Here's a sad story of a dealership, and even worse, no help from Lexus corporate.

I have a '21 convertible in my garage, but I don't own it because Lexus of Arlington Heights (Chicago) didn't properly complete the title. They also took 50 days to send the title, arriving 12/23 though I paid $105,000 for the car on 11/1. (Nice discount from MSRP of $113,000; initially I was a happy customer.) I drove 600 miles home on the temporary tag which then expired 12/01, and the car has been unlicensed since then.

My county clerk's office refused the title when I went in after the holidays. I have not contacted the dealership due to the other problems with the purchase:

The salesman stole my credit card number, which I had read to him over the phone for a $10,000 deposit while I waited for my bank to transfer the rest following a weekend. Due to previous card thefts, I don't let anyone (such as waiters) take my card out of my sight anymore, and the only time the CVV security code goes anywhere is through web-secure checkouts. Didn't cost me money, although he or those he released the card to on the darkweb spent over $1000 of Citibank's money in the following weeks. I and Citibank discovered the fraud a couple weeks later while I was traveling, so it did cause me some hassle waiting for a new card out of town.

If the salesman didn't steal the card, someone else at the dealership was listening in on the phone call. I doubt the cashier who entered the number would do it, since people in cashier positions know well that it's hard to get away with that sort of thing and stay in the job. The whole thing makes me wary of talking to anyone about anything at Lexus of Arlington.

Furthermore, when I arrived at the dealership and got the keys, there were no leather key gloves with them. A small option, I didn't think to ask at the time, and checked the glovebox and trunk when I got home as I unpacked the rubber floormats and other accessories. Texting to the salesman resulted in "maybe I can mail them." Of course he didn't, and I bought a set myself.

The other disappointment was failure to set up the LPS settings that only the dealer technicians can set. The salesman had no idea what I was talking about. He asked a nearby tech guy, who may have only been a garage attendant, and he hadn't heard of that nor did he know "anyone else who had heard of that." They told me to talk to my local dealer when I got home. My local dealer hadn't heard of Lexus Personalized Settings either! They would not do anything at all without a paid service appointment. I went in for the initial 1000 mile checkup free service, and the service advisor finally learned about LPS when I refused to leave until that was accomplished. Pulling teeth, after buying Lexus's most expensive car, on which "only master technicians" will be assigned to service.

As an aside, my local dealer washed the car without asking if I wanted it washed. So I had 1000 miles to enjoy perfect paint before it was scratched and swirled, even the black plastic mirror tops were scratched when I got it back. As we all know, no one but you should wash your car, because only you will be careful and not use dirty rags to do the job in 5 minutes for minimum wage and HURRY UP YOU GUYS.

So I have an improper title, which means I don't own the car but I do possess it, and Lexus of Arlington possesses my $105,000 (plus an extra grand or so for the salesman). I twice paid for key gloves. I lost a couple extra hours explaining to 4 people what LPS settings are, and a couple more hours going to the license office for no results.

I emailed Lexus Customer Care at HQ in Plano. Response so far: gee that's too bad, try calling the dealer, sorry 'bout that.

Would you give them back your scratched 3000 mile car?

Does anyone have direct contact info for Cynthia Tenhouse, the VP for customer care at US HQ?

 

I'd like to focus for a moment on the improperly transferred title, which would appear to be the major issue here. What exactly happened - i.e, what was improper about it? Did you reach out to the sales manager, the finance manager, the general manager, the owner?

 

i'd get a lawyer involved. even one certified letter to lexus of arlington will get their attention. maybe cc the bbb.

 

Wow. You have had nothing but bad luck. My question would be, can the dealer fix the title issue? They have people who do this everyday.

Credit card issue? WTF? Lexus has always been good to me, but that is a shady dealership.

Lexus is really into customer service so I am not sure how the dealer survives.

And they washed your car? That is my biggest pet peeve. My dealer knows better. A good detailer can take care of it. But still.

 

You should contact Lexus customer service. They take every customer complaint seriously and will help get this sorted out. It sounds like you’ve had a horrible experience. I recommend you tell them everything you posted on here. I’m not sure how to get ahold of the VP of Customer Service but try calling the 1-800 number.

Those key gloves should’ve been in the glove box or possibly with the instruction manual. I’ve never seen an LC without them but occasionally they’re missing. The salesman should’ve grabbed you a set. The LPS is Lexus Personal Settings if I’m not mistaken. I would’ve thought the salesman or Delivery/Technology Specialist would’ve made sure your car was setup properly before you left.

Have you received any surveys from your purchase of the car? Lexus themselves should have emailed you a survey and they take feedback very seriously. Negative survey scores will also affect the salesman and finance guy’s bonuses in most cases.

 

That's nice they let you put $10k on CC. Most only allow $5k.
As for the other issues, I would send a letter to the registered agent for the business. When I did this I got a call from the top manager, but my issues weren't as big. Still, most of the top brass is unaware of what is going on at the lower levels. I'm sure they will straighten out the title, give you a free detailing which hopefully can fix the swirls, and possibly some kind of credit to offset the key gloves.
In my issue, my dealer had a rewards program which promised me $250 off the purchase of a new car which they refused to honor. Not a big deal but I was pissed because all of their marketing was begging me to go use my rewards before they expire only to be denied when I tried and I was paying full MSRP.
If another dealer is an option, I would avoid that dealer for maintenance in the future.

Curious, what LPS settings did you change?

 

I'm so sorry you got screwed over like this. I live closer to that dealership than to any other, but I went to Schaumburg instead and didn't even give them a chance because the multi-dealer chain that owns that dealership has reputation issues generally. Even so, nobody at any luxury dealership — especially Lexus, the brand that stakes its reputation on customer service — deserves this kind of treatment.

You've gotten a lot of good advice in this thread, including the letter from an attorney, moving up the ladder, and asking for a detailing. I think you'll be in good shape if you follow it.

 

Its more probable that your credit card got picked up by a skimmer than your dealership salesman, who has a lot more to lose than to get $1000 in goodies. But you can go visit the dealership and ask the GM or HR directors if that particular salesman had any past trouble with unauthorized credit card charges.

 

That’s very possible. I keep seeing them on the news and skimmers are usually found at gas stations and ATM’s.

 

Thanks for the background report on that dealer; looks like the local reputation checks out! The salesman said they're the largest Lexus dealer in the US, which if true is unfortunate for the corporate image. When buying the company's flagship product, you might expect a few fancy touches to the transaction, and I got zero.

Basically I just want corporate Lexus to lean on a dumbass dealer for me. A single person has no real power against a dealer...state law penalizes dealers for not delivering titles within 30 days, 60 days, etc, and the penalty under law for costing you some time and stress is ten dollars or a little more. Clearly the old horse-trader's profession understands how to maintain its slovenly interests.

I'll probably end up having to talk to the dealer management myself, they'll fix the title, I'll get no compensation or refund of the fee they charged for work they didn't properly do. But I figured I should try!

As for who stole my credit card, I know well how to avoid having that happen, since I've had 3 or 4 previous lessons. Never let your card out of sight, and it looks like gas pump skimmer attachments are now impossible due to updated pumps. You can usually tell when a skimmer is on a card reader, as it won't be monolithic with the surrounding device. On my purchase trip, I used the card for gas once at a Shell in Kentucky and that was all. The Lexus salesman had my full card info to copy down over the phone, and that did make me uncomfortable at the time. But while you would think a Lexus salesman wouldn't do that because he "has a lot to lose," card theft is so anonymous and card companies' investigation over $1000 a pop are so limited it's a no-risk crime. If you obtain someone's card info, you're free to mailorder all the large TV's you want. In college I investigated my own card theft, since it occurred within my dorm, and when I did identify the thief and the local police concurred, the detective said there would be no prosecution...white college kid with no priors, $1200 of bank-insured loss, who cares?

 

Unfortunate situation, but (1) they’re not the largest dealership, (2) LC is not the flagship, the LS is.

 

Hey edsel,
Stay patient friend you will get to the bottom of this.

 

I had an issue with the transfer of title also, one phone call to the Lexus dealership and was taken care of, got my plates within two weeks.
Always tell your service advisor"Do Not Wash", my local dealership washes every car that comes in for service.

 

Caring reply, but (1) LS is not the Flagship, the LC is, (2) read (1) again

 

NO WASH!! then my service person Highlites it as well, cause shtuff happens.