Posted on 06/24/2015 9:13:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway
So I’m on vacation the other day, and I get a text message from my dad saying that he’s returning to the Lexus dealership service department for the second time in a day.
This surprised me. My father would never willingly go to an automobile dealership twice in a single day. The man will sometimes go entire years without setting foot in a car dealer. He is, when it comes to cars, my polar opposite: he doesn’t care. He drives 6,000 miles a year and religiously maintains his vehicles at the dealership, documenting every service, every oil change, every fuel stop in a little notebook he keeps in the glovebox. When I was a kid, his car-buying strategy was to purchase a new Camry with cash every ten years. Once, he waited 11 years. That was a big deal.
It was an even bigger deal when I finally talked Dad into deviating from his Camry loyalty and buying a Lexus, just a few months shy of his 60th birthday. But I couldn’t convince him to buy a new one. Oh, no: that would just be crazy. Instead, he bought a certified pre-owned 2005 RX330 in March 2008, ten years to the minute after he had purchased his last Camry. He sold his Camry through an ad in the paper. This is the kind of person we’re dealing with, here.
So I was really surprised when Dad told me he was heading back to the Lexus dealer for the second time in a day. And I was even more surprised to find out the reason. The first time, for an oil change. The second time, because the check engine light went on five minutes after he left the service department.
Now, ordinarily a check engine light isn’t really that much to be alarmed about. For example: the check engine light is currently illuminated in my Range Rover, which means the CarMax warranty claims people are going to be getting a call in about a week asking them to replace the Something-Or-Other Spindle, and it’ll cost eleven hundred bucks. I used to have a 2001 Audi A4, and the check engine light was a way of life. It came on for everything. The oxygen sensors. The gas cap. If it was raining. To remind you about endangered animals. When you were singing. When you were driving on dirt. When you had forgotten your grocery list.
Once, as I was leaving a restaurant, I turned on the car and the check engine light started flashing, which – according to the owner’s manual – is a sign your vehicle is about to explode like the Hindenburg. My remedy was to turn the car off and right back on. Inexplicably, the light didn’t return for months.
But a check engine light when you’re on the way home from the dealer is a red flag. Especially in a Lexus. Especially in my dad’s insanely pampered, rarely-used, 6,000-mile-a-year Lexus. So I told him it would probably be traced to something minor and quick, like they’d forgotten to reset the battery or some stupid Japanese car crap, and he’d go back, and they’d do it in thirty seconds, and he’d be on his way.
Not so.
When he got back to the dealer, they gave him a loaner car and told him they’d call him with an update. And a few hours later, they called: the issue was traced to a failed oxygen sensor, and the total cost would be more than $400.
Understandably, my dad was a bit suspicious. The very first time the check engine light comes on in seven years just happens to be on the way home from the dealer after an oil change?
So I spent some time researching the issue online, and I discovered two things. Number one, it’s tremendously unlikely that a mechanic could accidentally damage an oxygen sensor while a car was in for a routine oil change. And number two, oxygen sensor failure is common on cars of this age. Almost expected. Even more common, in fact, on this generation of RX: during my research, I discovered many online RX forums full of people complaining that their sensors failed during the warranty period or just after. So I told Dad to suck it up, pay the $400 – his first penny of unscheduled repair work during the seven years he’s owned the car – and move on. Dad agreed. The next day was Father’s Day, and we spoke on the phone for about 45 minutes. The issue never even came up. Dad was resigned to pay the money, fix the problem, forget about it, and chalk it up to a funny coincidence.
And then came Monday.
On Monday, the dealer called and told him the problem was indeed the oxygen sensor, and it would indeed be more than $400 to fix. But he wouldn’t be paying for it. The service advisor had talked it over with his manager, and they decided the dealer would cover the entire repair, on the theory that the problem might have happened during the oil change, however slight a possibility that was. In other words: the dealer had decided to cover a pricey repair on an 11-year-old car that was four years out of warranty because there was some small chance a part had gotten nicked during an oil change.
And this brings me back to the title of today’s column. You see, my dad is looking for a new car to replace my mom’s aging Ford Escape, and I’ve been trying to convince him to get something a little hipper than a Toyota or Lexus. Maybe a Land Rover. A Mercedes. An Audi. A Volvo. And up until this week, he’s been somewhat receptive to the idea. He’s over 65 now, he’s never had a European luxury car, and I think he wouldn’t mind spoiling himself a little.
And then: a check engine light. A $400 part. A free service loaner on an unannounced visit to the service department. And a Lexus dealer proving the brand’s well-earned reputation for the best customer service in the industry.
The only question now is what color Dad’s next RX will be.
There’s a reason why a Lexus dealer’s repair shop can afford to be generous.
What’s the best used car to buy? Thanks in advance. :)
What’s the best used car to buy?
As in, you go out and buy a Japanese car.
Yugo....Where?
I had a Nissan 4x4 that had the O2 sensor go on right as the odometer rolled over to 30K. I just happened to be looking at the odometer/dash as that happened. Hmmm? The truck would not be smogged (California) with the light on. I got a diagram of the wiring and traced the O2 sensor wiring. I opened an access port and found a tag that said reset sensor at 30K and disconnect at 60K. I discoed the connection and was smogged ok and went on my way.
As in, you go out and buy a Japanese car.
Also popularized by the phrase “Yugo girl!”
Toyota, Lexus, Land Rover and Volvo support LGBT and use LGBT public relations firms.
I read somewhere that a 7 series BMW total cost of ownership was 20% higher than the equivalent Lexus model.
I don’t own either, but I know which way I would go.
Disambiguator already got it: Yugo out and buy a Japanese car.
My wife did the same thing with her new 2000 Buick Park Avenue.....regular oil changes, rotated the tires at the dealer.....everything that was done to the car was done by the dealer.
It is still in top-notch shape.
Do dealers charge more than a mom-and-pop auto shop somewhere? Of course!
Every time we had to let the car at the dealer overnight we got a loaner.
Dealers are the way to go.
I got my Dad’s LS400 when he passed. Best car ever! A total hot rod! Very fast! Handled like a race car. It was a ‘91, and when repairs got too expensive, I traded it in on a Highlander. 130+ between Chatanooga and Nashville.
I have NEVER been in a dealership . 210,000 on my first Mitsubishi engine. It’s still driving around town. Now, 160 on an isuzu trooper and never been in a dealership. A strip of black electrical tape takes care of the “check engine” light.
Although, I would love to have a new Lexus. I just won’t be buying one any time soon.
A 1936 Dodge. According to the advertisements, driving a 1936 Dodge feels like falling in love.
Just run form Audi/VW. You can thank me later.
I probably could have figured out the OP problem in less than five minutes with my laptop, bootleg Toyota software, and OBDII connection.
They hate that we peasants can do this, but analyzing trouble withing the bowels of the electronics is possible.
This sounds like good service but I do not trust any car dealership no matter what brand they sell. Other than a couple alignments and some warranty work on a Mustang that kept blowing head gaskets, I have always done all my own work on every car that I have owned. After having custom wheels messed up I even started mounting and balancing my own tires.
For less than $20 you can now get a Bluetooth OBD II reader that not only allows you to wirelessly read your codes but more importantly monitor any sensor in the vehicle on your Android phone or tablet while you are driving down the road. I guess this creates a whole new category of distracted driver.
I like to work on older cars also; we are currently restoring a 1942 Cadillac. The funny thing is that many mechanics accustomed to working on modern cars have lost much of their troubleshooting abilities. Newer cars often indicate exactly what the problem is and if you drive them around while watching suspect sensors the problem can often be confirmed without any real reasoning involved.
I was divorced. I was broke on my ass, divorces are not cheap. I bought a used Yugo for 1000 dollars and it was a piece of crap and drove it for 30,000 miles and sold it for 400 dollars. It dd its job but was still a piece of crap. It was a good deal but I do not want to drive one ever again. That was 23 years ago and things have improved vastly since then.
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