monkeyman8

Does anyone receive special discounts on their regular service? Meaning... I have used the same service person every time for the past 4 years and have never been offered any special discounts. I am not pushing the issue... as I have received good service... however the guy I work with at Toyota for my other car gives me 10% off as a loyal customer. I have asked the Lexus person if this was available and it was declined. I am fine with that... as long as no on else is getting a loyalty discount!

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

I've been going to Lexus for service for 3 years and no discount. However, certain service advisers can look into small things with out charging/"nickel and diming" .

Also, from time to time, my dealership will have online fliers for discounts on certain services or parts.

ArmyofOne

When I had my 06 Honda Civic, We went in for service on schedule, the dealership would always do their standard courtesy check/inspection. Many times if they found something (dying battery for instance) they would replace at no cost to me, and told me when we picked the car up, "Mr. Morrison, we noticed your battery was going bad and replaced it for you. No Charge."

The battery was under warranty I would imagine, but they would have been within their rights (with 60k on the car) should have charged me the labor.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

With pricing as competitive as ever, it is difficult to offer loyalty type discounts. Myself biggest push with our regular customers is advising where they can find the best coupons and of course certain services might just get done, instead of being sold to the customer...

I've always thought of this as a great example: How many gallons of milk do you buy a year? Chances are you buy most of it from the same place, whether for convenience, price, or they just have what you want (availability). You would consider yourself a loyal customer. When is the last time you got or expected a discount on your monthly or weekly milk
purchase?

Why is your service shop so muchdifferent than the place you buy milk? You went there originally and now consider yourself a loyal customer, so you obviously like something about the place, whether it be price, convenience, availability, trust, or some combination... if they can give loyal customers a straight 10% break, think how badly you were screwed when you first started doing business with them...

In the car service business, so long as you do a decent job, keep your customer informed, and have reasonable prices, chances are, the customer will come back to you. Even with being a corporate owned store in a little town and tons of mom and pop shops to compete with, we have an 80 percent retention rate... if we offered loyalty discounts, we'd lose a ton of revenue... We do send customers coupons, for sure, which I encourage, but not flat loyalty discount....

Just another way for people to look at it...

monkeyman8

Not sure I really follow your milk example... or maybe I do follow it, but don't really believe it is a reasonable comparison. For example, the milk store would be selling a product that is passed on from another vendor -- they are simply the marketplace. Whereas the Lexus dealership is selling a product that they make and service. When vehicles are serviced... often times there are discussions that take place and a level of trust is established that can offset some potential negative issues that may arise (misdiagnosis, customer error, etc -- these can go both ways). Once you get to know someone and trust them -- it's appreciated when they acknowledge your patronage. Especially, when you wait for repairs / service for when they are in the office and not on a day off or a vacation. Places would not go out of business for taking care of their "top 10%" etc... it's likely common practice in other fields.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Except the fact that the Lexus dealer doesn't manufacture anything, they are simply reselling a part they sourced from Lexus, as a authorized dealer. They do add a service as installation, but that's it. What if you weren't part of that top 10%, even if you did every bit of service with every car you have, why does the Guy who bought a few more dollars worth of maintenance and repairs get a bigger discount? Chances are they spent more money on the car to start... those with more money get bigger discounts, the rich stay rich, the poor get poorer...

jj14

The lexus dealership I visit would send me a discounted oil change coupon (or 25% off any work at the dealership) if I didn't bring my car in for service within 8-10 months. (there were times when I was traveling and couldn't take my car in then) - but I did get almost all the service (including new tire purchase) from the dealership.
In addition, for major work (timing belt), they had discounted the total cost by 15% just for asking (again, I'm guessing it was because they had made enough money from me in the past) - but 15% less is a significant amount (especially with timing belt type work - when the other dealerships didn't offer any discount when I compared prices)

oki_boy

iTrader: (6)

I buy my milk from a grocery store, where I applied for a membership and now receive a discount to keep me as a loyal customer. Without said discount, the milk is just as overpriced as it is at most dealerships...I mean grocery stores.