Lol I've had my car since August last year and I haven't installed that suite.... I just put it on media and get the phone to stream whatever...

-Mike

 

 

I had a similar experience with my local dealer, they had the GS350 I wanted, but their 'non-haggle' price was too high in my opinion, by about $3K. I had found similar CPO vehicles at nearby dealers, I wrote up my reasoning on the price I wanted to offer (it was a good offer) and sent her an email. She quickly replied that she was offended, she came in on her day off to show me the car (that was her choice- and I was there maybe 30 mins total including a test drive) She continued to go on about the no haggle pricing and how their dealership is better..blah blah. Told me to look at the other cars and see if they are in the same condition.

Well, she was right about her dealership, but vehicles are vehicles and condition is condition, period. But, here is the odd thing, the day I went to go to the other dealership to look at the other GS 350s, I checked my local dealer's CPO car listing, that car I offered $3K less on had a price drop of $2K. I quickly emailed her and she said the vehicle was sold. She must have had another buyer lined up is all I can figure. Also, these Lexus dealer websites must be setup for automatic price drops at certain points in time, not sure? Anyway, I was surprised to find out that the sales woman had been with that dealership for 20+ years. I find it amazing how she responded to me so offended. It is a damn business, not a personal relationship, at least that's how I looked at it.

 

So last week my GS had a dead battery and it was replaced at NTB for $188, installed. I realize this is a part not covered under the L-Certified or Platinum warranties, however, has anyone had success in having Lexus cover it for the sake of customer service? I've owned my GS for just under two months and it irks me that the battery already had to be R&R.

Thanks!

 

You probably should have had your Lexus dealership replace the battery. Then, maybe you could have received some help since your L-Certified car was purchased less than two months ago. Even if you had not received some financial help I think the Lexus replacement battery would have cost less than what you paid, and the Lexus replacement battery has the Lexus logo...for whatever that may be worth.

However with all that said, a battery can [load] test perfectly good yet fail the very next day (or minute for that matter). When a battery cell shorts out with another cell it happens in a nanosecond. On the other hand, a weak battery (usually due to battery age) can be determined by the load test procedure to alert the owner that the battery won't last much longer and should be replaced. The latter is what the dealership's load test provided at the time it was tested - it was determined the battery was good, but it failed two months later not due to weakness, but it failed due to a shorted cell that could not have been predicted.

I would not spend much effort trying to be compensated in any way for having to replace the battery since you did not buy the replacement battery from the dealership.

 

My battery was replaced by my dealer under the L-Certified warranty after 4 months of ownership and it hadn't even failed completely.... All it did was slightly fail a load test that they performed while I was there getting my 30k service.

 

Try putting a separate USB charger in the 12v socket and charge from there. When you pug directly into the USB in the console, it may be switching to the USB input. Bonus by using a separate charger is that you'll charge faster if you use a charger that supports 2.4amps.

 

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'll send Lexus a polite email asking if they will reimburse, however, I'll leave it be if they decline. I should have gone to my local dealer, but it was late in the day and my longtime service writer was on vacation - in hindsight I just wanted it fixed as I had already jumped it three times.

 

Update: Received a check in the mail from Lexus USA for the full amount of the battery replacement - couldn't believe it! I submitted the requested receipts, proof of ownership, etc. Had a quick phone call with a Lexus rep, and the check arrived in five business days. Got to hand it to Lexus, that was excellent customer service!

 

That was indeed good customer service. I'm guessing that Lexus likely has a time allowance window from date of car purchase - that if something happens (like the customer had to replace their battery) within that time period window - they will reimburse the customer for the expense.

 

Probably also accounts for things which fall under the warranty that are addressed outside of an Authorized Lexus Dealer because they are urgent and material enough to the operability of the vehicle where a Lexus Dealer is not readily available/open. A dead/dying/failing battery which is covered under warranty would fit that description if it led to such an inconvenience at a time the dealer was not open/available for service that you had to get it done elsewhere in order to use the car. Kudos for Lexus doing the right thing by OP.

 

Twylie, forgot to reply - your suggestion worked perfectly. I occasionally have to open the Lexus Enform app in order for Pandora to load, but it's less frequent than before. Thanks!