Sold my 100, bought 200... now facing two severe issues?

[mcgaskins]

Docboy, I wish. I was just as surprised as anyone. I have never heard of something so serious, especially at 5 years old and with only 113K miles. I am not weary of buying another high mileage LX (or even higher) as I've heard of friends that have had 200's in the 200K+ club with no real issues besides suspension and other wear items.

I think the biggest issue was the service done by an incompetent shop. The problems you experienced are virtually unheard of, and when I looked at the Carfax I saw that suspect looking shop that did a tranny service not long before it was traded in. That’s where I think it went wrong.

 

[JohnJB]

I am not affiliated with carvana. But they have a unique system of no retail space and/or showroom. They are in expansion phase and have negative earnings. Their main selling pitch is simplicity and honesty. You can keep the car for seven days and/or less 500 miles, if you don't like it you can return and no questions asked..money back. They will even pick up the car from your office and/or home.

I'd wager Carvana would have been dead already if it weren't built on the back of the CEO's billionaire father of DriveTime fame. It is an interesting idea but if it weren't for their ability to initially expand off DriveTime's resources, I kinda doubt it would have ever garnered enough support to make it off the ground. They might get somewhere still, I'm not saying they won't. I do know as a consumer the price advantage they appeared to once have has largely gone away. I would assume due the fact they were bleeding so much money.

 

[32cls6speedmt]

I do agree with about utilizing resources of drivetime. The family owned dealerships have been purchased by private equity or publicly traded companies. I do think carvana model concept is changing the car buying landscape. Some of the major dealerships on used cars have a softer stance allowing returns and/or exchanges.

I am not visionary and believe in value oriented businesses, unfortunately. Look at netflix..still bleeding money, tsla, finally showed a profit but huge amount of debt, amazon is finally showing some profits. Disruptive innovation.

 

[HGB]

I think the biggest issue was the service done by an incompetent shop. The problems you experienced are virtually unheard of, and when I looked at the Carfax I saw that suspect looking shop that did a tranny service not long before it was traded in. That’s where I think it went wrong.

I almost lost control while driving this vehicle on the highway after hitting an area of road that was milled to meet a bridge. Normal part of road that I’ve hit in cars ranging from my Porsche’s to a G wagon to my old 100 series. It happened a few times, any crack in the road would unsettle the 570 and the steering would rebound and begin to buck. Something else was wrong with this car. That’s why I pushed for a buyback. At $30K it was cheap, but even a new transmission and ML anp would not have made it sound. I could certainly see it being a lemon or flood car, though everyone said it looked otherwise clean when inspecting the transmission.

 

[32cls6speedmt]

I almost lost control while driving this vehicle on the highway after hitting an area of road that was milled to meet a bridge. Normal part of road that I’ve hit in cars ranging from my Porsche’s to a G wagon to my old 100 series. It happened a few times, any crack in the road would unsettle the 570 and the steering would rebound and begin to buck. Something else was wrong with this car. That’s why I pushed for a buyback. At $30K it was cheap, but even a new transmission and ML anp would not have made it sound. I could certainly see it being a lemon or flood car, though everyone said it looked otherwise clean when inspecting the transmission.

in the lexus owners site, it stated the dealership recommended rack and pin but previous owner declined for the repair. do you think that was the other issue?

 

[linuxgod]

I'm glad your rid of the problem. When I first read your issue my thought was something suspension-related like a worn tie-rod or ball joint. Here you're cruising along fine from a start and then as you accelerate fast enough or as you hit a bump the front end is shaking violently because there's some play in it. Maybe it happens during a shift because the load on the front drivetrain is temporarily reduced but then torque is reapplied after the shift. Highway bumps would trigger it immediately. But because there's sufficient caster in the alignment, the vibration straightens itself out after a few seconds.

Symptoms of a Bad or Failing Tie Rod End

"As a vehicle accelerates, this play or loose condition will cause a vibration to set in that is noticed in the steering wheel. Typically a tie rod end that is wearing out will begin to vibrate at speeds as low as 20 mph and gradually increase as the vehicle accelerates."​

 

[Sandroad]

I'm glad your rid of the problem. When I first read your issue my thought was something suspension-related like a worn tie-rod or ball joint. Here you're cruising along fine from a start and then as you accelerate fast enough or as you hit a bump the front end is shaking violently because there's some play in it. Maybe it happens during a shift because the load on the front drivetrain is temporarily reduced but then torque is reapplied after the shift. Highway bumps would trigger it immediately. But because there's sufficient caster in the alignment, the vibration straightens itself out after a few seconds.

Symptoms of a Bad or Failing Tie Rod End

"As a vehicle accelerates, this play or loose condition will cause a vibration to set in that is noticed in the steering wheel. Typically a tie rod end that is wearing out will begin to vibrate at speeds as low as 20 mph and gradually increase as the vehicle accelerates."​

"Death wobble"? My Jeep had it until I installed a steering stabilizer (extra shock in the linkage).

 

[TonyP]

Death wobble is generally only a solid front axle issue.