Worst dealer service ever @ Maplewood Lexus in MN!
 

I have ~3000 miles on my IS350 F-Sport that I purchased in January and had my 6mo / 5k checkup. Car has been great and I only listed 3 minor things for the dealer to address.

1. Excessive Brake Dust on Front
2. ACC button sits lower than all other steering wheel button height
3. Light scratch on steering wheel trim.


Service rep takes his finger and checks the front wheels. Acknowledges excessive brake dust. I was hoping they would offer swap with pad that has less dust but he later claims everything normal. Even though I've read others on this forum getting offer for different pads by their dealer, this service rep doesn't make any such offer.

Service rep wants to compare the ACC button with another car even though I asked him to adjust the button up to same height as other buttons. He pulls in with regular 3IS that has ACC. Well on this IS, ACC button is literally flush with the steering wheel frame and sits even lower than my button. This tells me there must be some adjustment but because this IS also doesn't have the ACC button height same as other buttons on the steering wheel he claimed my ACC button is normal even though two ACC buttons heights are a lot different. To me this indicates there is some height adjustment which could be tweaked but they won't do any thing about it.

Lastly a small scratch that came with the car. Believe it or not this little scratch had to involve service rep, service manager and general manager at the Maplewood Lexus dealer. They won't fix the scratch on the steering wheel silver trim even thought I told them it came like that because they are saying if it came this way I should have brought it to them shortly after I took delivery. Scratch was very light & hard to see and I didn't even see it until two or three months after I took delivery but since it wasn't effecting the way it drives I planned to get it addressed @ 6mo/5k checkup along with other items. They are saying because I didn't mention it until 6mo/5k checkup scratch wasn't there when the car was delivered basically accusing me of scratching it after I took delivery and lying about it. I've never been so furious with any dealer service in my life as I'm with Maplewood Lexus. :mad: Worse yet Lexus customer service won't fix this under warranty because they are siding with the dealer's statement that car was perfect when I took delivery. This really is worst experience I've had with any car dealer service and the issue WAS really minor one that involves like $20 trim part! :(

Love the 3IS F-Sport but VERY DISAPPOINTENTED with Maplewood Lexus Service & Lexus Customer Service! :cry:

If you have another dealer ship near by try your luck with it . I always get in situation like this in my country, as result I comunicate with japan ( international customer releation manager ) and I also report them to our minstry of commerce and I wait for two days until I get a call from the dealer to pass by them and work on the problem :D .

I'm guessing Maplewood Lexus was very disappointed with you as well.

1. They are correct. It is normal for your pads to make dust. You purchased an Fsport to have higher performance pads. You got them. Just because a dealership went above and beyond with others does not entitled you to have a dealership throw away a set of perfectly good pads and replace them with lower performance pads because you want low dust pads.
2. What? ...just what?
3. A light scratch really. In reviewing what you just typed you stated, "Scratch was very light & hard to see and I didn't even see it until two or three months after I took delivery"

You are stating you did not see this very hard to find scratch until 2 or 3 months after delivery so how, may I ask, can you be remotely sure the scratch was there when you took delivery?

Time to buy some big boy pants.

Mike

I had a really light scratch on my shifter trim, I did not notice, it at all, when I took it in for my service the dealer told me they replaced it because of a scratch and showed me the scratch, my car only has 1600km but I found this to be a great gesture, so far no issues with my car. or servive

Dealer will not replace the brake pads for you. I went to my dealer and got the same respond, it's normal especially for F-Sport.

For what its worth, I find brake dust to be much, much less of an issue on my F Sport than I had with my BMW 330xi

Sorry to say this, but I think your claims are not justified as the other members are saying .
Number 2 is not a defect , its the default location even on the Lexus ES , but I a pic could be good .
Number 3 is hard to prove after 3000 miles .

Don't worry -- you'll finally give up trying to manage scratches & other imperfections at about the 1 year mark and will then really begin to enjoy the car.

Dealership is disappointed with me? Was I supposed to please them in some way? I paid for my car at the agreed price and held up my end of the deal. No one stated I had to find all existing scratches by certain time. Where does it say that in any Lexus literature. Why isn't reporting this at 6mo/5k mile acceptable? My car only has 3k miles and if I could have I would have waited until I actually had 5k before bringing the car in..

Ok first item lets say I was hoping for exceptional service and didn't get it but second issue is an issue that impacts way I use the car although only when trying to push the ACC button. Since it's not as high up off the steering wheel as the button above it it's hard to press it. Also dealer showing me another car that has the button that sits even lower in the hole doesn't make mine normal. All I asked was them to check to see if the button could be adjusted and adjusted to same height as the other buttons on the steering wheel. Lastly I know scratch wasn't anything I did because I don't touch that part of the steering wheel for anything. Yes it's hard to see because service manager couldn't find it even though service rep told him it was on the steering wheel silver trim and had to ask me where the scratch was. We both had to look at it closely to find it. Also Maplewood Lexus is the only people that took my steering wheel off to install my fog lights and stalk. It could well have happened during that time. All I know is I didn't cause the scratch.

It does NOT have to say in the Lexus Literature, ITS COMMON SENSE.

I think you misunderstood my posting about ACC button. I'm not asking the dealer to change the location of the button. It's that button isn't raised up as high as other buttons so it sits lower and it's hard to press it. All I was asking was to check to see if it's adjustable and if so adjust it to same height as other buttons. They would not even check to see if it could be adjusted but because regular IS with ACC had it's button sit even lower in the hole than mine so service rep claimed mine is normal and stated something like Lexus engineer may have done this by design!

For the scratch issue I guess I didn't know I would have to prove anything. Apparently owners who lie after scratching their own car is common thing at Lexus dealerships that they are working hard to crack down. Heck they should just have everyone that come in for any service take a lie detector tests before rendering any service. I work hard and make a honest living and I live by certain moral ethics. If I scratched some plastic trim I will just live with it or pay to have it repaired but if the scratch is not something I caused on a virtually new car I expect dealer/Lexus to repair it under warranty without being treated like I'm lying about it.

I guess I didn't know that was common sense. Do you think people bring in their car to dealer for every little minor issue if it doesn't impact the way it works? Or would they just planned to have them look at it if they know they are bringing the car in say at 6mo checkup? What do you think is more common?

WHAT!? You are telling me it's not a normal behavior for Lexus dealer to accuse you of scratching it and deny service?

Sounds like you have good dealer there. I'm glad they were able to help you out without much hassle. :thumbup:

Hey Glashub! Yeah believe me not everything is perfect. Paid $1500 to have tint and PPF and there are dusts. Installer fixed some but not all. I appreciate him for doing what he could but will have to live with some. At least I'll know that paint under the film will be protected. You have to remember that I'm planning to give this to my son when he goes to college although he may want my wife's new 2014 MDX instead. ;)

Did you see they have option for ventilated seats in the F-Sport now? They just need to add the memory seats now! :)

I don't recall having brake dust issue on any of my previous cars. Perhaps pads were not as high quality ones as what Lexus uses! :rolleyes:

you have brake dust, the tiniest of scratches (that you reported six months later), and some button issue.

time to get rid of the car. lemon law.

This is a waste of a thread

If you felt that adament scratch should be fixed then you should of took it to the dealer as soon as you discovered the problem. Its like discovering a door ding 6 months later and tell the dealer that I bought the car like that.

1) Brakes produce dust. In every car, some more than others. There's really nothing for them to "fix" unless they have pads authorized by Lexus that produce less brake dust.

2) I'd love to see a photo of this misaligned button, because something tells me there's nothing wrong with it and you're being extremely nitpicky.

3) Service manager is right. If there's a scratch on the car that's bothering you that was there from day one, you bring it to their attention right away, not 5k miles later.

This sounds like more like a case of bad customer than bad customer service tbh.

I agree with everybody else, you're being totally unreasonable. The pads create a lot of dust, they do on all of these cars. You can upgrade the pads to lower dusting pads if you want. If the dealer replaced your pads it would be with the same pads that came on the car...and they would still dust.

For the button, is the button misaligned? Can you post a picture? It sounds like you just don't like where the button is located. Buttons are not adjustable lol.

As for the scratch, they are totally right that you can't expect them to repair a scratch you say was there when you bought the car SEVERAL MONTHS AGO. If you wanted it fixed you should have told them about it right away.

Your expectations are totally out of whack here. If this is the "worst experience you've ever had with a dealer in your life"...then you've had a sheltered life LOL.

$46 with Sewell discount for low dust pads.

http://is.sewellparts.com/accessorie...2013/4944.html

I'm still curious how OP determined a scratch he didn't notice until months later "came with the car..." lol

When it comes to customer service, the customer is always right..

However, I would hate to work for Lexus if people like you came along with these baby problems. Time to suck it up!

As stated before since I didn't cause the scratch I assume it came with the car. I think you would definitely know if some event caused by you introduced the scratch. So is it your assessment that if you didn't see it initially you scratched it?

As stated before I'm happy with the car just not the service.

I have little nicks in the wheel but I didn't even mention that because I knew those came after delivery. All I asked was defect that came with the car be repaired granted brake dust issue may not have been a defect but other two in my mind are.

Button isn't misaligned. Think of it this way, if you have 6 radio preset buttons and 1 was sunken in to the hole making it difficult to press would you want them to see if that button could be raised to the same height as other buttons? That's what my ACC button is doing. It's sunken in lower.

Shelter life? Please don't make any assumptions that you don't have any facts on. Although I've had dealers not see things from my view point on things no one has treated/accused me like I"m lying.

You must work for a Lexus dealer because that is exactly how I felt like I was being treated. So I'm a bad customer if I want minor defects addressed?

Believe me I do not like to go to the dealer any more than I have to. But these are the kinds of issue that would be brought up 6mo/5k checkup. As I've said before my car only has 3k miles but because it's been 6mo I took the car in. Non of these are things I couldn't live with but given that car is under warranty and I'm bringing in my car for 6mo checkup why couldn't I ask them to address these?

i think that if the general consensus of the various members who have contributed to your thread is in alignment with the general consensus of the dealership to which you went, then you probably should revisit your own held notions of mistreatment and reasonability.

food for thought.

Well perhaps but fact is I brought 1 concern and 2 issues to the dealer and they choose to do nothing on all of these. Is the problem major issues? No. Are 2 issues real issues that should be covered under warranty? Yes. Did dealer treated/accused me of lying about the scratch? Yes. Do I considered this experience bad? Yes. I'm ok if others don't agree with my assessment.

You're a bad customer because your expectations are unreasonable, and you obviously don't respect the dealer's point of view.

How can you possibly expect someone to believe you that a scratch was introduced before you bought the car when you have already owned the car for 3 months? Just the fact that you don't understand what the issue is here shows me that you're a completely irrational customer.

Lets say someone came up to you and said "You parked next to me 3 months ago, and I have a door ding, I want you to repair it because obviously it happened when you parked next to me 3 months ago...and could not have possibly happened in the three months I've owned the car since then". Would you pay up?

When you come in ranting and raving about crazy things...dealers treat you like you're crazy and don't take you seriously. This is what has happened to you. Remember dealers get paid for warranty work, so this idea that the dealer doesn't want to fix things under warranty doesn't make any sense. They just have to prove the issue to Lexus to get paid, and if they don't think they can they won't do it.

The only issue that could possibly be legitimate is this button not sitting right in the steering wheel. Brake dusting and this scratch you're totally wrong on.

Can you post a pic of the button issue? I dont really understand but seeing it would help explain what your talking about. And, IMO i think the dealer was right 100%.

Just want to comment on this. I'm in sales, and the old addage "the customer is always right" is not correct. In fact...oftentimes the customer is wrong, and oftentimes its the salesperson or customer service person's job to help set them on the path to being right.

Some customers cannot be pleased, and will never be satisfied. If this particular customer came into my office ranting like this about things this miniscule...I'd ask him to leave. Plenty of other customers out there who can be satisfied...its a mistake to waste valuable time and energy on a customer thats just going to take and take from you and never wind up being rewarded.

I also missed above, now we all "work for the Lexus dealer" in some massive conspiracy to deprive this guy of his brake pads and his ACC button. Dealer did the right thing showing this guy the door. if I were the service manager, I'd refuse to serve him in the future too (dealers will do that for especially unreasonable or belligerent customers).

I know the customer is not always right. But when you work in sales, this statement is somewhat absolute lol. I had to suck it up and side with the customer, even though in my head I was thinking "He/She is wrong".

I like working with people and helping them, but I'm glad I don't do sales anymore. Some people have insane expectations.

Although I do not side with OP's position with respect to the service he received from Lexus I do however believe the statement quoted above (especially highlighted in bold) sounds a bit harsh and in some instances not necessarily correct. We, customers, are willing pay high premium for luxury cars not only for the physical product that we receive in return but also for the intangible product in the form of high quality service that we expect to receive from auto manufacturers, Lexus is being in this instance. I understand that some customers have sometimes unreasonable expectations and dealers may not like that it is however important that dealers maintain positive, respectful attitude toward a customer and try to educate them. Proper and informative communication will likely settle most disagreements.

No, you wouldn't necessarily know. You've never broken a nail, and not known how it happened? Noticed a cut on your hand that you weren't sure how you got? A mosquito bite? Did your body come with these defects out of the womb?

I, in fact, do not work for any dealership. I do however have a moral compass that can judge between right and wrong, and you're in the wrong here. You're a bad customer for trying to shift the blame on these "defects" and make them someone else's responsibility, in addition to bashing a dealership for your own lack of sense.

Still waiting to see a picture of these defective adjustable button.

it's hard to defend dealerships but this thread title will show up in search engines for years to come.

I've been in sales for many years, I'm very good at it...the customer is not always right...and you don't have to pretend they are in order to be a good salesperson. Good salespeople are not "yes men". Good salespeople help the customer figure out what they need and want. A salesperson who just does whatever and says whatever a customer wants is of no value to anybody.

I don't disagree, but the issue is one of respect. If a customer walks in the place disrespecting the dealership and the personnel and has completely unreasonable expectations, there is nothing the dealership can do to satiate that person. Its a notion of entitlement. Just because you pay money for a product and you pay money for a service doesn't mean you own the place and they have to do whatever you want. A lot of people feel that way, but the world doesn't actually work that way. Some people you can't educate. What I posted above assumes that he acted in as belligerent a manner with the dealer's staff as he has here.

Certainly the dealership should remain positive and respectful, even if they aren't being treated the same way in return...but that doesn't mean they have to continue to repeatedly take abuse. I've fired plenty of customers and clients in my day, I've always done so with respect and courtesy...but theres no reason to do business with belligerent entitled people.

Note the OP hasn't said anything about the dealer's staff being disrespectful, he's just pissed because they didn't bow to his feet and do whatever he wanted. Good for them.

[QUOTE=SW13GS;8633882]I've been in sales for many years, I'm very good at it...the customer is not always right...and you don't have to pretend they are in order to be a good salesperson. Good salespeople are not "yes men". Good salespeople help the customer figure out what they need and want. A salesperson who just does whatever and says whatever a customer wants is of no value to anybody.

Don't get me wrong, I don't always side with the customer! Its only when they're stubborn and won't listen to me. That's when I go "Meh, have it your way".