I HAVE A 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY WITH 20000 MILES ON IT. I GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT A FEW MONTHS AGO. I CRASHED INTO A CURB WITH MY RIGHT PASSENGER SIDE RIM. BECAUSE OF THIS MY RIGHT FRONT BALL JOINT AND LOWER CONTROL ARM WERE BENT. THE RIM SUFFERED COSMETIC DAMAGE BUT I ORDERED A NEW ONE. I REPLACED THE PARTS AND GOT A WHEEL ALLIGMENT AND BALANCE. ONCE I GOT ON THE HIGHWAY I NOTICED THAT MY VEHICLE WOULD SWERVE TO THE LEFT. I LET THE STEERING WHEEL GO AND NOTICED THAT IT SLIGHTLY TURNED TO THE LEFT. I ALSO EXPERIENCED A VIBRATION ON THE STEERING WHEEL AND REST OF THE CAR AS I BRAKED AT SPEED OF 60- 65 MPH. I ALSO NOTICED THAT AT HIGH TRAFFIC TIMES IN STOP AND GO SITUATIONS MY VEHICLE WOULD TURN COMPLETELY TO THE LEFT AS I WOULD LET THE STEERING WHEEL GO. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY RECOMMENDED ANOTHER ALLIGNMENT, BALANCE AND ROTOR REPLACEMENT. I ALLIGNED THE VEHICLE AND BALANCE THE TIRES, I DID NOT REPLACE THE ROTORS. NOTHING CHANGED. THE PROBLEM IS STILL THERE. I AM THINKING OF REPLACING THE ROTORS SOON TO SEE IF IT CORRECTS THE VIBRATION. I AM WONDERING IF THERE IS ANOTHER PART IN THE FRONT END THAT MIGHT OF GOTTEN DAMAGED THAT COULD CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO TURN LEFT. I NEED HELP. WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO. I

These are difficult complaints. If the tech cannot confirm the complaint, then he/she really does not know if anything they try to do is going to have a result. Plus, there are other details that like it or not have forced shops into a defensive position. 1. If the shop replaces the master cylinder, there is no gurantee they will be paid. There is also no guarantee that the car will be fixed either! The problem could be in the ABS system, and one or more of the "vent valves" in it could be seeping. It's also quite possible a tiny piece of some type of debris is moving in the fluid right near the compensating port inside the master cylinder, and causing the bypass valve to not seal after a pedal release. The bypass valve in the master cylinder is designed to prevent the system from going into a vacuum as the pedal is released. 2. If the shop replaces the master cylinder, and the car is not fixed the finger pointing really starts. Many techs feel that with a random pedal fades complaint, that cannot be confirmed the way to approach it is the customer must OK the replacement of the master cylinder, and acknowledge in writing that this service is by choice, and not a guarantee of any repair. In the past, techs would do the master cylinder and since there really was almost no chance that it could be anything else get away with it. But today, there is a significant chance that the failure could be in the ABS, or elswhere in the system. So the customer must agree in advance that if the problem persists, the continued repair is NOT FREE. Keep in mind that refers to non warrantied vehicles in for direct customer pay services. Being under warranty it creates an entirely different senario. But the O.E. has the same interests as the average consumer, they don't want to pay for things needlessly any more than anyone reading this does. All that aside, sometimes you have to do something, even if it's wrong! 3. You say they bled the system, and they said it had an air bubble? So basically, the car went into the dealer with a very low pedal, they bled the brakes and now it has a good pedal. That is a plausible senario, and your claim of it being BS, without testing just might be totally unfair. Air bubbles can occur for a couple of reasons. The air could have been trapped in the ABS system, and released to the brake system. The fluid could have gotten very hot under heavy brake useage, and boiled water vapor, and other gasses out of solution creating a bubble that may have been unable to be reabsorbed by the brake fluid. So lacking any proof otherwise, the tech and the shop have to go with what they can confirm. If you were not there, and did not bleed the brakes yourself then you really don't know if they did bleed air out of the system. Once again, you might not be fair here with your claims. In some ways Lexus has two problems, a car they cannot confirm that is broken, and an owner that dosen't trust them or the car. Granted, I would be very concerned with the car under the circumstances you outlined. Given my own resources if I was in your place, I would replace the master cylinder myself out of pocket just for my own piece of mind. If I get reimbursed, great, if not I have the peace of mind knowing I have eliminated a very likely source of the trouble. One other thing to think about. Your master cylinder controls the LF and RR wheels together off of one piston, and the RF and LR wheels off of the second piston. They do this to try and ensure that no matter what, you at least have 50% of the cars total braking capacity. Sure if one of them bypass fluid the pedal drops, but the opposite pair is being applied ever fuller when that happens. Thats part of how as I tech I figure out exactly what is happening when I have a car with the symptom you have described. You have my sympathy with this situation, and the dealer does too. Once again, for your own peace of mind, and trying to ensure that there isn't a hidden problem I would recommend pay them to replace the master cylinder, and do a brake fluid flush. Then take it up with your selling dealer and see if they can help you out in this circumstance. Remember, without getting to confirm the actual cause, even with replacng the master cylinder, and doing a brake fluid flush you could still have a problem lurking. The only thing I can tell you is you will be the first to know....... :(

dnt1 said" john g you have gotten yourself stuck on the wrong area with your business. You have to show people something besides good work and here it is. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care. Customer service good listening skills and lots of empathy man, now get on it and get that business growing as it should." Well if it was really only that easy. I repaired a Jeep Cherokee that had bounced around between 5 shops/techs. The problem surfaced alledgedly right after a major transmission replacement. The symptom was a surging/high idle speed, missfire/cutout when driving. The AC was inoperative, the clutch would not engage. The customer had already tried adding refrigerant with sealer himself, without gages. Plus the 4WD display was blank. The soultion was the computer had failed, but before the computer could be replaced, every possible reason that something on the car could be causing the computers microprocessor to continually reset had to be explored, and proven to NOT exist. Plus I also had to be sure that something else on the data bus on the car was not causing the reset to occur. There are no training manuals anywhere, nor is there service information/repair manuals written at this level. Guys like me are totally on our own with this stuff, and we often spend two times as much time studying the system at home to make each diagnostic move faster, and in analyzing the results to make sure we haven't overlooked something which would result in a customer potentially buying a part they do not need. I had well over eight hours time in this car, and ultimately billed three. The result had everything working, and I did notice some belt squeal, it was a newer, and properly tightened (within tension specs) serpentine belt. Now do you think this guy appreciated what I did? I did not sell any unneeded parts or service and I even cut him a significant break on the real amount of time required to do that. For my trouble I can tell you that I have 80% of the fuel injection wiring diagram memorized for a 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee. That's how close I had to study this system to be positive I was making the correct call. He went out to the Jeep after paying his bill, five minutes later he came back in and wanted me to go outside and hear something. He was concerned about the belt "chirping" when the AC was turned on. He was complaining that it did not do it before, well of course it didn't, the AC had not worked in the month and a half they had been fighting this. I told him shut the engine off, and went inside and got my laptop, and my belt tension gage. I showed him the spec, then I measured the tension on the belt and showed him it was in spec. The I showed him how the belt that was on the Jeep was one of the discount aftermarket replacement ones, that does not actually fit the pulleys correctly. He still insisted that I do something, and at that point I said fine, I'll take it to the maximum tension allowed on the spec, for a fee. At that point he balked, and said it's not adjustable, it has a spring tensioner, which I really got a laugh out of, because I asked him to show it to me. Then I showed him how the belt adjusted with the idler that is just below and inside of the power steering pump. I then asked him, who put this belt on? He said it was another shop he had dealt with recently, and I asked him why not go back to them and have them deal with it? His reply? Because he didn't pay them for it. I didn't press him for details at this point, but one way or another he managed to coerce them into doing it for free, or flat out managed to rip them off somehow. In the end, he paid me to adjust the belt. I refused to touch the rest of the AC system at all, because the sealers that he added have the potential of damaging my AC recovery/recharge equipment, and I'm not ready to have to spend another $4,000 on a new one. I also told him to the best that I could be sure, the transmission shop had nothing to do with the failure of the computer. Three days later the transmission shop involved called me up. He had not seen this guy and was glad that I had straightened his Jeep out. He was having trouble with a Ford tranny he had rebuilt and needed me to help him figure out what was wrong. He had one dissapointing thing to say. No matter what the outcome was, this guy with the Jeep would bad mouth me about fixing his car. It's just the way the guy is..........

Seems like you mostly have your mind made up on the type of vehicle. At work we make axles for the Jeep. I've not worked on that line in a couple years and then only to do an egronomics study. Gal at work bought a new Liberty and loves it... her first 4 wheel drive. We also make lots of Ford parts. I don't think any go in the vehicles you mention. I try to focus on the type of vehicle I want rather then any particular one. Last time I went shopping I wanted another Bravada but came home with a Blazer. The Chevy was about 5K cheaper then the Olds I looked at and well optioned. No heated leather seats but I'm happy with the cloth. That was in '03 and the little white truck is still trucking. About 3K in repairs/maintenance but that is still cheaper then car payments... I paid off the loan in 3 months so I only have to keep up with repairs. When I was younger I often looked for vehicles that needed repairs. If it needed tires, brakes, battery, muffler it was a good excuse to demand a rock bottom price. My Firebird needed all that stuff and the dealer knocked a couple grand off the asking price... which nicely covered the needed items. When buying used I make low ball offers and stand firm. I tell the seller I have "X" amount of cash and ask if they will take that. Then I pretend I really don't have another dime I can scratch up. I put the blame on the bank and say that is all they will give me... that way they don't waste time trying to work me over for more money. They can say no and I can find another vehicle to make an offer on. Most of the time I get the vehicle! Watch out for little snakes that want to run a credit check first. They are really just fishing to see how much they can soak you for. Tell them you have your own bank. First sign of pressure or implication you don't have enough money just walk. I've had them chase me to my vehicle offering to try to make the deal work... umm no... deal square from the get go or I'm gone. Sales people hate me... and I like it that way. If they leave you in the waiting room for an extended period of time just leave. Car salepeople tend to be fat heads that think it a sport to jerk you around. Always remember you have the money they don't. Any car dealer having a sales event should be avoided... they have special teams of high pressure jerks at those. : ) lyra