I've mentioned to two different sales advisers from two different dealerships about what I "heard on the forum" or the "potential solution" I found on the forum. They know what ClubLexus is but one service adviser told me "yeah they pretend they know stuff about the car but don't know anything." I was kind of taken back by this negative sentiment towards the forum. Has anyone else ever encountered that?

 

They aren’t going to care what non-professional forum readers have to think when they have the manufacturer’s instructions at the snap of a finger

 

I can understand they may not put much weight on what people feel about how to "repair" the vehicle when people ask feedback on what others think of 'my problem'?! That being said, Lexus should not dismiss the following:
* features of the cars
*dislike about the car and ways to improve
* wants from customers
* rants about lack of accessories or features

Some of these can and should be fed into the planning phase of what customers want - like a free client focus group, to make sure they stay relevant and pertinent to the needs of customers. No car company (or company in general) should be complacent to the needs of the people that help put food on the table...

 

What's funny is, my service advisor and I talked about the inner tire wear, and I mentioned how people on ClubLexus have also experienced it. He said something like "Yeah the IS eats tires, especially if the alignment's off, is what I have found." ... Of course I didn't like the allusion that an alignment issue was why it ate the tires, mentioned some info about the LCA bushings, etc... In the end, I got him to do the slightly-custom alignment that I am running, where there's a little more toe-in on the front tires than is normal. Lo and behold, I've been running my current tires for almost 9,000 miles, and there are no signs of inner tire wear yet. However, the additional toe-in was my service advisor's idea. Just needed some convincing that I am not the only one experiencing this problem... And that it is a design problem and not a bunch of coincidental alignment issues.

So it really depends on how open-minded they are, and what the subject matter is.

 

They usually don't care from what I noticed. You mention anything about 'the Lexus forums' and they usually ignore it or act like they know better.

In reality, the forums is a community of many educated people where we can discuss things openly and provide feedback freely. This is my first stop to troubleshoot and look for solutions before asking a dealership. I always like to see if others have had similar issues and problems, and what to expect as well.

I would hope Lexus Corporate and dealerships view the forums occasionally, since not only would it benefit them in the long run to address known issues and concerns but they can also get customer feedback without interacting with them personally.

 

In my experience over the years, most dealerships
don’t want to hear about what you read on the internet,
irregardless of the actual source, a quality source or not.

 

People put too much stock into dealers. Yeah there's some techs that know what they're doing, particularly the career techs that have been doing it a long time but most are just fresh out of tech school kids who don't know jack but to (barely) follow instructions in a book.

But also there's also a lot of misinformation on forums as well so they might have a point to a degree. Life is a spectrum and there's bad and good knowledge and everything in between, in all topics. I see it on camera forums too.

Can't tell you how many times though I've proven to know more and mopped up BMW master techs on BMW forums on some topics.I even know one in real life that opened up his own shop. All around knowledgeable guy.. but I see some stuff he did before and go.. wtf.. that's not.. how you.. then I just facepalm. So i know the culture, I'm in the culture and have been around it. But not much anymore.. i don't do car stuff too much. A lot of times too these guys work on a vast spectrum of cars whereas if you are on a forum and come across someone very knowledgable in one particular platform, advantage=enthusiast.

Lastly I could not care less what a "dealer" thinks. #1 I don't do dealers unless warranty work (new car)--otherwise I do all my own work. #2 dealers isn't the manufacturer. they're just places that sell cars.

The real group to wonder about as to their opinions is the manufacturer and the actual engineers that make the car. not some kids fresh out of highschool/tech school.

 

Ironic is it not but Lexus have already done exactly that; that is, dismiss our needs. It's the main reason why I chose another marque to replace my Lexus. Well that and the fact that I will not be the blind fan-boy. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

 

Of course, they're going to brush off the forums. They don't want you to fix nor find solutions, they want you to believe that they're the only ones capable to work on the car, so you bring it to them all the time so he can make more commission. It's survival 101. smh. I had the same issue with BMW.

 

They gave me the same feeling when i told doctors what " i read on the internet"...

 

I don't mention "forums" as yeah they brush that off. But I will back up my statement or question with "I know personally of several others who..."

A relatively true statement.

 

The simple fact is, nobody wants to be told how to do their job. Especially when the source material is something that someone said on the internet as some point. While there is plenty of good information out there on just about any conceivable subject, there is every bit as much BS spewed out of left field. Most comments will be taken with a grain of salt when it is someone's job to address the issues themselves.