CMACE23

Basically as the title states? I work for a Lexus Dealer in Tennessee and we have started offering more accessories to our customers. As of now we have the standard headrest TV, iPod integration , heated seats etc etc. Lately we've started offering Vossen wheel and tire packages and window tint. We have looked into the RSR lowering springs for the 2015 line of Lexus vehicles. With that opens up a can of worms from a warranty stand point so we're kinda hesitant on that.

I've rambled enough I suppose. What would you fine Club Lexus members like to see your dealer offer?

GQD_GS4

Bumper guards for SUVs

mmarshall

Protective body-side moldings and real spare tires.

Toys4RJill

I would like to see:

-full size spare (I would pay extra)
-weathertech floor mats
-winter tires from the point of purchase (my dealer will store winter tires for me if I purchased them for my Corolla)

That's really about it.

Sulu

Full-size spare tires may be a nice accessory to have available from the dealer but how can you expect to carry a fifth full-size wheel and tire in a car that was designed for only a smaller, temporary-use spare tire, or no spare tire at all? That fifth tire would take up half the cargo space (or more).

Imagine carrying an optional full-size spare tire in a hybrid car designed only for a temporary-spare (you would have almost no cargo room left); or imagine carrying an optional full-size spare in the back of a wagon or crossover (there would be virtually no cargo room left over AND it would be visible to all who walk by the vehicle).

This would be a nice-to-have but not-at-all-practical accessory.

Truly all-weather floor mats, on the other hand, sized, fitted and professionally attached, would be perfect, especially for our Canadian (and Minnesota or Buffalo) winters. I use an after-market floor mat on the driver's side in my ES, which the dealer just does not like. The last time I took the car in for service, the dealer said that they would take it out, clean it and then put it in the trunk because dealer policy (because of the floor-mat-and-stuck-accelerator scare) does not allow them to use after-market winter floor mats.

Toys4RJill

Sulu, could the manufacturers perhaps make the full size spare come with the new car? I only say that I have the issue of no full size spare because I just recently had a flat on Tuesday morning as I was leaving my office. The hassle of not being able to drive very far or very fast was annoying, I had to relpace the tire same day, now if there was just a full size spare I could of driven off right away and do what I needed to do until I was free to fix the tire.

The Lexus LS460 was designed for full size spare tires. Why can't all of the other Lexus cars have full size spares?

Aron9000

Offer different wheel packages. I know the wheels on my 1992 SC300 were once offered as a dealer accessory on new Lexus cars. I picked them up for a steal at $900, new in box, for all 4. Some dealer in the Miami area wanted to clear his warehouse out, so I got them for CHEAP.

mmarshall

For those of you who are parents or expecting, I'm not sure about something like this being practical as an add-on dealer accessory (it would probably be more practical to do it at the factory, on the assembly line)....but, some years ago, Chrysler-designed minivans had what I thought was a dynamite idea. DOT-approved pull-down child seats were actually built into the rear second-row seats, so moms and dads didn't have to struggle with the usual hassles of getting their kids in and out of aftermarket seats and strapping them in. With this option, all mom and dad had to do is grab a small strap, pull the built-in seat down, sit Junior in it, quickly strap him or her up with the (also) built-in strap...and, presto, you're ready to go. These were offered as an option for a few years and then (inexplicably) dropped. I say if at all possible, bring them back.

Sulu

I believe that Volvo was the first to offer the built-in, fold-out child booster seat. I do not believe that the Volvo ones nor the Chrysler minivan ones were able to replace the full front-facing child safety seats; they would only have been able to replace booster seats that allowed a school-age child to sit higher and thus properly use the adult seat belt. Does Chrysler still offer them? I do not know. I also do not know if Volvo still offers them.

If they are no longer offered, or if the demand was so low when they were first offered such that they are no longer offered, I can understand why, as a parent myself.

Just in Canada and the United States, each state, and each province and territory, has their own regulations for the types of seats to be used, and when (what age and what size of child can use each type) and where (private motor vehicles, taxis, buses, etc.). That adds up to 63 different sets of regulations (50 states, plus 13 provinces and territories). Even for one North American manufacturer to try to design a built-in booster seat that meets all of these different sets of regulations is daunting; imagine an European manufacturer trying to design a built-in booster seat for North American AND Europe.

And I could understand if parents found it less confusing and even cheaper to buy after-market booster seats (or convertible seats that can be used over a number of different child seat stages). In fact, we do that now for our school-age son: for one car, we use a mere booster but in the other car, we use a convertible seat that he has been using since he first started using forward-facing child safety seats. We spent quite some money for that convertible seat so why give it up if we can use it for a few more years? Thus, we save the cost and effort of finding a car that offers a built-in booster seat -- and since neither Toyota/Lexus nor Honda offer built-in booster seats we would need an after-market booster seat regardless.

And the built-in child booster seat was a factory option, not a dealer-installed option so this particular discussion would not be appropriate to this question about dealer-installed options.

mmarshall

Thanks, Sulu. I don't recall Volvo offering them before Chrysler, but you could very well be correct. It wouldn't surprise me, given Volvo's long record of safety-advancements.

The advent of AWD on some minivans, with the necessity of adding drivetrain components under the floor, was the main reason that some of the Stow-and-Go second and third-row seating options (where the seats folded up under the floor for a flat load-surface) were cancelled. The Stow-and-Go folding design of those seats may (?) have prevented the pull-down child seat assembly from being built in, so that may have been why they were also cancelled. Today, though, among minivans, only the Toyota Sienna still lingers on with AWD.


If my memory is correct (?), the Chrysler seats were good for children up to 60 lbs. After that, of course, kids are expected to use regular adult seats and harnesses.

mmarshall

One other thing....how about adding nice gas hood-struts, so one can toss those manual prop-rods into the recycle-bin? With a couple of relatively simple parts and tools, it probably wouldn't be a big deal.

tex2670

Temp spares and jacks for cars with inflator kits and no run flats. The Weather Tech mats are a good idea, but I think every brand has their own logo all weather mats, so the dealers aren't going to compete with the corporate accessory.

But really, personally, if it's not a manufacturer accessory, I'm not really interested in general.

tex2670

These were an interesting idea. I don't recall what the cost was. One issue, as a parent, is that I can't really easily research how the Chrysler car seat is rated vs. Graco, Britax, etc. I can read Consumer Reports, and see which is "top rated". But I have no idea where the Chrysler brand fits in. And now, with the LATCH system, it's so easy to install the car seats in any seat position, I just don't see paying Chrysler for this; I can switch my car seat to a replacement car, to grandma's car, to a nanny's car--but not when it's built in. The convenience of not having to shop for a car seat and have it built in can actually become inconvenient. If I had to guess, I'd say that they were dropped based on a very low take rate.

mmarshall

One must also consider (as I myself may have also partially overlooked) that when these built-in seats were offered, minivans were not only a lot more popular than they are now, but a substantially greater number of them (to actually compete against each other), were available in the American market. But, even though they were (and, in some cases, still are) the ideal vehicle for a lot families, the (undeserved) negative stigma that minivans got drove a lot of buyers into SUVs instead. In response, the Ford Windstar, Chevy Lumina APV, Saturn Relay, Hyundai Entourage, Plymouth Voyager, Pontiac Montana, Oldsmobile Silouette, Mercury Villager....all of those, and others, either disappeared as individual vehicles or because their parent companies/divisions went out of business.

chikoo

1. Premium Bosch Icon Wiper Blades
2. F-sport shocks+springs
3. Clear ceramic tints on windshield (my Mercedes has it from factory, and well worth it)
4. rain-sensing wipers
5. seat position memory