My daughters 99 GS400 has a leak in the power steering pump. The
Lexus dealer quoted $750 to replace.
I'll give a call later but out of curisoity, does anyone know off hand
if this is something that a Toyota dealer can repair and if so, any
guess if there's a significant difference in cost?
Generally speaking, is there anything that anyone has experienced
that Toyota dealers *won't* repair on a Lexus?
Any real world experience in having a Toyota tech repair your Lexus?
> My daughters 99 GS400 has a leak in the power steering pump. The
> Lexus dealer quoted $750 to replace.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Any real world experience in having a Toyota tech repair your Lexus?
A PS pump replacement is a relatively easy operation. Assuming that the
part is purchased from a Lexus dealer, the difference in price between the
Lexus dealer, Toyota dealer, and independent shop will be the difference in
the retail labor rate. For example, if the Lexus dealer is $150/hour and if
the flat rate time is 2 hours, then you would pay $300 in labor to replace
the pump, plus the price of the pump. If the Toyota dealer is $100/hour,
then you would pay $200 in labor, saving $100, and if the independent shop
is $90/hour, then you would pay $180 in labor, saving $20 over the Toyota
shop and $120 over the Lexus shop. If the independent shop uses aftermarket
parts, then the cost may be even less, however, the quality of the
aftermarket parts may or may not be as good as OEM. In my experience,
aftermarket part quality is a toss of the dice so I prefer OEM in most
cases.
The Lexus and Toyota dealer will have a clear warranty on parts and labor
printed on the back of the customer copy of the repair order; independent
shop warranties vary greatly.

Signature
Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)
01dyna - 11 May 2008 19:28 GMT
>A PS pump replacement is a relatively easy operation. Assuming that the
>part is purchased from a Lexus dealer, the difference in price between the
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>printed on the back of the customer copy of the repair order; independent
>shop warranties vary greatly.
thanks Ray. I know replacing a pump isn't all that difficult except I
don't have the time nor the pulley puller that I'll need to get the
pump replaced.
Also, it looks like the average price for a new (OEM) pump is in
the ballpark of $350. Which means that $300 of the quoted price
from the dealer was for labor. For a two hour job, that sounds
like a LOT of money merely for labor.
I have a very good indy shop near me. I think I'll give them a call
tomorrow and see how much they'll charge.
thanks Ray O.
Ray O - 11 May 2008 19:35 GMT
>>A PS pump replacement is a relatively easy operation. Assuming that the
>>part is purchased from a Lexus dealer, the difference in price between the
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> thanks Ray O.
You're welcome! If you decide to go to the independent shop, buy the OEM
pump yourself and take it to the shop so you know what you got.
Also, if the pump is leaking on to the alternator, you want to replace it
sooner rather than later before the alternator is damaged.

Signature
Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)
01dyna - 11 May 2008 21:33 GMT
>You're welcome! If you decide to go to the independent shop, buy the OEM
>pump yourself and take it to the shop so you know what you got.
>
>Also, if the pump is leaking on to the alternator, you want to replace it
>sooner rather than later before the alternator is damaged.
thanks! I'll do that. I'll post what I find out from the indy.