My 2013 RX450h came with 19" Dunlop tires. After reading some not-so-kind comments about them on CL, I checked Consumer Reports and Tire Rack. Both sources rated them below the Michelin Latitude Tour, which is another OE tire on the RX. So before I had my RX for 2 weeks and with only about 50 additional miles since delivery, I called my salesperson and asked if he could arrange for a swap for the Michelins with another RX in stock. He checked with his manager, who said yes. Keep in mind that this RX is my 7th Lexus purchased through this salesperson, at this dealer. My salesperson said he could arrange the swap for "about $200".

I heard the price, but figured he was quoting the maximum price, based on a tech's time. I knew that had I negotiated the swap during the time of purchase, I would have had the swap done without any cost. I had a swap done without cost on another car purchased from them in the past.

I brought my car in yesterday afternoon to have the Michelins installed. The bill was $230 incl.tax. There were no parts needed and from the time my car was brought back to the bays until it was returned to the delivery area was no more than 30-45 minutes, however my invoice stated 1.8 tech hours. I argued with my SA, but he was not the person who quoted the price. I left pretty angry, but less angry than now after thinking about it over night.

My question to you is, should I suck it up and just be grateful I have Michelins, or should I express my dissatisfaction to the Sales Manager?

 

Just live with it; all dealerships use a flat rate book so it does not matter how much real time it took!! Obviously as you said, this should have been negotiated and done when purchase was done and than probably no charge/part of the deal! They STILL would have paid the mechanic his flat rate money out of the deal when they calculated "real" profit!!

 

I agree, consider it a small price to pay for a better tire. It's equal to the price difference between the two. I had the Dunlops and wanted to switch to Michelins when i took delivery on my 450h. But there weren't any RXs on the lot with them. The Dunlops were decent for the time I had them. I made it through two pretty bad winters. Now i have the Pirellis.

Good luck with the new tires.

 

I would write the Sales Manage or General Manager a nice letter/email just to let them know that I am displeased with the outcome.

Enjoy the Mich. it is definitely better than the Dun.

 

Consider yourself lucky. $230 is a good deal to get rid of the Dunlops. You agreed to the price when you authorized the swap. They said $200, they charged you $200. I think the dealership was pretty nice to swap the tires for you. You really don't know specifically what they did for you. They may have put new tires on your car or swapped both the wheels and tires. They may have gone out of their way to finish your car while they may have still been working on the other car.

 

The time for your vehicle was about 30-45 min...I am sure the donor car was also tied up about the same length of time....I am sure they just removed the Dunlops and swaped them with another one with the same wheels but with Michelins--there is time involved in reprogramming the tire sensors for both vehicles. Suck up the cost and be grateful that the dealership would do this for you....I asked for the same on my 2010 when I got it new and the answer was "no"....A few weeks later, I complained to Lexus Canada HQ and the swap was done. I will be getting a 2013 as soon as the blind spot detection system becomes available and there will be items that will be deal breakers: (1) must have Michelin Tires - this is non-negociable (2) must be built in the plant in Cambridge Ontario--the last one was from Japan. I know lots of folks vie for Japanese built RX's but I am not one of them. (3) the seat must be comfortable--I only find about 50% of the gen 3 seats comfortable--so I am not going in with any specific colour in mind.

dentate
Oshawa, ON

 

What do you mean by this? I know that my 450h (Japan built) seats are more "cushioner" than my 350 (Canada built) and specs says they are the same seats/specs.

 

I appreciate all your responses. When buying a car, we traditionally find ourselves with opposite goals as the dealer. We want to spend the least amount of money and the dealer wants to make the most. Since I have a lot of history with this dealership, we have always found a way to meet in the middle with the purchase price. Not this time. I felt I paid more than I should have for the RX and got less than I should for my trade. They are the only Lexus dealer in my area, so there is no competition. I signed the purchase agreement, so I only have myself to blame. With that in my craw, I felt the cost of the tire swap was more than it had to be. You guys gave me a different perspective. I will now forget the past and enjoy my RX with the better riding Michelin tires. Thanks.

 

I agree with the majority here--suck it up and be happy that you're now riding on Michelins. I "swapped out" on my '10. I had to pay about $450 but mine had a few thousand miles on them. One thing that the service manager pointed out was that whether the tires had 300 or 3000 miles, they can't (won't) put them on a new car, so they are stuck with 4 used tires. Had you (or I) requested the swap before we took delivery, then there shouldn't have been a problem, but that wasn't the case.

 

I too requested the tire swap at time of purchase. The dealership charged me $100 to do so. I thought that was fair and reasonable. Bottom line you will be happy you swapped them.

 

MikeP: Glad you got the new tires you desired. I would have been happy in your situation with the outcome and price. As much as I love my dealer, and as flexible as they were on what I consider much bigger things, guaranteeing a specific brand tire as part of my 2012/3 RX450h deal negotiation was not possible unless I effectively paid for the new set... That was nutty to me, especially as I've had tires swapped between vehicles prior to delivery on other Lexus, but didn't happen this time. At least mine came with Bridgestones -- not bad so far, but I still would have loved Michelin's even better. Congrats to you again!

 

Thanks, Bert. After all it's only money. Actually I do get perks at this dealer, so I don't want to spoil a good thing. When I am interested in driving a car, they will hand me the key and say, "See you when you get back". Squeaks and rattles are my worst enemy, so before I buy a new car, I have to take extended test drives with every car that has my specs before making a decision. They brought a car in from their other dealer 75 miles away the same day I wanted to test drive it. On one other occasion, the Sales Mgr. loaned me his personal car to test drive because he didn't have another with the options I wanted.

So I can't lose perspective in this situation. It's not enough money to chance hurting my relationship with this dealer.

 

Interesting. I negotiated the swap (on two cars) at the time of purchase and was charged nothing. Dealer said they were glad to do it if a model (for swapping) was available.

 

To Go Huskers: You asked me to comment on the seat comfort issue...Our Rx's are packaged differently than yours--I am looking what Is called Ultra Prem 1 (all options minus the rear DVD). We are not offered a la carte options - just about 5 packages. In short, the Ultra Prem models come equipped with the thigh extenders which I detest- my current 2010 (Japan build) has it. But if you check with parts, almost every piece of that seat is differerent and to me is not as supportive for the lower back - which is an issue for me. However, some seem to be fine. Also the ones with the thigh extenders seem to catch me in the back of the left leg which is also problematic - even if i dip the front part of the seat. I could order a touring model without those seats but then i would loose the heated steering wheel, Mark Levinson, HUD, parking sensors, crossbars, illuminated scuff plates, VDIM, some wood trim. If Lexus would olny allow me to delete that seat but I know that will not happen. I'd also like to be able to opt for 18" tires and ditch the 19"s.

dentate
Oshawa,ON

 

MikeP.
You got a good deal. Go enjoy your RX with the new Michelins. When I purchased my 2011 it had Dunlops on it. The road noise I couldn't stand. My SM phoned Lexus and they agreed to install a set of Michelins if I would pay for the labor which came to $115.00. These were not vehicle swap tires (stated they not remove from another like vehicle) but new tires ordered through the parts dept. I am a happy camper with my RX now. Great Dealer to work with.