Claude7629

I picked up on this topic on another subject in the forum. I would be curious to hear from others on their experience of susbstaining damage to their vehicles at the dealership. I had my roof rack damaged when I took it in to get the cross bars repaired. They somehow became jammed. When I got my RX back the end caps were broken, but it was put back in a way as to hide the damage.

My wheels were scratched all the heck and back when I had a flat repaired. I got the repairs made properly but with no compensation for my time which I consider valuable.

I know I am not alone on this one. Experiences anyone? The only damaged my RX has ever incurred was at the dealership.

salimshah

The answer is very complicated as there are no established rules to go bye.

The first problem is, how do you establish who caused the damage? There are bad shops who would not own up to breakage/damage and there are owners who want to bilk. Then there is one more group where the damage was done before the vehicle is brought in for repairs and the owner was not aware, but since the discovery was done at pick-up time, the owner is convinced it was done in the shop. Some shops now have cameras to keep track.

Lets assume we are dealing with damage at the shop which they own up to. Keep in mind, when you drop the vehicle you also sign a paper that gives them the right to operate. So technically it is like you giving your vehicle to your friend or neighbor. Any accident that happens is technically covered by your insurance. The shops typically have thier own insurance, but simply try to get your vehicle in the same working condition it was before you brought it in [The insurance companies would do the same for you].

Compensation for owners time ... you can make a civil case out of it, but most probably the court would not award you for your time. I could be wrong but that is my impression.

At the end, the shops pass on their losses to all consumers.

My personal experience with GS: Scratched bumper ... was fixed by the dealer.
Scratched hood [wipers left up, and the hood was raised]. I did not bring it up.


Salim

shikbas

in 2004 i brought my x 330 to the dealr for complimentory oil change,then i opened the hood at home to check the oil ,i found scratches all over the black painted body next to the lights and radiator,then brought it back to fix some dash rattles and the tech damaged the passanger side door cover over the speaker,i told the manager and he suggested to fix for good evaluation in their behalf......you will deal with such people all the times

metal

Always insist on the "walk-around" prior to leaving off your car anywhere...IMHO

mmlex1987

Every post is so true and accurate. My concern "everytime" I go to the dealership, is please let a quality technician who takes pride in their work take care of my vehicle and I always worry about damage, especially with moving the car around etc. I once had a small ding in my ES and noticed in the pickup drive area. Fortunately the service writer I always use knows how **** and picky i am about my vehicles and had it repaired at no charge. I always believe now that when I go in, they know how I am so maybe take just a little more care? Well, I would like to believe that>

RsSharKy

yes, it may happened!
took my car in due to microtrak not function right
left with problem not solve plus noise from dashboard and grease finger prints on seat, door handle, and steering wheel
went back a week later, whined about the noise from dash
problem solved by a "chrysler" tech
since they not allow to sell chrysler anymore, they used all of their chrysler tech to help out
that kindda don't make sense, isn't it?
chrysler's tech is doing a better job than lexus tech
not to mention, he probably not even certified by toyota / lexus

ecount00

Agree on that. Sort of like walking around a rental car before you take it but in reverse. There you want to identify damage so you don't get blamed later. Here you want someone to walk around with you and agree that there is no damage.

I must be lucky as I've never had any issues. But this and other worries are reasons to build a solid relationship with a good service rep. Things tend to get taken care of better IMO.

mandyfig

Damage to your car while being worked on happens all the time and I am pretty sure GOOD dealers have put in countermeasures for them not to happen.

Like anything else, there will be good, average and bad dealers. We are hoping that since it is a Lexus dealer, that all of them will be GOOD.

The line of defense for us is always: inspect the car right after you go home (assuming that you are pretty familiar with your car before you take it in, the 1st step is to take time to do a walk around your car prior to sending in for work). Take pictures and report them ASAP. Then the ball is in your dealer's court. The rest will be determined on how the dealer resolves the issue.

You always have the Lexus hotline to call if you are not happy or satisfied with your dealer's handling of the complaint.

In all of this, please be nice (but firm) and professional. and you will be treated the same way (we hope).

This happened to me with my Acura TL. After a service, and luckily I did the inspection when the car was delivered on the bay, I noticed a ding on the driver's side. They took it back, in half an hour, it came back repaired. The removed the ding and touched it up and I was happy with it. To this day I can see that ding.

For my RX, they replaced the pass grab bar and in so doing ripped the roof liner. Since it was a small hole, I let it go. I would have had a new roof liner if I complained, but was worried about the whole process of replacement, decided to just keep quiet.

2ndly they replaced the roof cross bars and so doing damaged the trims, using a screw driver to remove it instead of the proper procedure. They also managed to break the tabs and therefore the trims were loose. I ended up putting a tie wrap to make sure the trims were flushed and anchored. I ended up removing my roof rack so now I am no longer pissed looking at my roof rack trim.


Yes, the incidence if failure is proportional to the number of trips for repair. So relying on a GOOD dealer is very important. You will also notice that they keep your service technician for the life of the car, keep familiarity constant. If you end up with a so-so service tech, you are toast. And finally it is all about the SERVICE Advisor, you get a good one, you are all set. You must invest time to develop a good relationship with your service advisor.

When you are 0 out of 2 of the above, time to change dealers and start all over again.

kitlz

I agree with Mike, Greg and mandyfig. Stay with the same service advisor and tech if you can. My SA will only let one or two techs work on my RX and she always tells them to be super cautious. Knock on wood, 11+ years and no problems. I know if there was one, heads would be rolling.

mandyfig

Congrats! You have the new RX450! Post some pics!

Did you trade in? How much did they give you?

Claude7629

I knew I was not alone. Just in case you put those crossbars back on, you can get replacement trim pieces. They are called end caps. Lexus broke mine too. I got new ones. I had to show them how to do the install. I just happen to see a tech working on my RX and saw the look of perplexion and decided I better intervene before I spent another two hours waiting on a 15minute job.

kitlz

PM sent. Didn't want to hijack the thread