Any Lexus owners worried because of Toyota problems?

[Dark2JZ]

I'm letting Fadiddy hang himself with his own rope...

As stated over and over again, Lexus has nothing to worry about with Toyota's recalls, as long as you use common sense and check your floormats every once in a while. I've been working for the past 3 or 4 weeks to make the idiot-proof car more idiot-proof (floormat recall/reprofiling the floor/trimming the pedal/reflashing the ECU for a brake-activated engine powerdown), along with fixing the infamous CTS pedal assembly.

Do I feel this is a sign that Toyota/Lexus/Scion is losing quality and reliability? Nope. This is an example of what happens when an American parts contractor gets greedy. I made an offhand and ill-tasting remark a few months ago when I test rode a Harley-Davidson V-Rod. "Harley did what Americans do best! Outsourcing!!!!!" (For those that don't understand, Harley has tried to build a DOHC V-Twin hot rod bike many times in the past, and always failed. Harley outsourced to a German company [oh, God. Did I give Fadiddy a fresh mag of ammo?], and it was a home run. An expensive home run, but a big one, nonetheless) I do love my country, and am proud to be an American, but it does have it's faults.

I am still driving my Lexus. I still feel safe driving my Lexus. I would feel just as safe driving any Toyota/Scion/Lexus that has ever been made. I currently hate the media, and all the overzealous bantering that the media continues to flail at the car giant. New recalls are being released on the Corolla, as well as the 2010 4x4 Tacoma, but that is Toyota showing the world that nothing shall be shoved under the rug, brushed aside, or left behind. Let GM or Chrysler release a single safety-related recall after this debackle...

[Nismo3112]

I'm sure this has been mentioned already, but you would probably have a better chance of winning the lottery than having any unintended acceleration issues with your Toyota/Lexus.

[jowyun]

***READ THIS***

There is a new ECU program to be released
Affected models are
2007-2010 ES350
2006-2010 IS250/350

-We will be modifying the pedals (shaving off a portion) to lower risk of getting caught in floor mats

-The new ECU program will know when brake pressure is applied. When it detects brake pressure, the ECU will know to cut gas no matter what position the brake pedal is in. No more heal and toe, but no more "oh my god Lexus Toyota is the devil etc etc"...

[eL b3bO]

you know , although toyota is going thru some some real problems right now , I still feel safe driving their cars , id take toyota / lexus over any other car to this day

[tsopranoMB]

Originally Posted by jowyun

***READ THIS***

There is a new ECU program to be released
Affected models are
2007-2010 ES350
2006-2010 IS250/350

-We will be modifying the pedals (shaving off a portion) to lower risk of getting caught in floor mats

-The new ECU program will know when brake pressure is applied. When it detects brake pressure, the ECU will know to cut gas no matter what position the brake pedal is in. No more heal and toe, but no more "oh my god Lexus Toyota is the devil etc etc"...

thanks for the info...however, this is a few months old

Incorrect, the ECU update is a brake override system that will only slow down the engine rpms when 100% throttle is applied and the brakes are applied 100% at the same time...

[chado]

Originally Posted by jowyun

***READ THIS***

There is a new ECU program to be released
Affected models are
2007-2010 ES350
2006-2010 IS250/350

-We will be modifying the pedals (shaving off a portion) to lower risk of getting caught in floor mats

-The new ECU program will know when brake pressure is applied. When it detects brake pressure, the ECU will know to cut gas no matter what position the brake pedal is in. No more heal and toe, but no more "oh my god Lexus Toyota is the devil etc etc"...

how about reading this thread first?

[Knightshade]

Originally Posted by tsopranoMB

thanks for the info...however, this is a few months old

Incorrect, the ECU update is a brake override system that will only slow down the engine rpms when 100% throttle is applied and the brakes are applied 100% at the same time...

And as with all the other completely pointless "recall" fixes I'll be refusing to allow my dealer to apply this one either, since there's nothing actually wrong with the car.


Interesting note- Rhonda Smith, who gave that tearful testimony before congress about her possessed Lexus?

When the NHTSA investigated her car they found two floormats- an all weather one, stacked on top of the OEM one, exactly like you're NOT supposed to do, and concluded that was the cause of her problem.

BTW, she was so concerned about her dangerous car she sold it to someone else, who has now driven it trouble free for many many thousands of miles because they're not an idiot like her.

[tsopranoMB]

I agree with you...

best reason to take care of it, you get a full tank of gas, so make sure to drop the car off on EMPTY

[chado]

Originally Posted by Knightshade

Interesting note- Rhonda Smith, who gave that tearful testimony before congress about her possessed Lexus?

When the NHTSA investigated her car they found two floormats- an all weather one, stacked on top of the OEM one, exactly like you're NOT supposed to do, and concluded that was the cause of her problem.

BTW, she was so concerned about her dangerous car she sold it to someone else, who has now driven it trouble free for many many thousands of miles because they're not an idiot like her.

and to think Mr. Toyoda apologized to this idiot, who knew all along it was her own fault. perjury?

[Knightshade]

Originally Posted by chado

and to think Mr. Toyoda apologized to this idiot, who knew all along it was her own fault. perjury?

Well, not mentioning "shame on toyota" while selling her "possessed" car to some other poor soul doesn't look too good for her.

Witnesses, especially in panic situations, tend to be pretty unreliable though. I suspect some of it is her exaggerating to make herself look better (ie I swear I did EVERYTHING possible!) and some of it is her lawyers seeing dollar signs and "helping her" fill in some details her memory might have been a bit fuzzy on.

The problem is, nobody wants to hear someone blame the victim... (several times congress came at Toyota execs with "Surely you're not going to lay any blame on these poor innocent victims, RIGHT????")... and you can't do it even when the "victim" is an idiot and stacked two floormats on top of each other.

[dude]

Originally Posted by chado

^^^ not to mention all the electrical problems BMWs are notorious for

You see, bimmer fans always ignore those shortfalls, and ONLY concentrate on "it's the ultimate driving machine..."

My family owned 2 bimmers before (one 3-series and one 7-series) and why have we switched over to Japanese makes? Give you a hint: a failed transmission right after warranty expired, LOADS of electrical problems, and OMG.....the brakes!!! Interior is squeaky and rattling (cheaply assembled), and had to constantly go back to the dealer. I can go on and on........

[dude]

Originally Posted by Knightshade

Here's a thread from one of the BMW forums where someone who like you seems to not understand how stuff works asking why his BMW makes that very ticking noise-
Ticking noise + low oil level - BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum - E90Post.com

From that link above, bimmer owners also complain about burning engine oil too......Perhaps now we can call them "The Ultimate Oil Burner Machine"

[jv6792]

nope... lexus was not affected

[Inspar8r]

Originally Posted by DaveDuno

I read on another forum where a guy test drove a lexus is250 and tried to stop the car with brakes at 80 mph (he wanted to see if the brakes can stop a car stuck at wot). It worked the decently the first time, but the brakes fade after that, and does not work so well the 2nd time, and by 3rd, the brakes are sort of gone.

If you're dumb enough to have this rarity happen, come to a stop, and then try it again, you deserve whatever happens to you. This is not a recall, it's a thinning of the herd.

If you don't know by now to put the damn thing in neutral when a care doesn't do what you tell it to, then you're a failure at life.

[mmgustilo33]

Originally Posted by Fadiddy

Slightly??? Not to bring your hopes down or anything...but, the Lexus cars of today are about as valuable as the Civics down the street. These are not the cars of the past where they were actually worth something when resold. Take for example the Supra Turbo MKIV, almost 14yrs old, the car still brings in close to MSRP of back then! ($30-$40k). That was what Toyota "was" about...QUALITY! Same goes for their 1988 to 2002 4Runners with excellent 4WD system that did NOT "clunk" and excellent approach and depart angle heights (not seen anymore). Our IS's are worth nothing because they are nothing...they cannot be modified, they are full of electronics that if something craps put and you don't have a warranty your screwed, they have engineering flaws which Lexus considers "normal characteristics" and restates them as TSB's until the problem starts killing people, they are not pure sport sedans, and they DONT COME IN A MANUAL!..come on, even the 1 series BMW comes in a manual. All these factors add up to a low resale value. Your best bet, keep it and hopefully the 3rd Gen IS's are slower, weaker, cheaper, and uglier...then maybe you will get good cash for your car. Sorry, I don't want to seem pessimistic, but I am in the same boat. Also, look up IS250 / IS350 vibrations at idle...and that should add to the low resale value even more.

btw, Lexus still can't seem to figure out why my car vibrates at idle in drive...go figure. as it is affecting thousands of 2IS's out there...hmmmm...yeah, normal characteristic.

If you hate Lexus so much, why are you driving one?