Furious at the Lexus Dealer!
08-31-12, 03:36 PM
#17
Intermediate
That's unbelievable, sorry you got treated that way.
I find that these days there's so many people in service industries that won't simply say, "I don't know how to solve this problem," or "I'm sorry we screwed up." I worked for 10 years in a dealership and was never afraid to tell a customer these things, as a result I had far fewer issues than my colleages. I left the industry for two reasons, I wanted a change and because more and more people came in with a mind to rip us off. From your post I believe you've been treated badly and it sucks. I hope it works out for you and you can enjoy your car again.
I find that these days there's so many people in service industries that won't simply say, "I don't know how to solve this problem," or "I'm sorry we screwed up." I worked for 10 years in a dealership and was never afraid to tell a customer these things, as a result I had far fewer issues than my colleages. I left the industry for two reasons, I wanted a change and because more and more people came in with a mind to rip us off. From your post I believe you've been treated badly and it sucks. I hope it works out for you and you can enjoy your car again.
09-01-12, 12:10 PM
#19
Check ur wheels and wheel bearings first. It can be lots of things but u should check all the easy stuff first before throwing a lot of money into the expensive stuff that might not even fix the problem :/
Make sure the tie rods are good, bushing aren't worn out, rotors aren't warped, and if it comes down to it then u can tighten the rack n pinion nut just a little (not recommended but it can fix the shaking problem in some cases)
Make sure the tie rods are good, bushing aren't worn out, rotors aren't warped, and if it comes down to it then u can tighten the rack n pinion nut just a little (not recommended but it can fix the shaking problem in some cases)
09-01-12, 04:28 PM
#21
Hearing stories like this sucks because the dealership charges you double what the regular mechanic would so you feel you would get better service.... To get rid of the shake I had to change all the front end bushings, lbj's, and tie rod ends, not to mention balance and wheel alignment... Just took a ride to PA this weekend and **** is shaking again.... Gonna get another balance and alignment when I get my rear carrier bushings swapped out hopefully the shake will be gone again... But if you read through the threAds on here there are people that replaced tons of things and still have the shakes... Good luck hope you can figure it out..
09-02-12, 09:41 AM
#23
Pole Position
Join Date: Jan 2012
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"What training are you talking about"
Speaking of training. Most companies or Corporate America can't afford it nowaday. Regarding the mechanic getting pay, Most are on commission. Sadly but it the truth. I have two friends that work at Lexus and dealer and one at Toyota. So you can see why they are always interesting in replacing parts. No replacing part, the mechanic is not getting pay and the dealer is not selling parts. So the manager is not well performed at his/her assigned task. Missed diagnose your problem. Yes because the individual worked your car can be a new SAE gruduated Tech and could use some shop time to gain experience and move on.
As for your problem, was the vibration coming from the rear or the front? left or right? I am sure you can pinpoint which of the four corners was the shaking coming from. I had one bad rim, and was able to located it by rotated the tires from left to right and front to back. It was hollowing and crying to get my attention. My tool time is equally or less then one hour. I don't even know how to work on car.
As for your problem, was the vibration coming from the rear or the front? left or right? I am sure you can pinpoint which of the four corners was the shaking coming from. I had one bad rim, and was able to located it by rotated the tires from left to right and front to back. It was hollowing and crying to get my attention. My tool time is equally or less then one hour. I don't even know how to work on car.
Last edited by GS714; 09-02-12 at 10:42 AM. Reason: spelling
09-02-12, 01:23 PM
#25
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Aug 2012
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i'm the same way as well. just because they are a dealership doesn't mean that they'll provide you the best service. even with parts they mark up the price a SIGNIFICANT amount.
for example, i just purchased lower ball joints for my gs and i talked to luis at carson toyota and he got them for me for just around $160 shipped. I called my local dealership before going to him (big mistake lol) just to see what the prices were and they wanted $140 each side!!!!!
try to just find a mechanic that you can trust or get referred from a friend that is trustworthy and go with that. not only is it cheaper but it's worth it.
09-02-12, 01:44 PM
#26
Driver
Join Date: Jan 2005
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I'm sure you know this, but with the GS300 & 400 it can be extremely difficult to balance the front and to a lesser extent rear wheels when the first set of OEM tires run out.
On my 2001 GS300 there was only one shop in the Seattle area (a Les Schwab store) that had the correct balance machine. My local Lexus dealer didn't have the correct balancer and only 1 of the Les Schwab's had it. As far as I know this only applies to GS 300 & 400's, my previous RX, LS and current IS250C never had the issue.
If all else fails find a shop that has a Hunter unit.
http://www.hunter.com/balancer/index.cfm
I have no affiliation with them, but I struggled for weeks getting the wheels balanced. I would watch the mechanic balance my wheels-I could see the machine was saying my wheels were perfect, take it out on the freeway-not balanced.
An ex-Lexus mechanic told me about Hunter, he had his own little shop and didn't own one, but told me where to go.
Might be worth a try, if you have eliminated everything else.
Machog
On my 2001 GS300 there was only one shop in the Seattle area (a Les Schwab store) that had the correct balance machine. My local Lexus dealer didn't have the correct balancer and only 1 of the Les Schwab's had it. As far as I know this only applies to GS 300 & 400's, my previous RX, LS and current IS250C never had the issue.
If all else fails find a shop that has a Hunter unit.
http://www.hunter.com/balancer/index.cfm
I have no affiliation with them, but I struggled for weeks getting the wheels balanced. I would watch the mechanic balance my wheels-I could see the machine was saying my wheels were perfect, take it out on the freeway-not balanced.
An ex-Lexus mechanic told me about Hunter, he had his own little shop and didn't own one, but told me where to go.
Might be worth a try, if you have eliminated everything else.
Machog
09-02-12, 05:52 PM
#28
My Dealer tried to charge me $4500 to fix a transmission fault, luckily I didn't have $4500 at the time and fixed it for $35. Another left a socket in my steering rack causing it to probably split the bush that i'm replacing now.
No wonder I got the shakes, another removed the Navi in my current car with a screw driver, prying against the dash. Oh and I changed my spark plugs out of my 300 the other day, guess what? only 4 of them matched, unsurprisingly the middle ones (under the intake manifold/throttle body) had not been changed, they only swapped out the easy ones. This is 3 different Lexus dealers and no I'm not an idiot, I have only ever taken cars to them when it's them paying....
No wonder I got the shakes, another removed the Navi in my current car with a screw driver, prying against the dash. Oh and I changed my spark plugs out of my 300 the other day, guess what? only 4 of them matched, unsurprisingly the middle ones (under the intake manifold/throttle body) had not been changed, they only swapped out the easy ones. This is 3 different Lexus dealers and no I'm not an idiot, I have only ever taken cars to them when it's them paying....
09-02-12, 08:18 PM
#29
Luckily I have a few friends that work at Leuxs. If there is anything that is dealer only specific, I can bring it up to them to get them to scan the Toyota specific codes. It really depends on what dealer you goto though. Some are shady and others are ok.
