2009 Lexus RX 350 Small Claims Court Canada

DARRENNORDBY

MEMBER
2009 LEXUS RX 350
3.5L
6 CYL
AWD
AUTOMATIC
81,600 MILES

Arwen (Edmunds.com)
Dec 03 02:05 PM
Hi Darren, and thank you for contacting Edmunds.com Live Help. I am so sorry about the situation that you're in with your vehicle. Unfortunately, there are no mechanics on staff at Edmunds.com to help answer your question about your failed head gasket. However, I can suggest going to one of these sites that offer communication with mechanics:
http://www.2carpros.com/

Darren Nordby
Dec 03 06:49 AM
Hello
I am wondering if you believe this caused my head gasket to fail and if it could actually take 26,000kms for the gasket to finally fail.
This is an argument I am having in Small Claims Court. . .
The water pump failed under warranty.
On December 12/2012 the water pump was replaced under warranty 102,037 kilometers.
These are the details.
I had driven the vehicle on December 11/12 without noticing anything out of the ordinary.
On December 12/2012 I left home (497 Beckwith Court, Waterloo ON) for Guelph. When stopping at the corner of Bridgeport and Lancaster I noticed steam coming from under the hood of the 2009 RX350. The distance travelled was 8.4 kilometers.
I knew that the warranty was only good to 80,000 kilometers so I thought the closest Toyota or Lexus dealer was Forbes Toyota. This was 6.8 kilometers away. I drove straight there. They informed me that the drivetrain warranty on this vehicle was good to 110,000 kilometers. They told me that they would have a look to see what the problem might be. They said it appeared to be the water pump. They said they would fill the radiator and the advised me to drive it to Heffner Lexus in Kitchener. This was 15 kilometers.
The vehicle stalled about one kilometer from Heffner Lexus.
The mechanic said at the time “I hope you didn’t “cook” anything while driving it here.
After the pump was replaced they said it states that the vehicle appeared “ok”.
I contest that the water pump under warranty and the advice to drive the vehicle directly contributed to the failure of the head gasket and the repair costs that followed.
The water pump was replaced at 102,000kms and then the head gasket failed at 136,000.
Lexus engineers say it would have happened within a month.

Submitted from:http://www.edmunds.com/lexus/rx-350/2009/

3 Replies

HMAC300

MECHANIC
48,601 POSTS

The engineers are probably correct, if you drove almost 7 kilos which is about 5 miles with no antifreeze because it was steaming by your own account, then put coolant in it for another 15 kilos and it quit more than likely due to overheat caused the head gasket to go bad. It may have actually been that way when you go tot first dealer but driving the further distance with a leak another 11 miles, I think we don't do kilos, overheated again and probably both did the damage. Engines with aluminum heads can only keep so much and then they will let something go mostly a head gasket. When the second mechanic said he hoped you didn't fry anything he was correct as vehicles are not meant to do that kind of stuff. Unless the manufacturer has put in electronically in the pcm to shut down cylinders similar to what Cadillac does. So you can drive that far without damage. I know this isn't what you want to hear but if Lexus does anything for you consider it a gift.

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Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 AT 3:46 PM

DARRENNORDBY

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Ok so there is no way the Toyota dealer should have advised me to drive to the Lexus dealer.

But could the head gasket have been damaged only say 25-50% and the slowly over the next 20,400 miles finally and ultimately the failed?

So, could it have been primarily damged and then fail at 80K miles?

Why else would it blow so early? ALL regular maintenance was done and I am easy on my cars.

Darren

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Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 AT 3:57 PM

HMAC300

MECHANIC
48,601 POSTS

I would think that the Toyota dealer SHOULD NOT have advised you to DRIVE to the next dealer. Had it been me I would have told you to tow it not drive. Mileage doesn't have a lot to do with it. It was the overheat that did it you saw steam coming out and continued to drive to the Toyota dealer, that is probably what did it. I would imagine if steam was coming out when you started it either a light or gauge would have been pegged to it's limit.

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Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 AT 4:39 PM