after months of looking at Lexus, BMW & other cars similar, I decided to buy a 2001CLtype S. Much to my suprise, wow tranny problems & brake pulsating.

In that the car only has 20K miles, what other suprises may I encounter. Is there any suggestions from other CL owners

 

my rotors were replaced @ 4k miles and there are tons of "slushbox" owners' threads to be read...do a search or go back to the "transmission" board... good luck

 

Ya, you have found the 2 big ones. Otherwise here's the others...

rear deck rattles (usually people with sub woofers)
moon roof rattle (very common)
dash rattles (usually temperature related, cold no rattles, warm lots of rattles)
squeaky seat
paint chips easy (bad paint in general)
Wheels scratch easy (wheel protrudes out further than the tire)
stereo has no bass
2nd stage intake actuator go out
cheezy stock tires
windows make noise going down
right exhaust pipe hangs lower than left
spoiler rattles (usually only people with sub woofers)
leather in seats cracks, or has hairs coming out
Seat belt doesn't retract 100% smacks again side of car whenyou get out

That's about it... I'm sure someone else can chime in with any I missed.

Most of them can be fixed. Wheels/paint... well... you just have to live with it.

Those are the most mentioned problems. I'm sure others have little things here and there.

 

BUT...every make and model car has issues of some sort.

Don't let these issues influence your perception of the car. The tranny warranty goes to 100k miles and everything else (for the most part) is covered for 4yrs 50k miles. The brakes just need to be upgraded.

 

Siggy I think you got just about all cept for the rattling passengerside visor plastic...funny I think my car has pretty much all of them lol

 

but she's still a beauty don't get me wrong

 

I like my car too

Really everything I listed can be fixed. Most under warranty.

 

mine's had 2 resurfacings already under warranty..

METH: how did you get them to replace your rotors? are they better now?

 

other stuff replaced - both side mirrors, armrest, front brakes, fpr, ecu, transmission... everything has been done under warranty.

i also have a windshield on order. i complained about the trim curling up and i guess the trim is 1 piece w/ the windshield so the best fix is to replace the whole thing.

i still love the car. it's like brand new, all the parts are new.

 

You are not having brake fade. Your car has warped rotors, caused by uneven cooling of the rotors.

They can be resurfaced, but will likely just warp again. This is a problem very common on many different types of cars. Use a quality rotor to avoid it in the future. My BMW that sees track time with aggressive track pads and tires has cryo-treated and slotted Brembos. No fade or warping. But, for street use, you only need a good rotor. Likely means non-OEM, as those seem to warp easily...