Lexus Crashed my car
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
From: pa
Lexus Crashed my car
Need a little help....Took my car to lexus this morning. Couple of days ago my AFS light came on started flashing off....So i took it to the dealer thinking it would be the rear height sensor. Well 6 hours later lexus calls me and states, we had a little fender bender with your car (which they said they would repair) and also that after an hour of diags (at $126.00) they still don't know whats wrong with it....They beleive it maybe the front head light, but they also wanted another $126.00 for another hour of diags, is this right?
Lead Lap
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,682
Likes: 304
If you had an original unblemished car before they damaged it, you should insist on also receiving the "diminished value" compensation as it was totally their fault and now your car is not worth the same as it was before the paintwork.
CL Community Team
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,916
Likes: 227
From: Alabama
I'd ask for a meeting with the service manager - my request would be of course damage repaired perfectly but also in addition as a goodwill gesture to you for the hassle and diminished value - 5 free oil changes and they comp any labor for work done on the original problem. Any push back from the service manager I'd just let him know next step is to meet with owner of the dealership to discuss services guys crashing your car.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,321
Likes: 15
From: Washington
I'd ask for a meeting with the service manager - my request would be of course damage repaired perfectly but also in addition as a goodwill gesture to you for the hassle and diminished value - 5 free oil changes and they comp any labor for work done on the original problem. Any push back from the service manager I'd just let him know next step is to meet with owner of the dealership to discuss services guys crashing your car.
add: don't be an *** and demand the world. Be reasonable so that they can be reasonable and work things out. Because of the crash, diagnostic and repair should be free. Of course loaner car from them on top of that, LS460 as that would be comparable.
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
From: pa
So then would it be unreasonable to ask that they give me the extra hour (126.00) to DX the care for free?
CL Community Team
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,916
Likes: 227
From: Alabama
No you should certainly ask that all labor be comped on the current problem (you pay parts) given they crashed your car.
You could certainly ask for a few oil changes, this being a very reasonable request based on them crashing your car. Something like oil change is a good thing to ask for because it costs service dept almost nothing. I have been given free oil change just because they added the bill wrong and another time because they forgot I was waiting. Each time I was very gracious and polite about it but also gently asked for the comp.
I am pretty sure the suggestion was not to make wild or unreasonable demands - like "OK I want a new car", or "I want lifetime free warranty and maintenance" , or "you need to repaint my whole car" etc.
You could certainly ask for a few oil changes, this being a very reasonable request based on them crashing your car. Something like oil change is a good thing to ask for because it costs service dept almost nothing. I have been given free oil change just because they added the bill wrong and another time because they forgot I was waiting. Each time I was very gracious and polite about it but also gently asked for the comp.
I am pretty sure the suggestion was not to make wild or unreasonable demands - like "OK I want a new car", or "I want lifetime free warranty and maintenance" , or "you need to repaint my whole car" etc.
Last edited by Jabberwock; Nov 30, 2011 at 02:57 PM.
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 41
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From: Alberta
Step 1 - Ask the dealership for a written, signed, statement that describes exactly the details of the crash and resulting damage.
If you actually get that, you're really in the driver's seat.
If you actually get that, you're really in the driver's seat.
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Wow... What was the specific damage to your car? I had two instances and both were taken care of without question or issue. I still paid for the original service with discount and they arranged a cleaner loaner. (Some of those loaners are 
) Basically, you shouldn't need to fight over this and they should handle it so you will be pleased. Talk to them and see what their course of action is.
) Basically, you shouldn't need to fight over this and they should handle it so you will be pleased. Talk to them and see what their course of action is.
Driver
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
From: The Sunshine State (Florida)
I met another Lexus LS owner at a gas station a while back and he told me of a dealership incident he had. He knew something was wrong with his car and he took it in to get the problem diagnosed. He was told he needed 3 large repairs. That didn't seem right to him somehow, so he didn't get the work done, but after a day or two took it back and asked them to look at it again. They came back with a totally different and substantially less expensive repair estimate.
That apparently ticked him off, because had he gotten the work done the first time, he would have needlessly spent thousands. So he talked to the management about what they would do about giving him a bad quote the first time, and they offered some oil changes. When he threatened to tell the news media about the situation, though, they let him get his next major mileage-based service for free, and it was a big and expensive interval too--over $1k. From what I could tell, he didn't raise his voice or act obnoxious, but he did get a major concession by taking a bit of a stand. To me, that's not being a jerk; that's just helping them have great customer service.
OP: If they crashed my car, I'd have high expectations about what they'd need to do to remediate the situation. I've passed over a used car before b/c of slight evidence that it'd been in a small crash. It seems to me that they've just lowered the value of your car by a fair bit, even if it's fixed pretty well.
That apparently ticked him off, because had he gotten the work done the first time, he would have needlessly spent thousands. So he talked to the management about what they would do about giving him a bad quote the first time, and they offered some oil changes. When he threatened to tell the news media about the situation, though, they let him get his next major mileage-based service for free, and it was a big and expensive interval too--over $1k. From what I could tell, he didn't raise his voice or act obnoxious, but he did get a major concession by taking a bit of a stand. To me, that's not being a jerk; that's just helping them have great customer service.
OP: If they crashed my car, I'd have high expectations about what they'd need to do to remediate the situation. I've passed over a used car before b/c of slight evidence that it'd been in a small crash. It seems to me that they've just lowered the value of your car by a fair bit, even if it's fixed pretty well.
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
From: pa
update to this story..... Last week when the service guy called to tell me that they crashed the car (11/30), he also told me that he would be going on vacation on monday 12/5......when he called me on friday (12/2) he stated that he and the tech would also be on vacation and that the next time I would hear from them would be 12/12.....it seems a little strange to me that if the tech goes on vacation you just keep the car until he comes back. I mean I have take my car to local garages and they have never kept it for almost 2 weeks.......The part that is really pissing me off is that at this point they my bill is $259.00 and thats not even to fix it!
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,388
Likes: 9
From: Michigan
Umm if a service adviser or tech go on vacation, the repair order doesn't go with them. The work is supposed to get passed on to another tech from that adviser's team or gets passed onto another adviser altogether.
CL Community Team
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,916
Likes: 227
From: Alabama
update to this story..... Last week when the service guy called to tell me that they crashed the car (11/30), he also told me that he would be going on vacation on monday 12/5......when he called me on friday (12/2) he stated that he and the tech would also be on vacation and that the next time I would hear from them would be 12/12.....it seems a little strange to me that if the tech goes on vacation you just keep the car until he comes back. I mean I have take my car to local garages and they have never kept it for almost 2 weeks.......The part that is really pissing me off is that at this point they my bill is $259.00 and thats not even to fix it!
I would request a meeting with dealership general manger/owner and let them know the current situation and what you have been told - let them know this is 100% unacceptable. Let the general manager/owner know that if you don't get some immediate and significant excellent service your next call has to be to Lexus regional rep - they need to hear this story...its a good one. If the dealer manager does not care about that you are basically hosed - you are just dealing with a rouge dealership that doesn't care about Lexus superb reputation for service. I'd ask the Lexus regional rep if there was another dealer they could recommend.
Last edited by Jabberwock; Dec 4, 2011 at 07:28 PM.