A sad Lexus
Preface:
It all
started with a quote over the phone, about a year and a half ago. Another shop
had looked at the vehicle and made some repair suggestions.
For some reason,
the owner did not feel comfortable to have the work done there and instead
brought to us. Once the car got here, we inspected the vehicle prior to the
work and corroborated the items suggested by the other shop.
In addition, we
found a large number of other things needed that had been missed. We proceeded
to let the client know about our additional findings.
The vehicle
had some issues with the front suspension, the tires were wearing out rapidly.
We replaced the control arms, the sway bar links, the front and rear struts,
the rack and pinion and the power steering high pressure hose. We did a front
brake job as well as they were worn down to the last 1 mm.
Despite all
the work done, there was a long list of suggestions that went unheeded. This is
not uncommon as a portion of all clients, feel the suggestions made to them by
their repair shop may be without merit.
Now, this were
not necessarily a steady and faithful client.
They decided
not to do any of our additional suggestions. They were going to only do what
they brought the car for and would “think about the other stuff for later”
One of the
suggested items on the repair order “recommendations” were all the cooling
system hoses, upper and lower radiator, the water pump and the intake hoses,
along with heater hoses. They appeared original and in poor condition. This
vehicle was 16 years old and pushing over two hundred thousand miles.
Epilog:
We got a
call today from our infrequent client. They wanted to know how much it would be
to replace the engine on their Lexus. It turns out one of the heater hoses blew
out and caused the engine to overheat and seize. They were now requesting the
price to install a used engine as they had an emotional attachment with the
vehicle.
What could
have been $350.00 a year and a half ago, became a quote for $6500.00 for a used
engine today.
