Car troubles

I know a lot of people love their toyotas but my moms 05 has been nothing but problems. She says they were training someone on the line that day.

If its been issue after issue trade it in. I'd feel bad selling it to someone even though the dealer will.

It's had a ridiculous amount of issues. Just in 2012- lost the speakers, air conditioning (both electrical issues), transmission went out, now the braking issue (which isn't related to the rotors or the brake pads and the dealer acts like I'm crazy and there is no problem....)

I have noticed that it jolts more braking downhill. You don't feel it often on even/uphill roads but downhill it's terrible.

The RAV fit my stuff, but the CRV was too small for the crates I needed. Consumer Reports, and lots of friends, highly recommend Toyotas for durability.

Right now there are a ton of 2011 RAVs on the market because rental agencies are selling their "old" ones when they buy more. We got ours for a great price and it just made more sense than new right now. I did negotiate a year long warranty on the RAV and it still has the balance of the 5yr/60000 mile powertrain warranty from Toyota as well, so that helps with concerns about anything that might pop up initially.

ETA: the RAV was redesigned in 2007, and 2007s had more bugs because they were the first version. CR says that RAVs 2008 or later are a better bet.

I guess there are risks whichever way you go. The Lexus was a loaner car for the dealership before we got it. Only 2 years old and less than 30k miles on it at the time. It was 'certified pre owned' but still has had a lot of issues.

I really would like to not have to dip too much into my savings but my stepmom was adamant that buying used meant you were 'getting someone else's problems'.

I really want something reliable with decent gas mileage that is a SUV type, but not big. But that can fit at least one large crate in the back and two small crates in the seat.

Where's the best places to look at used cars? I can't remember if my friend recommended Automax or carmax...

I went on cars.com and autotrader and then emailed dealers to get more info - CarMax is higher priced imo and I didn't like the salesguy's lack of customer service when I went to ours here.

I played the dealers I got off cars.com and autotrader off each other via email until I had three "top picks" based on total price including all taxes and fees, and visited to test drive at that point. I picked the vehicle that was the best combo of condition and price. My RAV4 was a good 3-4 grand cheaper at a smaller dealer an hour away than the RAVs at local, large dealerships. I had my mechanic check it out as well and was told I got a great deal.

Did you trade in your old car?

I definitely want a high quality and not terrible mileage on a car if I were to get a new one. But I don't need a bunch of bells and whistles on my car either.

if you bought it new or certified used, then you need to raise more hell w/ the dealer, my mom, bless her heart, she raised so much hell with her toyota dealer that they eventually brought a guy in from japan to listen.

No trade because mine was totalled by a hit and run driver.

And Pops has a good point - certified used is expected to be higher quality, so someone needs to know that you're not happy. The vehicle might even fall under a "lemon" law!

Do not buy an old rental car! People beat them up and abuse them. I looked at a couple and was told not to by several mechanics even though car fine then.

Lemon laws are for cars bought new but you should be raising hell. Make them fix it now for you to get it sold. My friends van was "certified" at a Toyota dealership and it breaks all the time. It's just a label. In the fine pri t just like the extra warranty means nothing. I hate the thought of buying used again if you can tell!

They have great end of the year sales. My friend got a new top of the line escape for what she was going to pay for a used one practically. She drove two hours but find a deal and someone who has old stock.

I go in knowing what I'll pay and what it's worth. I've angered many a car salesman. I go withmy friends car shopping. I stick with the larger dealerships because here the smaller ones charge more in general and expect to see you back in and don't want to take off the oil change money etc. depends though. When I get my truck I am going to the smaller dealer out here cuz they know what they are doing.

You sure that car wasn't a flood car?

There are going to be a lot of 2009's hitting the Certified lots right now too, as people's leases run out. Lease vehicles are a great way to go, because people baby them to death, because they're afraid of getting charged at the end of the lease. They'll be lower miles as well.

Lexus, even though it's technically Toyota at heart, seems to just have a poor track record. I'm not entirely sure of the cause, but they don't seem to hold up as well as their mainstream counterparts.

Carmax...that's going to be iffy. They cannot certify vehicles and since they're such a huge "buffet line" of vehicles, they tend to get the lower quality techs and such too. Also, they don't have a pay plan worth a hill of moldy beans for their sales staff, so you'll basically just get pushed into a car and then will never hear from them again.

Some dealerships are shady, some are not. You have to buy from a dealership to get a Certified car and after working in sales for a while, if I don't buy new, I'll only buy certified. I've had good luck with the Honda I bought off CL last year, but I got supremely lucky in that regard.

And for the love of God, I don't care how tight your budget is or how nice the sales people are, DO NOT BUY a Kia or Hyundai. Just...don't.

Dunno . . . Bob traded in his Lexus for a Sonata last year and loves it. He bought the tweaked model though, and it's a lot quicker than his Lexus was.

Okay so took it in to Rhonda's mechanic.

1. Transmission is slipping. Which he thinks is due to the fact there is very low transmission fluid. Which the Lexus people supposedly looked at LAST WEEK.

2. Something in the suspension is loose, which he thinks is from when they replaced the first transmission a few months ago.

Low fluid will do that.

I'd be complaining. Directly to the dealership owner and service manager.

I don't have much for suggestions, but I totally feel for you. My Caliber was nothing but problems the past year, and then I was without a car completely for a month. I hope this gets sorted for you one way or another!

I figured by the time I got rid of it that my Caliber was probably a flood car. It had tons of issues, mostly electrical, and water stuck inside the doors every time it rained - like, stuck in there for weeks at a time before draining. It also had a funny smell if it was left in the heat with the windows up. Turns out it came from Texas shortly after hurricane season (I found the previous owner's info when I went to change the cabin air filter).

I ended up giving it back to the bank because I was so sick of it and couldn't afford to put thousands of dollars of repairs into it. I bought a used car from a private party for $1400. It needs a few small things, but nothing major, and it feels like a sturdy, solidly build car. Even at 178,000 miles it's WAY, WAY better than my Caliber was at 80,000 miles (or even at 30,000 miles when I first got it).

Yup going to be complaining. Especially since this is two dealerships that have looked at this transmission now.

With all the flooding there's been in recent years, that's something to look for. Sometimes flood damage, especially electrical stuff, won't show up for awhile.

Just long enough for someone to pawn it off on an unsuspecting buyer

I would say complain to Lexus/Toyota, but they aren't exactly a company that's known in the industry for their attention to owner problems. You're more likely to get results from the dealer.

Doesn't sound like a transmission issue. (We own a transmission shop and have FOREVER!) The ONLY thing I can think of transmission related would be the torque converter is defective. If it has been to 2 tranny shops and neither found an issue w the trans, even after being put on a scanner, then it pry isnt. It is so hard to imagine what it would be by "jolty" lol....sometimes a TC would make it feel like rumble strips, but usually when in the throttle not slowing down to brake......hmmm...rotors?

Are the rotors warped? I just asked one of my service writers what he thought and that was his opinion.