In most cases what I have found with crucial fittings and components like brakes where safety is involved it's either their done right or there will be an immediate problem. The industry places a greater emphasis on making some things idiot proof.

 

No way can a fuel filler cap or a vent tube hold enough pressure to knock a man on his ***.

Atomic bombs? Oh my.....terrible analogy.

 

I just read some of this thread. What do you want to know about dealership practices? I spent 26 years in dealerships. I'll throw this one out there. Torque wrenches are seldom used. Mechanics know how tight to get bolts by experience. Head gaskets etc. are an exception. I'm not condoning anything just telling the story. Broken clips that are not important are not replaced. Time is money and standing at the parts counter just to find out the clips are not in stock will make you poor. Service writers are not your friend. They are on 3 to 5 percent commission for the total job parts and labor. Mechanics only get commission on labor and receive no salary at all. A service writer wants to sell parts because they cost much more than just labor to fix things. A service writer will up sell a brake pad job to new rotors, shim kits (even if they are not needed) etc. all day long for his extra 5 percent on them. Note! Never go to a brake shop for brakes. They are the worst thieves. Service writers love the big ticket parts like brake modulators. When they get a transmission sale it's huge smiles and high fives for them. The Lexus or whatever time guide means nothing. The shop will charge way more time than the guide EVERY time unless it is warranty. Extended warranty uses an aftermarket guide since they won't pay inflated times. Some dealerships give pricing power to the service writers and bonus them for charging whatever extra they can get out of a customer ( female, out of town owner etc.) Believe me it is brutal. This is not everywhere but I saw it first hand. Consulting company's are hired by ownership to teach extra profit practices to managers in every department. Believe me they come in with every scam there is. Any questions just ask.

 

What you shared pretty much lines up with my experience and others I know. Finding an honest maintenance/repair shop is a difficult thing to do and if you ever find some one good and can trust stay with them as long as you can.....

Using the dealership for warranty covered work is one thing, routine maintenance and repairs is another.

A friend of mine bought a CPO RX400 and took it to the dealership closer to his house (not where he bought it) for a routine service (90K I think) and they "found" all kinds of stuff. One of the items was replacing a cracked radiator for $1000. When he challenged them that it was covered in the CPO warranty they reluctantly had to agree and do the work. When he saw the paperwork the charge all of a sudden "morphed" to $600...(which he did not have to pay, of course). When he pointed that out the explanation was that it was "internal costs" .... Sure......

In the end I recommended he try the independent shop I have used with good success and he saved over $1000 for the same services using OEM parts.

I am sure there are others with lots of stories....

 

My LS '10 is still under warranty for a few more months and I used the Lexus dealership for warranty repairs. For routine maintenance I take my LS to a Toyota dealership and I do save money. But finding a good independent shop isn't easy. Many shops advertise to work on all foreign makes but 3 or 4 mechanics can't be the jack of trades at repairing all makes. As of now Toyota or Lexus is my choice.

 

Lets separate how nice and friendly the people are from what they are ultimately there for, taking as large a slice of your wallet as possible without landing them in jail. I love nice and super friendly and free snacks etc. The hook is to give you free service items at times and build your faith in them. A light bulb here, a software download there. I used to n/c lots of things and you would be amazed at the gratitude you got back. My customers loved me. Then the shop could charge them $200 for an alignment and jack up small parts under $20 5 times because you have no clue how to read the bill or what the items are. The game is well played by professionals. Its all good I guess if you can afford it.

 

Just reading thru threads and seen this..... YOU GOTTA POINT MAN lol

 

Service writers are on comission?

How can that even be allowed? Lol.

My dealer tried to push an $1100 brake job on me right before Xmas, all rotors and pads, when the car still stops perfectly fine and doesn't even shimmy (or squeak). They're not blatant liars, as the car will need brake work done (I've seen pads and rotors myself), just not now, or even this year, probably. They made it seem as if the brakes were about to give out and that the car was close to dangerous. Pull that with the old ladies, not me. Lol.

Seriously though, the service writers are on comission?

 

Every person other than the kids that shuffle cars around and the cleaning staff in a car dealership is on commission. The finance person in his little office with you doing your paperwork makes probably the highest pay in the building from his commissions on selling you warrantys, worthless addons and high interest rates (of which the dealer gets the whole overage on the rate back). Most of this is common knowledge by now. Here's a common trick. You and your salesman agree on a price of say $36900. After 45 minuites you get in the finance booth and all your paperwork is drawn up at $39600. Invert the numbers and maybe you will miss it. This is what the consulting company's teach etc. This has been tried on me twice and happens routinely.

 

Well that depends. The LS does not require witchcraft to repair. Water pumps, alignments, rad replacements, spark plugs etc are not complicated and anyone (including myself) can work on these cars. Lets face it, the LS uses much of the same components and technology as a Tundra, Camry, Avalon etc.

 

Service writers being on commission is not a Lexus thing, it's an industry thing. They're on commission everywhere, or at least they always used to be.

 

Oh yes, I'm well aware of the scams the F&L guys pull. Best thing to do is get your loan outside the dealership and come in with a check and make the offer and threaten to walk if they don't accept. ALWAYS skip EVERY add on the guy tries to sell you. Those warranties are completely worthless, and when you need to use it, the warranty company will find any angle possible to deny a claim.

It's just with the service writers, that's like an even bigger license to steal/be dishonest. My car will need brake work eventually, but not for at least 15k more miles. They made the situation sound so dire, lol.

 

Just because someone is on commission doesn't mean they are a thief. I've had plenty of very honest service advisors in my life.

If you want to reward the honest ones, stick with them. People nowadays don't have any loyalty.

 

These are all generalizations, not saying everyone and all dealerships are doing these things. The problem is the honest ones are making at least 50% less money for their families than the others.

 

I totally agree. These cars are really much easier to work on than most other new cars these days. I know it's hard for people to grasp but it is the truth. Any independent Toy shop can do the work no problem. That's the best case. Then a good general mechanic wont have a problem either.