Any Lexus insiders here? Warranty Denial scenario - Part-II (solved)
04-07-11, 12:16 PM
#1
Lexus Champion
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Any Lexus insiders here? Warranty Denial scenario - Part-II (solved)
Original post
I just wanted to let you in on this situation. Good news! It has been resolved. But first let me tell you what the problem was to begin with since I did not tell you that in the original post due to fear of backlash or differentiated treatment from Lexus/Toyota Wty dept.
The issue in question was that the leather trim on my front passenger door was de-laminating/bubbling and when I took it in to my dealer, they refused to replace it. Even Lexus refused it and I have a letter from Lexus to that effect. However, they did not reveal the reason in writing. When I pushed the service adviser, he kind of indicated that they believe somebody had worked on it previously and that is why the leather is coming off the panel. I told them to give this to me in writing, but they did not. However, from the way the service adviser talked to me, I could sense he was a ****-head and also sensed that he was miffed that I got my loaded IS250 at such a steal price, and that too not from his dealership. I guess I should not have spoken to him about that, but hey I was trying to be friendly and gave him all the information he wanted.
Anyways, based upon my gut feel, I switched advisers and picked out one who was there from the days I used to do warranty service on my ES300 and RX300. I showed him the door panel, and he had it promptly replaced. In doing so however, I made sure not to mention him my previous experience with the other service adviser. Thank god it all worked out!
attached is the picture of the problem.
I recently ran in to a scenario where Lexus denied warranty coverage on a said manufacturing defect. No reason for denial was offered in writing. All they said in written letter/email is this:
How should I approach this matter now?
In my years of owning a non-lexus brand, never has warranty been denied so blatantly. If anything was ever denied warranty, there was always a written response why a said defect (usually wear & tear) was not covered under warranty.
I am shocked at this approach from Lexus.
Any help / directions on how to proceed would be appreciated.
.....blah blah...very sorry that our response was not the one that you were hoping for......At this time, Lexus respectfully declines assistance with repair costs. We apologize the vehicle has not met your expectations. Please be assured that Lexus has documented your dissatisfaction for product improvement consideration. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you......blah blah
How should I approach this matter now?
In my years of owning a non-lexus brand, never has warranty been denied so blatantly. If anything was ever denied warranty, there was always a written response why a said defect (usually wear & tear) was not covered under warranty.
I am shocked at this approach from Lexus.
Any help / directions on how to proceed would be appreciated.
The issue in question was that the leather trim on my front passenger door was de-laminating/bubbling and when I took it in to my dealer, they refused to replace it. Even Lexus refused it and I have a letter from Lexus to that effect. However, they did not reveal the reason in writing. When I pushed the service adviser, he kind of indicated that they believe somebody had worked on it previously and that is why the leather is coming off the panel. I told them to give this to me in writing, but they did not. However, from the way the service adviser talked to me, I could sense he was a ****-head and also sensed that he was miffed that I got my loaded IS250 at such a steal price, and that too not from his dealership. I guess I should not have spoken to him about that, but hey I was trying to be friendly and gave him all the information he wanted.
Anyways, based upon my gut feel, I switched advisers and picked out one who was there from the days I used to do warranty service on my ES300 and RX300. I showed him the door panel, and he had it promptly replaced. In doing so however, I made sure not to mention him my previous experience with the other service adviser. Thank god it all worked out!
attached is the picture of the problem.
04-07-11, 12:35 PM
#3
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
04-07-11, 03:33 PM
#7
I usually do the same thing when they tell me no at any car dealership...learned to do that from actually working at toyota when I was younger and seeing how different service advisors would handle the same situation. Glad it all worked out for you!
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04-07-11, 03:52 PM
#8
Anyone could have told you that switching service advisor would probably render you results. My friend had the same problem with his IS350. They denied him the first time then I told him to try a different advisor and he did. Got the job done and went on his merry way. One problem though, I believe that the cars might have been part of a batch of bad pannels because one year and a half later his other side bubbled up. So be ready to go back sometime in the future. I'm almost at 100k and I've never had any issues with pannels or leather. It's pobably batch consistency.
04-07-11, 04:34 PM
#10
Yeah I appreciate your putting your story on here for the potential help of others, but I'm not sure how noteworthy it is. In a car still under factory bumper-to-bumper warranty, that should have been replaced in a heartbeat. If one service adviser gives trouble, move on to the next or go to a different dealer.
04-08-11, 04:28 AM
#12
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I've had an issue with the car shaking when the car comes to a stop (like others have expressed on the forums). Went through several dealers AND corporate, and nobody could fix it. They kept doing the induction service and then went through and tried to manually clean out the cylinders. Long story short, switching advisers/dealers didn't work for me. Glad it worked for you though.
04-08-11, 06:08 AM
#13
Sorry for the misinterpretation, didn't mean to make it seem like I was saying not to post by any means!
04-08-11, 09:05 AM
#14
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
No, as I stated I'm glad you shared your story for the potential help of others. I only stated I wasn't sure it was "noteworthy", meaning I didn't think it was too out of the ordinary or uncommon. I think many people on here have had issues with one service adviser and the best thing to do is just switch. With a car under factory warranty, covering your issue should have been a no-brainer for a service adviser. Not sure why your first one was being so obtuse.
Sorry for the misinterpretation, didn't mean to make it seem like I was saying not to post by any means!
Sorry for the misinterpretation, didn't mean to make it seem like I was saying not to post by any means!
The only reason why I thought this was noteworthy is because even Lexus Corporate refused to cover this damage and they even mailed me their response on a corporate letterhead. Of course, they did not provide the reason for denial, which made me mad and suspicious as well.
04-08-11, 09:26 AM
#15
wow... i had a something similar with my door panel and not even noticeable for myself to see. The dealership is the one who pointed it out when the car was in for regular maintenance services. They replaced that and the other side because of a scar on the cowhide used. My Lexus rep went above and beyond my expectations.
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