Sully C5er

Dealer called to see how I like the RX 330, but I guess they didn't hear what they wanted to.

I posted here previously that I had a vibration problem. So I explained to the dealer how my first week went:

Tues - Picked up the car in the afternoon...drove it home...bad vibration at 70+

Wed - Went to dealer service dept. & explained the problem. The serv mgr said "Sounds like wheel needs balancing. We will have you back on the road in 45 min. (Note: dealer has policy that any car that will be in the shop 2+ hrs, that the owner will get a loaner.) ~2 hours later they finished. Drove home...@ 70+ vibration, though not as bad, still there. Called serv dept, but no one was available, so left my number. No return phone call, so I called back three hours later...serv mgr said bring it back on Thurs. I explained that I had a meeting on Thurs, therefore, I needed a loaner.

Thurs - Arrived at dealer. ***'t serv mgr says, "Have a seat in our lounge." I said, "I requested a loaner." He responded, "You did?" So he gave me the keys to a loaner, which was filthy, stunk of smoke, even the ashtray was full of cigarettes. BTW we don't smoke, so it was really annoying. I had to get to my meeting, so I just drove away. Two hours later the serv mgr calls, returning my phone call. I say, "You mean my call of YESTERDAY!" To make a long story short, after a couple of phone calls back & forth, they decide to take tires & wheels off a new RX 330, but were waiting on the delivery that day. I return & sit in the waiting room for ~2 hrs. I check with the serv mgr & he calls on the two-way radio to the guy working on it . The mechanic says, "We took the wheels & tires off the demo...will bring the RX 330 around in a minute." By now I don't care. Just give me my RX!

Fri - Open the RX door & see dried-up gunk on the brake pedal & carpeting. I was going to bring it back to the dealer, but figured I would be better doing myself, so spent ~1 hr cleaning the floor.

All I can say is "Fun first week of Lexus ownership!" Not what I expected. Is Lexus quality & service more hype than reality?

I do like the RX 330 though.

RX300-BV

Heh.

Your dealer sure isn't going to like your responses on the customer feedback survey. But that will be just the kind of response Lexus corporate would want to hear.

sendsley

When I bought my RX330 my dealer (not surprisingly) made a really big deal about the survey card I'd be getting. He said any less than 100% is not good for him. He told me to call him before filling it out if I can't mark the highest on every item so he can make it right. My point is that these are very important to the salespeople - perhaps getting your salesperson involved could help??

But at any rate you should absolutely contact Lexus on a corporate level. Check out lexus.com, I'm sure you'll find some contact information. I'd be very surprised if you didn't get some sort of satisfaction at a higher level.

Good Luck!

gteach26

Did the vibration go away?

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

If your car is so new that you have not yet received your "Sales Survey", I would bring it into the dealership and get the salesperson to help you. If he cannot, then see the General Sales Manager, then the General Manager. I'm not sure about the vibration on the RX330, but my current ES300 has the same vibration and all it was the front rotors. They are on "back order" and you will have to wait a few weeks or something like that......It's easy to fix. Hopefully your dealership isn't too far away. Good luck.

Sully C5er

So far the vibration appears to have been eliminated.

As a side note...I did send an email to the GM of the dealership & copied him with this thread. He didn't bother responding.

parula

Sully, I have not had the problem you described on your carpet and pedals, but when I take my Honda in for service at the Honda dealer they put a plastic cover on the seats! ( our honda is 17 years old.)

I have never seen that plastic cover on my RX when I picked them up, and did have a 1/2" ink mark on the car seat once post service, which they cleaned!

My point is that in my opinion Lexus really needs to pay a L O T more attention to its service quality. I have had several body dings and my body seams were crunched on the '99 where the dealer places their lift points, solid metal on metal as near as I can tell, which is ridiculous for any car service lift method and not what I see in the manual for lift placement. My '03 has similar seam problem already from only 2 dealer visits.

Take care and monitor your investment in quality.

And, good luck!!

Sully C5er

I was very close to buying a Nissan Murano, but went the Lexus route partially because of their reputation for exceptional service. So far, I get better service at the Chevy dealer on our Vette.

Todd

My experience with Lexus service is that it sucks. Our BMW is welcomed at the dealer who goes out of their way to get things done right the first time and they don't act like they are overworked and that you are only causing them more problems. I'll post more on this later.

Sully C5er

Please do. I am going to send a link to this thread to Lexus.

doug_999

Agree about Lexus service. Nothing to write home about. IMO, BMW techs seem much better trained. However, I found that the dealer can make a big difference. Also, if your dealer has late hours, avoid bringing the car in later in the day. You will get the second shift mechanics and that is not a good thing (at least at my FORMER dealer).

LadyLexury

I have had PERFECT service with my dealership! I bought my RX330 from Coliseum Lexus of Oakland, Ca and they were really professional and gave me the "red carpet treatment." I guess since they have only been open since last Nov 2002, they are working on their status. They also need a 100% on their survey card, but I think that their customer service is beyond what the survey card expects.

They make sure that before I get the car back that everything is exactly the way it was when I had it.

jeffknet

if we're giving out props to dealerships I gotta praise Sewell Lexus in Dallas - they've always got a "whatever it takes to please the customer" attitude - their facility is immaculate, their loaner cars are always clean, I bring my cars in at least once a week for a complimentary wash. This is the reason I chose Lexus over other cars - yeah the car is great but the relationship after the purchase has more value to me - and Sewell Lexus excells at this.

badams

Some of you guys are getting screwed by your dealers (can I say "screwed" on this site?).

My Lexus dealer all but rubs my feet when we take our cars in for servicing, and we didn't even buy from them!

Concord Lexus (East Bay California) ...love those guys (in a way a guy could love a car dealership, nothing sexual of course).

badams

Goncookoo

I think doug_999 has it right... its the specific dealer that matters more.

If any of you are in MA, I personally hate the watertown lexus dealership. They scratched the INSIDE of my winshield and now there is a huge scratch that annoys the hell out of me. They told me to do unnecessary crap to my vehicle (glad I got a second opinion at another dealer). They are slow with ordering parts and VERY bad at calling you back to tell you the part isnt in. I found out too many times at 8 am in the morning during the week and 45 min away from work.

Lexus of norwood is significantly better, but they did leave a huge greese mark on my tan seats after one service. However after so many fiascos at watertown lexus, Im glad to find a nicer/better dealer. They are so much more curteous and polite.

Wow, can I say lexus of watertown sucks again? Can I repeat that another time?

BMW Dealer #1:
BMW dealerships arent all that great here either. They scratched the hell out of my buddies hood during a car wash and didnt own up to it. Finally they decided to repaint it after much arguing, but said it wasnt their fault and made him pay $100 (they made up the diff). Then they took the car for a 16 mile joy ride after the hood was fixed. wtf? This is boston... where you going for 16 miles?

BMW Dealer #2:
They put dings in the doors and smoked all his cigaretts in the glove box. Also, wonderful ashes were all over the inside of the car!

Geez... just a little peeved when it comes to services.