My terrible experience with Luxury Motorworks
07-19-05, 12:33 AM
#16
my mechanic also said i was lucky to find out the problems so soon. he said all the problems i had above, i wouldn't see the problems right the way. the torn bushing? it will leak for another yr before i hear noise. the loose abs line? it will be one day that it snap and it messes up everything. by then no one would be able to even know what was the original cause.
to be honest, at that time we were pretty mad already, that lmw managed to mess up every single thing they did on my car. that's right, everything!!!! i was about to just give up on lmw, but couple of people convinced me to go back and talk to steve
we gathered ourselves and decided to go to lmw again and showed steve all the pics and problems. i have to say that steve was very apologetic, he was completely speechless about what happened to my car, that it was completely unacceptable, and he asked me to leave my car there for couple of hours so he could take a close look at the car.
later on he walked the car with me. he explained to me about the problems, and i am going to document them here:
1) all end links were put on wrong coz' the tech did not know that the daizen sways require putting the end links backward. no instructions were present since it was a swap. my thinking is, if it's a good tech, he should notice that the end links are at a weird positions, especially when its' rubbing so close with the bolt in the front.
2) they used airguns on the abs line bolt, that's why it bent the bracket. yup, no wonder, maybe that's why my mechanic always use a small wrench himself. and maybe that's why the tight lug nuts on the wheels
3) the loose bolt on the abs line, that's just wrong
4) he said the end link on the rear sway, there is no way it will hit the spring/shocks on stock form. i double confirmed this with daizen, YES THEY WILL. on stock s/s setup, the springs come down really low
5) they don't put grease on bushings unless they squeak. steve gave me a reason, and to be honest i couldn't remember or understand. i don't know, but on the so many cars i have owned, lexus or not, i always see grease put in the sway bar bushings. and just to be sure, i double confirmed with daizen as well, and grease is a MUST on the install.
6) door panel, he said everything seems to be fine, he suspected that it might be a problem on 05 that the door panel are off from factory. he asked me to look at the car from dealership. i didn't even want to believe that.
steve also replaced the luxlink unit for me, and he ordered a new end link for the front. but of course, i didn't have him put on the end link anymore. i had someone else put it on for me. like i have said before, how i can trust them anymore?
i also went straight from lmw to longo lexus to look at the sc430 at the show room, which was be 2005. not surprising at all, the gap left and right are even, that means my door panel is still messed up.
to be honest, at that time we were pretty mad already, that lmw managed to mess up every single thing they did on my car. that's right, everything!!!! i was about to just give up on lmw, but couple of people convinced me to go back and talk to steve
we gathered ourselves and decided to go to lmw again and showed steve all the pics and problems. i have to say that steve was very apologetic, he was completely speechless about what happened to my car, that it was completely unacceptable, and he asked me to leave my car there for couple of hours so he could take a close look at the car.
later on he walked the car with me. he explained to me about the problems, and i am going to document them here:
1) all end links were put on wrong coz' the tech did not know that the daizen sways require putting the end links backward. no instructions were present since it was a swap. my thinking is, if it's a good tech, he should notice that the end links are at a weird positions, especially when its' rubbing so close with the bolt in the front.
2) they used airguns on the abs line bolt, that's why it bent the bracket. yup, no wonder, maybe that's why my mechanic always use a small wrench himself. and maybe that's why the tight lug nuts on the wheels
3) the loose bolt on the abs line, that's just wrong
4) he said the end link on the rear sway, there is no way it will hit the spring/shocks on stock form. i double confirmed this with daizen, YES THEY WILL. on stock s/s setup, the springs come down really low
5) they don't put grease on bushings unless they squeak. steve gave me a reason, and to be honest i couldn't remember or understand. i don't know, but on the so many cars i have owned, lexus or not, i always see grease put in the sway bar bushings. and just to be sure, i double confirmed with daizen as well, and grease is a MUST on the install.
6) door panel, he said everything seems to be fine, he suspected that it might be a problem on 05 that the door panel are off from factory. he asked me to look at the car from dealership. i didn't even want to believe that.
steve also replaced the luxlink unit for me, and he ordered a new end link for the front. but of course, i didn't have him put on the end link anymore. i had someone else put it on for me. like i have said before, how i can trust them anymore?
i also went straight from lmw to longo lexus to look at the sc430 at the show room, which was be 2005. not surprising at all, the gap left and right are even, that means my door panel is still messed up.
07-19-05, 12:34 AM
#17
later i emailed steve and told him about the door panel, and he asked me to go back again so he can take another look. at the same time i also had another 2 very knowledgeable men looked at my car (both of them are highly regarded in their fields, and one is top guy in lexus), but both of them couldn't figure out what's wrong.
we just went to lmw for the last time for steve to look at the door panel this past weekend. of course, as expected, he couldn't figure out much. he said he made the gap larger, but upon close measurements later that day, we pretty much confirmed it's the same case still.
so basically, this is what we have gone through in the past 3 months. a lot of totally unnecessary visits to lmw, some vaseline on my door panel that i had to wipe very hard to get them off, a lot of money wasted (money wasted on lmw to do everything wrong, and then more money wasted to have someone else fixed everything), tons of time wasted going down to socal and all the driving, and most of all, all the mental stress we have gone through
someone might come and tell me these are really minor stuff, and we are just being picky. but i am making myself very clear as well, it's not about picky or not, it's all about principle, all about doing it right the first time, all about care taken on customers' car as their own.
these are not tough jobs at all, it's not like installing turbos or supercharge. it's just putting on coilovers, sways, and even their own in house created luxlink modules. and they messed them all up. nonetheless we are extremely disappointed, when they literally messed up our 60k car. it's not a 10k junk, i can probably deal with that, but on a 60k car, it's very different.
they replaced our luxlink and end link, but what about the door panel? we never heard about any form of compensations. some places i have been to before, they stand 100% before their work, if something is wrong, they do it until it's done right, at all cost, even if that means thousands of dollars.
and what did we get? "sorry this is all i can do. i have never seen this before, this is the first time i have come across this". i am sorry, but sometimes a simple sorry just can't seem to do it. not when someone even makes my wife cry. we are very disappointed, and i hope all members to be careful, check to make sure everything is right.
my wife also says that she regrets a lot about going there at all, let alone spending the money and time. if she had the slightest idea about what their work is like, she wouldn't have gone there at all, no matter what
we just went to lmw for the last time for steve to look at the door panel this past weekend. of course, as expected, he couldn't figure out much. he said he made the gap larger, but upon close measurements later that day, we pretty much confirmed it's the same case still.
so basically, this is what we have gone through in the past 3 months. a lot of totally unnecessary visits to lmw, some vaseline on my door panel that i had to wipe very hard to get them off, a lot of money wasted (money wasted on lmw to do everything wrong, and then more money wasted to have someone else fixed everything), tons of time wasted going down to socal and all the driving, and most of all, all the mental stress we have gone through
someone might come and tell me these are really minor stuff, and we are just being picky. but i am making myself very clear as well, it's not about picky or not, it's all about principle, all about doing it right the first time, all about care taken on customers' car as their own.
these are not tough jobs at all, it's not like installing turbos or supercharge. it's just putting on coilovers, sways, and even their own in house created luxlink modules. and they messed them all up. nonetheless we are extremely disappointed, when they literally messed up our 60k car. it's not a 10k junk, i can probably deal with that, but on a 60k car, it's very different.
they replaced our luxlink and end link, but what about the door panel? we never heard about any form of compensations. some places i have been to before, they stand 100% before their work, if something is wrong, they do it until it's done right, at all cost, even if that means thousands of dollars.
and what did we get? "sorry this is all i can do. i have never seen this before, this is the first time i have come across this". i am sorry, but sometimes a simple sorry just can't seem to do it. not when someone even makes my wife cry. we are very disappointed, and i hope all members to be careful, check to make sure everything is right.
my wife also says that she regrets a lot about going there at all, let alone spending the money and time. if she had the slightest idea about what their work is like, she wouldn't have gone there at all, no matter what
Last edited by rominl; 07-19-05 at 12:52 AM.
07-19-05, 12:46 AM
#18
AutoCoutureSC (lee) - thanks for the support, and i have posted up more info, hopefully it's good enough to explain all about what happened. and yes, i agree, if there is something wrong, people should say it. there is no reason to hide, and it's never embarassing. we should let people know the truth, and they be the judge to make their own choice
xmystikx - i am sorry to hear about your friend's car as well. but don't be afraid about speaking up. if you have your points, and proofs, people can't get to you. like here i have all the pics to prove what happen, and as long as you just keep it objective, that's all you need to do. maybe you can share your problems too (again, if i missed it before)
White98ARISTO - yeah now you put up the link i think i read that before. too bad, some really hard lesson learned
LexAristo - yes you are right, it's about making it right. that's why i have given them so long and so many chances. but it's been 3 months, and i think it's pretty tired when i can't tell people what's going on. i feel obligated to let members know. and of course, i still hope my damn door panel will be fixed
xmystikx - i am sorry to hear about your friend's car as well. but don't be afraid about speaking up. if you have your points, and proofs, people can't get to you. like here i have all the pics to prove what happen, and as long as you just keep it objective, that's all you need to do. maybe you can share your problems too (again, if i missed it before)
White98ARISTO - yeah now you put up the link i think i read that before. too bad, some really hard lesson learned
LexAristo - yes you are right, it's about making it right. that's why i have given them so long and so many chances. but it's been 3 months, and i think it's pretty tired when i can't tell people what's going on. i feel obligated to let members know. and of course, i still hope my damn door panel will be fixed
07-19-05, 12:52 AM
#19
reamemiya - do you have bad experience with them before? if so, speak up! seriously, at least by my way of moderating, fanboys are not allowed here. constructive information, discussions, those are what we encourage. so don't be afraid, that's all i can tell you
GSXOTIC - thanks for the support and reinforcing the idea of doing the right thing.
r00kie - like i said in my post, just be careful. i am not saying everyone will have problem, but just check to make sure everything is good
AsianGirl007 - thanks for asking. i am glad i was able to show you the door panel gap this past weekend. it's just hard to believe how that could possibly happen
GSXOTIC - thanks for the support and reinforcing the idea of doing the right thing.
r00kie - like i said in my post, just be careful. i am not saying everyone will have problem, but just check to make sure everything is good
AsianGirl007 - thanks for asking. i am glad i was able to show you the door panel gap this past weekend. it's just hard to believe how that could possibly happen
Last edited by rominl; 07-19-05 at 12:59 AM.
07-19-05, 12:58 AM
#20
i also want to take the chance to thank those who have helped me along this painful (and never ending) process and provided me support and help. thanks to asiangirl007 and neo for encouraging me to talk to lmw about the problems. thanks to flipside909 and lxogood for locating lmw people the night when the luxlink died, and also other members like gsxotic and some other people i missed who talked to me or my wife about the issue. thank you very much
we have given lmw more than a few times. the install, the first visit, the second visit with steve, and the latest visit this past weekend with no result. that's also the reason why i have never posted about this before, i want to give them chances. but seriously, we don't have the time to just keep on going back for test and trial. if there is a definite solution, we are there. but doing a 40 min drive in the direction we never head to, that's a lot of time
and i hope no one comes and tell me this is all coincident and isolated case. man, if it's just one fault i can probably relate that, but all three items failed, and everyone of them with couple of errors induced? i always buy lotto but i am that far off
we have given lmw more than a few times. the install, the first visit, the second visit with steve, and the latest visit this past weekend with no result. that's also the reason why i have never posted about this before, i want to give them chances. but seriously, we don't have the time to just keep on going back for test and trial. if there is a definite solution, we are there. but doing a 40 min drive in the direction we never head to, that's a lot of time
and i hope no one comes and tell me this is all coincident and isolated case. man, if it's just one fault i can probably relate that, but all three items failed, and everyone of them with couple of errors induced? i always buy lotto but i am that far off
07-19-05, 01:33 AM
#21
Lexus Champion
oh man, thanks for the heads up Henry. Sorry about your situation, I hope everything gets resolved.
Did you get the name of the tech who worked on your car?
I'll be dropping by LMS in the morning to talk to steve about my supercharger setup. But from reading your situation, it's giving me second thoughts
**This just came to mind.
Aparently, the tech was a noob to have messed up all those installs.
But about the door panels, what if they accidently swapped the door panels with the other SC which had that bent panel before?
Did you get the name of the tech who worked on your car?
I'll be dropping by LMS in the morning to talk to steve about my supercharger setup. But from reading your situation, it's giving me second thoughts
**This just came to mind.
Aparently, the tech was a noob to have messed up all those installs.
But about the door panels, what if they accidently swapped the door panels with the other SC which had that bent panel before?
07-19-05, 02:09 AM
#22
Originally Posted by mikal
oh man, thanks for the heads up Henry. Sorry about your situation, I hope everything gets resolved.
Did you get the name of the tech who worked on your car?
I'll be dropping by LMS in the morning to talk to steve about my supercharger setup. But from reading your situation, it's giving me second thoughts
**This just came to mind.
Aparently, the tech was a noob to have messed up all those installs.
But about the door panels, what if they accidently swapped the door panels with the other SC which had that bent panel before?
Did you get the name of the tech who worked on your car?
I'll be dropping by LMS in the morning to talk to steve about my supercharger setup. But from reading your situation, it's giving me second thoughts
**This just came to mind.
Aparently, the tech was a noob to have messed up all those installs.
But about the door panels, what if they accidently swapped the door panels with the other SC which had that bent panel before?
the tech work put stuff on my car is ray. i am not sure who took the stuff off the other cl member's car though.
i don't want to talk about the supercharger setup. it's OT to this thread and i don't want to get involved in that right now.
ray is not a noob, he was not a master tech when working at longo, but he worked with steve for quite a while i believe
about the door panel, good thoughts there, but it's not possible coz' the other sc430 has black interior, so the leather doesn't match. great great thinking though. also, my car was the only car left (it was 7pm already) when they did the luxlink install. and ray was the one who worked on the door panel, steering area. jacen worked on the climate control area. that's all i remember
07-19-05, 05:43 AM
#23
EV ftw!!!
I just wanted to express my condolences (is that the right word?) to both of you (Rominl and Mimi) for what you went through on what seems to be a simple install of sway bars, suspension and the Luxlink stuff.
The fact that you kept this quiet for so long and went through all the trouble for LMW to right this wrong speaks volumes about your high tolerance level and your faith in the hopes that LMW would right the wrongs they did.
I think that at a minimum, they should replace the door panel for you for free as a token of your business and all the time you wasted on the long drives, the visits to their workshop etc.
Let us know how this whole saga ends.
The fact that you kept this quiet for so long and went through all the trouble for LMW to right this wrong speaks volumes about your high tolerance level and your faith in the hopes that LMW would right the wrongs they did.
I think that at a minimum, they should replace the door panel for you for free as a token of your business and all the time you wasted on the long drives, the visits to their workshop etc.
Let us know how this whole saga ends.
07-19-05, 06:28 AM
#24
Originally Posted by rominl
these are not tough jobs at all, it's not like installing turbos or supercharge. it's just putting on coilovers, sways, and even their own in house created luxlink modules. and they messed them all up. nonetheless we are extremely disappointed, when they literally messed up our 60k car. it's not a 10k junk, i can probably deal with that, but on a 60k car, it's very different.
Hey my car is worth 10K I take offence...
But seriously, It shouldnt matter it you put these guys to work on a GT3 or a ham sandwich it's still THEIR responcibilty to make sure the work is 100%. In the time we are in now, car custom shops or specialized mechanic installers/dealers need to be really carful on how they handle dissatisified customers. The tight knit group of car inthuaist on a forum such like this will have the name spreading like wild fire on how they back up their work..
I brought some coilovers off of a long time member of a fourm I'm a part of. The member is a moderator such as I am and had been on the forurm for as long or longer than me. I paid $900 for the 2k mile used coilovers. They usually retail for 1400 but they are special order and I didnt want to wait for the 6-8 weeks to arrive from Japan. Ones they arrived it looked as if the coilovers had been kicked down a flight of concret stairs due to the amt. of paint chiping and wear on the coilovers. Nevertheless, I put them on. Fast foward , come to find out the 2 front damperners were blown and the seller said that he took a loss selling them at 900 (he paid 1100 for them) and he was sorry for what had happend. No offer to even go half on the new struts.. It's awfil the way peopel nowadays operate in business.
07-19-05, 06:31 AM
#25
Originally Posted by rominl
thanks mike. i hope it could be resolved too, who doesn't want his/her car to look normal again?
the tech work put stuff on my car is ray. i am not sure who took the stuff off the other cl member's car though.
i don't want to talk about the supercharger setup. it's OT to this thread and i don't want to get involved in that right now.
ray is not a noob, he was not a master tech when working at longo, but he worked with steve for quite a while i believe
about the door panel, good thoughts there, but it's not possible coz' the other sc430 has black interior, so the leather doesn't match. great great thinking though. also, my car was the only car left (it was 7pm already) when they did the luxlink install. and ray was the one who worked on the door panel, steering area. jacen worked on the climate control area. that's all i remember
the tech work put stuff on my car is ray. i am not sure who took the stuff off the other cl member's car though.
i don't want to talk about the supercharger setup. it's OT to this thread and i don't want to get involved in that right now.
ray is not a noob, he was not a master tech when working at longo, but he worked with steve for quite a while i believe
about the door panel, good thoughts there, but it's not possible coz' the other sc430 has black interior, so the leather doesn't match. great great thinking though. also, my car was the only car left (it was 7pm already) when they did the luxlink install. and ray was the one who worked on the door panel, steering area. jacen worked on the climate control area. that's all i remember
What they did w/ the door panel is got lazy (since it was late) and tried to work around the panel while it was still on the door.
07-19-05, 08:00 AM
#26
Super Moderator
So sorry to hear they have messed up so many things during installation 
Hope you can get everything fixed & resolved to your satisfaction, good luck, & keep us posted.
Hope you can get everything fixed & resolved to your satisfaction, good luck, & keep us posted.
07-19-05, 09:21 AM
#28
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Join Date: Sep 2004
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To all club Lexus members and especially Henry and Mimi,
I always dreaded for this day to come. The forums and the internet have been a great tool for us to spread the word about Luxury Motorworks. I really appreciate everything every one has said and done to support us.
So far till this day I always counted my lucky stars thinking "wow" every one seems to be real happy with our services and products. I would tell the guys we have to be more careful now more than ever before. The busier we get, the more cars we work on, the greater the odds are going to be to make mistakes.
I told them you can have 5000 people post how happy they are but it will only take one or two to post how unhappy they are. Explain their story and completely destroy all the hard work we have done for the past 3 years. It has finally happened.
I also told them it does not matter if you are working on $500,000.00 car or a $500.00 car the valve stem cap is just as important on both cars
I can tell you that there are few people more passionate about customer service than I am. It is my goal to make sure that every one that comes through our doors is completely satisfied. I would love to personally work on every car that comes here but that is not possible. I rely on my guys to make decisions day in and day out that hopefully are the right decisions. We have procedures in place to hopefully keep mistakes to a minimum. These guys are human and they do and will make mistakes. That is part of learning. Unfortunately, that is something we have to deal with at times. I can tell you these guys work on a lot of cars. Being in the business for 15 years. I would have to say they do a great job! I look over their work from time to time and it is always very clean and good. I really wish I could rewind and go back to that day to see exactly what happened but that is not possible. We can only move forward from here and learn to do better in the future.
I was not there the day Henry and Mimi came in to have their car worked on. Somewhere between then and now I missed something. I was not aware that they were and are so upset. I thought I was doing every thing possible to fix all the mistakes that were made. You are all correct though you can only say sorry so many times.
I really am sorry and sympathetic to Henry and Mimi. To make someone cry over the service we provided makes me very sad.
I really hope that this does not stop members from coming to see us and that it shows that we are human and we strive every single day to do better and better.
Henry and Mimi,
I will contact you to make arrangements to get your door panel fixed. If it takes a new door panel to fix your car I will buy you a new door panel. You know I am willing to do what ever it takes to make you happy. I hope some day I can regain your trust. I know it won't be easy but I will sure try.
Best Regards,
Steve
I always dreaded for this day to come. The forums and the internet have been a great tool for us to spread the word about Luxury Motorworks. I really appreciate everything every one has said and done to support us.
So far till this day I always counted my lucky stars thinking "wow" every one seems to be real happy with our services and products. I would tell the guys we have to be more careful now more than ever before. The busier we get, the more cars we work on, the greater the odds are going to be to make mistakes.
I told them you can have 5000 people post how happy they are but it will only take one or two to post how unhappy they are. Explain their story and completely destroy all the hard work we have done for the past 3 years. It has finally happened.
I also told them it does not matter if you are working on $500,000.00 car or a $500.00 car the valve stem cap is just as important on both cars
I can tell you that there are few people more passionate about customer service than I am. It is my goal to make sure that every one that comes through our doors is completely satisfied. I would love to personally work on every car that comes here but that is not possible. I rely on my guys to make decisions day in and day out that hopefully are the right decisions. We have procedures in place to hopefully keep mistakes to a minimum. These guys are human and they do and will make mistakes. That is part of learning. Unfortunately, that is something we have to deal with at times. I can tell you these guys work on a lot of cars. Being in the business for 15 years. I would have to say they do a great job! I look over their work from time to time and it is always very clean and good. I really wish I could rewind and go back to that day to see exactly what happened but that is not possible. We can only move forward from here and learn to do better in the future.
I was not there the day Henry and Mimi came in to have their car worked on. Somewhere between then and now I missed something. I was not aware that they were and are so upset. I thought I was doing every thing possible to fix all the mistakes that were made. You are all correct though you can only say sorry so many times.
I really am sorry and sympathetic to Henry and Mimi. To make someone cry over the service we provided makes me very sad.
I really hope that this does not stop members from coming to see us and that it shows that we are human and we strive every single day to do better and better.
Henry and Mimi,
I will contact you to make arrangements to get your door panel fixed. If it takes a new door panel to fix your car I will buy you a new door panel. You know I am willing to do what ever it takes to make you happy. I hope some day I can regain your trust. I know it won't be easy but I will sure try.
Best Regards,
Steve
Last edited by Luxury Motorworks; 07-19-05 at 10:08 AM.
07-19-05, 11:16 AM
#29
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Join Date: Feb 2004
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henry,
sorry to hear about your car. it seems that steve is willing to fix your problems, so best wishes getting your door panels and everything else resolved.
hopefully you can recoup your extra costs from having to get your problems fixed elsewhere as well...
sorry to hear about your car. it seems that steve is willing to fix your problems, so best wishes getting your door panels and everything else resolved.
hopefully you can recoup your extra costs from having to get your problems fixed elsewhere as well...
Last edited by irv_usc; 07-19-05 at 11:28 AM.
07-19-05, 11:31 AM
#30
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Awsome experience
Sorry to hear that your experience was not what you expected BUT MINE WAS GREAT!! I had a horrible experience with my lexus dealer (certified keep in mind). So when I heard of LMS I was excited to hear that I can get great service for half the price. I am so happy and satisfied with everything they have done to my car and it has been enough installs to know that they do a Excellent job. They have done.
1. Coilover install
2. Cam gear install
3. Exhaust install
4. Intake install
5. Full tune up
6. Oil changes
7.water pump change
8. Brakes
9. Ball joints
10. Caliper... that he gave me cause he found that a certifed lexus tech broke a bolt in there, so he gave me one free.
11. New master brake system
SO with that said I think LMS is ahead of their game and are excellent techs and one of the few companys with above average cunstomer service.
Thats my experience at LMS
I will refer them always
1. Coilover install
2. Cam gear install
3. Exhaust install
4. Intake install
5. Full tune up
6. Oil changes
7.water pump change
8. Brakes
9. Ball joints
10. Caliper... that he gave me cause he found that a certifed lexus tech broke a bolt in there, so he gave me one free.
11. New master brake system
SO with that said I think LMS is ahead of their game and are excellent techs and one of the few companys with above average cunstomer service.
Thats my experience at LMS
I will refer them always
Last edited by aristogirl; 07-19-05 at 11:35 AM.