find this out through another means? I saw that ad the other week and figured it looked like a decent opportunity... maybe not so much. Thanks for putting this info out there!
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Yeah Lexus Service history- so its fair to say that Autocheck does not utilize any research beyond a police report or insurance claim to factor "accident" history. Customer paid out of pocket, but you would think that because it was run through the body shop it would show on public records.

I also had a really awful experience (actually the worst retail buying experience I've ever had in 30 years of buying and selling cars) at a local Atlanta Lexus dealer over the weekend in the form of mind games, high pressure close tactics, questionable practices with regard to pressure to use their finance, and some other unsavory slimy sales shenanigans that has me pretty much turned off to the entire brand as a result. With Lexus being all about the "ownership experience" one would expect at this level of auto ownership you might expect straight up professional business transaction, not the tactics of a dirt lot used car dealer; in fact I've had better treatment from local government services..... I did not buy the vehicle.

i'd post up a thread on that buying experience with details to warn other buyers of the dealer, but I dont know if the 200 series forum is the right place for that. I will say they pissed me off enough to start a campaign.
 
bloc said:
My personal opinion is not to trust an engine where the dealer got that deep into things. If these needed timing system work often and the techs were well versed? Sure. But most likely they rarely have the front of these engines apart and it is somewhat complex.

Also why go through that much effort and cost for a “very minor” leak? I understand I’d do it but I’m OCD and can do my own work to factory documented procedures.

Unless this is a smoking deal, I’d pass. Personally. Keep in mind what I said About OCD when taking my advice. But I’m also unsure how many 200s are out there with impeccable service histories.
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Not sure I'd fully agree with you on this. Sure the idea of that level of work is disconcerting, but as for techs not being well versed, not so sure as the amount of Tundra's that have this leak seem pretty numerous. I believe it's been seen enough for techs to be pretty proficient on getting it done. The LX maybe a different story, given Lexus techs and no Tundras.

It seems as when you knock out the "known" issues (cam towers, valley plate leak, radiator that pops and what ever else I'm forgetting) you're set, but isn't it sorta like that with most vehicles...sooner or later?
 
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