lexuslover

just wanted to share an aggravating story and get your comments (sorry for the long post):

Visit #1 - so the car was in for the 30k service about 2 weeks ago. they finished the service and i picked up the car, and the next day noticed oil dripping on my garage floor. we have epoxy coated floors (beige) so it is obvious when something is dripping, ie., it's not old stains. so here's how the saga begins:

Visit #2 - bring the car in on the following Tuesday - tell them it's been dripping oil on my floor for 3 days and the steering wheel and seats have vibration around 70-80mph. so they say ok, we'll take care of it. they call me up 4-5 hrs later and tell me to pick it up, that they rebalanced wheels and powerwashed the underbelly. they say that excess residue is normal to build up under the car after an oil change that's funny, cuz i have had many many lexuses and none ever did that.

Visit #3 - bring in the car on the following Saturday - still been dripping oil for 4 days and vibration never fixed. this time i get the service manager and tell her that i don't want to come back for a 4th time for something so mundane as an oil change and wheel balance/rotation. I told HER that they should leave the car overnight and clean it and see where it's dripping from, b/c clearly the "excess residue" explanation is bogus. (why is it the customer has to tell the advisor how to do the job?) she says she understands and will personally take care of it.

Visit #4 - pick up the car yesterday (had to leave for the whole week due to fire evacuations in San Diego). hubby and i go to breakfast nearby, when we get out of car there are two very deep scratches on our rear bumper where a front license plate would be. so we head back and i demand to speak to someone higher up. after waiting 5 min and seeing them walk around, the service person is talking to the Service Director, and i can see them thru the window looking at celebrity news (paris hilton photos) and laughing, later they pull up my service history. a few minutes later the Customer Relations Mgr comes over to talk to us. i argue w/ him in the service drive, and i tell him i want my money back for the service, and i don't want them to touch the car anymore. that i will have the bumper fixed on my own, and that their incompetence has cost me far too much time and aggravation. he says that refunds are near impossible since they are owned by Penske i tell him i don't buy that for a second, and i keep arguing. he continues to tell me that lot damage is VERY common and they park 200 cars in a space that holds 125 and that bumpers get damaged all the time. i was like WTF; how is that my problem.

anyway, after 20 min of arguing, he finally takes us inside and agrees to refund me the $550 and i get him to sign a piece of paper to say that it will be done and we get the hell out of there.


for the record, i rarely use this dealer for service. they just happ to have appts that weekend and i thought a routine service was no biggie (no rattle issues, etc) and we only have < 5 months left on the lease anyway.

i really want to call corporate or do something to complain and get them into trouble, because their attitude of "this is normal" (regarding oil dripping and bumper damage) is absolutely ridiculous. he offered to fix it, but i said no way in hell will i ever go there again or leave the car there.

any advice?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

omg, that must be longo lexus then? their service has never been something i am impressed with, in fact i will never go there for service. really sorry to hear your problem

djentee

I had experienced a damage on my bumper while getting my 5K-mile service. They tried to deny that they're the one who damaged it but after 20 mins of arguing with the Service Advisor he finally told me that the dealership will fix my bumper and the clear mask.

Follow up with your refund and also take the time to fill out the service survey from Lexus once you get it. Your voice matters with Toyota/Lexus, customer satisfaction is a vital key to the company's success.

safricags

not sure how dealerships work there in the states, so i dunno if this approach would work.

this is what happened when i bought my car, about 5 weeks ago.

picked a silver with black interior with new generation screen.
called the next day to find out when i can pick it up, get told that the dealer principal SOLD it to someone else. WTF??
then get told there are no more silver's in the country for the next 4 weeks.
now i'm wild. 30 minutes leter the sales guy (great guy) calls me to tell me he knows someone at the clearance facility (where the cars go after being imprted)and had them look what had just arrived but were not 'registered' on the stock system. he got in his car and drove the 60 miles to the facility and went hunting. he calls to say he has found a silver with ash/black inserts and new screen (later found out that it is the only one in the country with this configuration). he copies down the vin etc etc. get's it loaded and books it in my name. what a star!
2 hours later he gets a call from one of the directors of toyota sa to ask him what the hell he is playing at.the car was a special order for one of the directors of avis (largest car rental co in sa). he explains the problem and that he isn't or me isn't going to accept anything else. after much wailing and nashing of teeth, the other customer was told the story and given an additional discount to wait longer for another car.
toyota sa apologised for the mix up and were fantastic in making sure that everyone was happy.

i guess the moral of my long story is that sh#t rolls downhill. if there is a head office for lexus that has some control over dealerships, call them and soeak to THE BOSS. i have always found amazing results craping on the general and not the corporal.

but it sucks what ur going thru.

ellite100

Hello LEXUSLOVER, I feel your pain, I just got the same reaction here in NY when I gave my car for service. I got my gs350 at NJ dealer (Ray Catena) - 1 hour away from my house, did 5000 miles service there which was great, they did very good job, including changing front brakes because of the dust issues + oil change. Well, on the way back I got a nail into my tire and had to replace it fast, so I went to Lexus Of Manhattan to replace the tire, and here we go - they scratched the whole rim while changing the tire, they scratch my trunk, they dent my back bumper and on the top of all this, they replaced Ray Catena name frame with Lexus Of Manhattan logo on my licence plate. I did not even notice that until I took my car tho the car wash this Saturday. Wow - are they allowed to that? They did damage to my car and now what me to advertise their name??? I am also thinking to call corporate office with complaint. Changing licence plate frame really pissed me off. What do you think calling to corporate will do?

brownz

iTrader: (1)

i would guess kearny mesa lexus in san diego...

lexuslover

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i really regret being lazy and taking it there 2 wks ago. i usually go to Bob Baker which is my favorite, but we were already 4 weeks /1500 miles behind on the service and they happ to have appts that weekend so we just went. i would've much rather driven twice as long to go to Baker and paid twice as much. it really, really, really sucks.

i am HOPING that one of my 3 service visits will result in a survey being sent from Lexus Corporate, but even without that, i will probably write a letter to Lexus and Penske and tell them about this. i just can't believe the guy's nonchalant attitude about bumper damage. he kept looking at it and thinking it wasn't a big deal. and i was thinking to myself, how much frickin money do you have to spend on a car for your dealership to give a rats *** about this?? if it was a LS600hL, would you just tell them "oh it happens all the time"...

i'm expecting to receive the refund this week (they said it HAS to be a manual check, which i didn't really believe but was tired of arguing). once i get it i will be unleashing some major hell. plus i need to take that money and get our bumper fixed

finally found my camera amidst all our crap we packed up during the evacuations, will post some pics later on...

EXP_Cougar

I would lose my mind! What are these people thinking? Makes you want to take pictures of your car before you take it into the dealership each time... hmmm... good idea

lexuslover

yeah it's ironic that they have these checkin guys at the service drive to walk around and write down all the damage you have BEFOREHAND, but then they try to let you drive off with damage THEY did without even saying a word

it's disgusting and makes me sick to think of all the other customers that may not have noticed for 3-4 days and didn't bother bringing it back. (and god knows how badly they'd deny it if you didn't bring it to their attention within a few hrs like we did)

lexuslover

p.s. we also noticed that their "rebalancing" of the tires during Visit #3 included another rotation of the tires right back to where they were before we started this whole mess. i know this because we had some small curb rash on one wheel on the Passenger Rear and it ended up back there again after the 3rd visit

some job they did!

BKE420

LL....Geez....you would think this is just a nightmare...Sorry to hear of your poor service....I sure hope this isn't a common thing for all Lexus dealerships....have the same sentiments as EXP Cougar...but don't and shouldn't have to take pics beforehand. I hope all of this nonsense gets resolved quickly!!

I hope karma bites Kearney Mesa Lexus where it counts.

brownz

iTrader: (1)

The service guys are morons at lexus KM.

Since it is a lease, have them note in their systems that they caused the damage. Dont replace anything, and return the car to lexus KM when the lease is up. When they check the car back in and try to fine you for the damage, have them review the cars service record.