Nebgry350

So, I have owned my 13' IS350 F Sport for a little over a year now, haven't had any major issues besides an unusually soft clear coat and some stubborn rattles coming from my chrome shift bezel. I did, however, noticed what appeared to be a thin white line in my chrome Lexus emblem on my steering wheel. I live approximately 50 miles away from the dealership, so I waited until my next service appointment and brought it to my advisors attention. They also noticed the white line in the emblem and made an attempt to clean the emblem while the vehicle was being serviced. The cleaning only seemed to enhance the appearance of the white line.

My advisor informed me they would have to contact a local Lexus rep regarding the defect, as the cost of the replacement is over $900 . Three weeks later, I got a call from my service advisor, who said Lexus is denying the warranty claim due to the excessive cost of the replacement part . I read the basic warranty information front to back and back to front, this emblem was never abused, misused, replaced, ect.... I proceeded to the next step in the warranty book, in that I contacted Lexus corporate and filed a warranty claim. I was assigned a case manager and the photographs were reviewed. After a week of waiting, I get the same response, Lexus will not replace this part under warranty due to the excessive cost of the airbag assembly it comes attached to.

Lexus seems to agree that they notice the defect in the emblem, however, they are still refusing to replace the part because of the cost of the replacement. Being that this emblem is on the steering wheel, I can't help but to notice this white line every time I drive the vehicle. I am in shock that Lexus is refusing to honor the basic warranty of the vehicle. The next step is to proceed to arbitration over the claim, which Lexus gives the consumer two options, either ask Lexus to do a buy back of the vehicle or ask for Lexus to put me in a new vehicle..... over a part that could be easily replaced.

Has anyone else ever experienced any issues with a Lexus warranty issue? I've seen emblems start to do this on older vehicles, but never on a nearly new vehicle. The line may only be a half inch long, however, its extremely noticeable with the sunroof and/or windows open.

chi123

iTrader: (12)

Which dealer did you go to? I'm surprised that was the response from Lexus saying it's too costly to replace so they denied it. I would have expected them to say you probably scratched it. Less than a year ago, I blew the engine on my IS350 and was a few hundred miles out of warranty. However, they went ahead to took care of it even though I'm technically out of warranty and the repair cost was almost $15K!

Nebgry350

I'm closer to St. Louis, MO and take my vehicle to Lexus of St. Louis. The dealer is always great to work with, and I understand them needing to get approval to have something replaced under warranty. I wish it were my fault that the line was there, then I wouldn't be so disappointed in going through all this trouble. The fact is, I'm the kind of person who keeps a microfiber towel on their center arm rest to keep it from getting dirty. The dealer even accommodated my request to deliver my vehicle with the factory plastic on it, so I could ensure it was never washed improperly.... Might be a little overboard, however, I take very good care of my vehicles and this is legitimately a product defect. I might add, prior to the dealer trying to clean the line, it was not as visible to me, not saying they did anything wrong, but the cleaning seems to have only made it more visible.

I was shocked too. The response I got over the phone is that the emblem is attached to the airbag assembly, therefore they are denying the warranty claim. For the longest time, I always thought it was a reflection from something in the vehicle, however, after taking a flashlight and looking at it, the chrome appeared to be applied very thin in that spot. The texture of the emblem is still smooth, so it wasn't scratched.

tex2670

You read the warranty carefully, and you seem knowledgeable about it. I'd respond to your case manager with "Please tell me which paragraph of the warranty states that you may deny a warranty repair because the cost of the part is excessive." Their warranty is a contractual obligation--they can't just create new terms that aren't there.

Nebgry350

I explained very kindly to her that they are not meeting their obligations under the warranty, and how this experience will certainly change my mind to purchase an RC350 in the future. My worry is what else would Lexus deny? I can understand discretionary items that are subject to normal wear and tear, however, this would not be one of those items. I am thoroughly disappointed in how Lexus has handled this claim. The case manager said all internal options have been exhausted at this point, the next step is arbitration.

After speaking to the case manager today, I later called back and spoke to a customer service agent, inquiring as to how to proceed to arbitration. The customer service agent was a bit of a smart ***, not really proposing any logical solutions. She said Lexus only gives two options when submitting a claim to arbitration, one is asking to have them buy the car back or putting me in a new vehicle, which would I like. I explained, I would like Lexus to fulfill their obligation of the warranty and replace the defective product, however, she said that is not an option. I went on to explain to her how ridiculous it would be to go to arbitration asking for a vehicle to be bought back due to a chrome emblem......... Regardless, Lexus didn't leave me much of a choice. It's either I'm stuck staring at a defective emblem for the remainder of ownership or plead my case to a neutral third party and ask that Lexus purchase my vehicle back. I can already tell you what an arbitrator is going to say... Luckily the arbitrators decision is not binding on the owner, therefore I can pursue this issue in small claims court.

The real underlying problem here is Lexus not honoring a manufacturers warranty regardless of how small the part is. Lexus is on the pursuit of perfection, but in this case, they have not yet achieved perfection. I recall a warranty issue I had with my Acura, some dye transfer on the leather, the dealer couldn't get the dye transfer out, they replaced the leather skin on my passenger seat, no questions asked, and that wasn't even a manufacturing issue...

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Not any more. They've established themselves and have no need to excel. Sadly, they are just Toyota's more expensive models now, like Lincoln..........

RSXiMUS

iTrader: (7)

Hmmm maybe it's just me but what white line on the emblem are you talking about it? I can't really tell....

Nebgry350

I know, its small Its on the left side of the L. You can see how most of that line is a darker shade, then a little less than halfway up that side of the L, the line turns to white the back to dark. Thats why this was extremely difficult to determine if it was actually a defect or if it were a reflection. Its difficult to take a good picture of it, due to the surrounding chrome reflecting off of everything else.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

I'm confused. How the heck can an emblem cost $900??? Is it made of gold??
Also, they fight all the way to trying to save the replacement cost and losing a customer and many potential buyers reading this??? Save $900 and lose selling a car to you and many more cars you might buy in the future. This also brings down some reputation about their warranty too.This is ridiculous.

Can you buy the emblem from Sewell and replace yourself instead for such a small thing like this? Then show them hey i did it under $20 bucks or something lol.

Jeff Lange

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I don't see it in the picture either.

Jeff

pheonix72

iTrader: (6)

I dont think you could just replace the emblem! Looks like the Airbag also need to be replaced.
To OP- it is hard for us to see the defect. So maybe you could try to get better pictures or ask Lexus to have their regional manager looks at the defect in person? Maybe ask them a simple question "would this pass Lexus Factory Inspection?"

Nebgry350

You cannot replace just the emblem. The emblem is attached into the airbag assembly, which means you must replace the entire assembly. I can assure you, this process has turned me off to buying another Lexus.

As far as the white line is concerned. If you were driving the vehicle, it would stick out to you. In photographs the line appears to be chrome reflecting off other chrome. However, in the last photograph published, the line is right in the middle of that photo. It is on the edge of the ->L about exactly where that arrow points.

Nebgry350

These are the photos I sent to Lexus. Unfortunately there is no more asking a service rep to inspect the vehicle. They have already made a decision regarding the warranty, and acknowledge that they notice the defect. They are just unwilling to replace it under warranty.

jasonr

I think they won't change the whole thing just cuz of emblem. They don't know if its excessive wear and tear or not. Its just like scratching your car and claim it. Saying that paint is bad. just an example……..

tex2670

They are bluffing. Arbitration will cost them way more than $900--hell, their attorneys probably charge that in 1 hour.