Well I had my first taste of the Pursuit of Perfection with Lexus service and I don't know where to start; let me try.
I took the car in and again had to relay the problems to the Service Advisor; nice young fellow. I told him on the way to the dealership that the car seemed to be pulling to the left. He advised me that there was a technical service bulletin issued for this problem and they would fix it. He also advised me that they would probably replace the seat since that would be the easiest fix. So far so good. I also asked them to not wash the car since when I picked up my new black LS 430 I had to spend 10 hours buffing, glazing, sealing and waxing the car to get out all of the swirls, scratches and water spots that their detailing department so aptly applied to the car. The SA noted this on the work order.

That day he left me a message that they had ordered the new seat and that it would be installed the next day. I called him back and thanked him and again reminded him to NOT wash the car (you can see where this is going).

They did not complete the job that day and advised me that they had not looked for the seat rattle since the seat was going to be replaced ---good thinking. Yesterday I picked up the car and was advised that in all likelihood when they replaced the seat that they cured the rattle; which apparently they did since the rattle was gone. I was then presented with the car and looked at the new seat which turned out to be a new sear cover on the bottom not a new seat. Much to my dismay this looked worse than the original. There are gathers at the front of the cushion, a multitude of gathers in the center, the seam was crooked and at the back where the bottom meets the seat back there are voids in the padding. I told the advisor to look at the driver's seat and note that none of these newly added wrinkles existed in the OEM seat and that this was a sorry excuse for a fix and was in fact worse than where it started. His comment was use it for a while and after people sit in it it will probably get better. My retort was that is absolutely bull ****, when people sit in it it will get worse not better because as we all know leather will stretch and get even more wrinkled.

In addition to the fix, you guessed it they washed the car and appeared to wipe it with 400 grit sand paper. The car is midnight pine pearl that I have mothered over and have or had it to the point where there wasn't as much as a minor swirl or imperfection in the paint anywhere. Also when I got the car home I was attempting to see where I might possibly be able to straighten out the seat cushion. When I put my hand under the seat I found a cut cable tie and a piece of vinyl from the seat cover that should have been attached to a seat spring on the bottom of the seat hanging loose. When I attempted to re-attach it I felt all of the wiring for the seats dangling on the bottom of the seat. I will hazzard a guess that this is the culprit that was causing the rattle and serindipitously happened to be the cure made by these rocket scientists.

To sum it up, my first Lexus ownership experience was a joke and rivals the horrible service that made me go away from Mercedes after 36 years of ownership. Maybe I will have to seek out another Marque. Too bad they stopped selling Yugos at least I would know that I would be in store for the Ultimate pursuit of Imperfection. Enough ranting, I'm off to the garage to correct Danny the Datailers screw up of my paint finish.

 

Lou,
I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. I have an appointment next Tuesday to have my rattle checked for the second time. I actually found where it's coming from. I lightly placed my hand on the lower portion of the lumbar right above the seat cushion. When it rattles, I can actually feel it.

I do the same thing with the supposed "hand wash". I told them not to do it and so far they have managed to follow this instruction. I have an Indigo Ink Pearl and like yours (a dark color), swirl marks are easy to get on the clear coat if one is not careful.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Through this type of forum we can learn and be in a better position to handle how we deal with the service department. I will post my experience next week.
Regards,
Jesse

 

Hey Low, I fully sympathize with you buddy. Before continuing, I'd DEMAND a new seat now.

Just like you, I couldn't believe the scratches on my brand new LS400 when I picked it up back in '98. I almost refused delivery, but my wife insisted it wasn't that bad (bought it for her). The 'detail bay' consisted of a hose, a black rag, and a black towel. And no, neither one was black in color. I immediately ordered a 'NO WASH' note in my records, which I complement with a taped piece of paper to that effect. Anyway, now I pick up my new cars just like they come off the truck; it takes me a lot less to detail them that way, and I enjoy doing it.

Not to be outdone, the 'rattle finding' team couldn't find the rattle, but I sure could find oily shoe stains all over my back seat and carpet. And no, nobody 'saw' them before presenting me my 'clean' car. I'm sure somebody got fired after that episode. Now, I either find and fix my rattles, or at least I find them and point them out to the SA with strict orders NOT TO touch my car other than sitting on the (towel protected) driver's seat. My SC430 was also delivered with the passenger seat rammed against the back seat, and the leather was permanently wrinkled, but I refused a 'cure', which consisted of the same procedure as yours (no thanks). Nobody sees it, and heavy conditioning made it better.

Bottom line is NO dealer cares for our cars like we '**** retentive' types do, so my advice is buy what you like, and mentally adjust to the possible outcome when we don't have a choice. I also had very bad experiences with Lexus (GS400) and BMW, but I came back to Lexus. So far just the door rattle (fixed satistactorily for the first time -a big plus), and a rattle here and there, but I'll live with them; part of the convertible experience, I guess.

Take care and keep us posted buddy.

 

I took my wife's LS 430 in today for the 1,000 mile check up with a 81/2 inch sign taped to the dash that read DO NOT WASH and also gave one to the SA to attach to the work order. There were some minor issues with the LS in addition to the check up. I took this opportunity to address the seat on the SC 430.

Yesterday I received a form letter, but manually signed by the General Manager, asking about my repair experience --- what timing. I took the opportunity in letter form to respond to it relaying my experience by attaching my original post to the forum as well as my post after I received the car back. I also provided the Service Advisor pictures of the driver's seat and the screwed up passenger seat for comparison purposes, as well as 20 pictures of 2002 SC 430's that I took off of AutoTrader showing what the passenger seat looked like with mileage ranging from 19,000 to 46,000 miles (none of which looked as bad as my newly repaied seat). This was referenced as well in my letter to the GM.

I personally delivered my letter to the GM's office this AM. I concluded my letter by demanding a new complete seat bottom and not another feeble attempt at repairing what was screwed up in their first attempt. I'll keep you posted.

 

Lou,
Good luck with the letter! When I got the Survey from Lexus, I noted that I was very unhappy with the rattle.

Last Tuesday, I took the car in and explained and showed my SA exactly where the noise was coming from. I picked up the car in the afternoon and the SA told me they had to add some foam by going through the back i.e., removing the cover. I very carefully inspected the seat and the only thing I noticed was the bottom seat cushion was not as snug against the bottom of the backrest by the lumbar. It doesn't look to bad and you can't really notice it unless you stick your hand in between and you'll realize there's a little space. The moment of truth was when I started driving. They fixed the rattle ! Once again, I can enjoy the quietness (at least when the top is up) of a Lexus.

Oh yes, I told them, and it's in my file, that I did not want the car washed. My SA told me that we should do the 5K service even if the car has on 3K since it's 7 mos old. I told her, don't bother since I already changed the oil twice using genuine made in Japan oil filter (dealers now only carry made in Taiwan). I made sure she knew that I am extremely picky and told her again not to wash the car. Happy to report, they followed my instructions.

By the way, what about the Lemon Law? Maybe if they hear this they'll wake up...
Regards,
Jesse

 

Well here we go again. I picked up my wife’s ’04 LS 430 from the dealer that was taken in for the 1,000 mile check up. Same revolting results as I experienced with my SC 430; to the point where even my wife is about to call the General Manager to let him have a piece of her mind. Different issues that I will not rant about but the same overall results. My advice to anyone buying a Lexus in the Sacramento area----- go to Lexus of Roseville and stay away from the dealer who specializes in The Ultimate Pursuit of Imperfection Lexus of SACRAMENTO.

 

Hey Lou, at least you have a choice buddy. Long ago I arrived at the conclusion that unless the compensation method changes at dealerships (dream on), which is against our best interest (the faster a tech does a job, the more money they make), I was better off doing all the maintenance on my cars and bikes myself. It's not glamorous, but now I can do my oil changes with a minimum of a mess (on my gloves, mostly), and I usually leave fluids draining overnight. I just had to buy a pair of $20 rhino ramps, which work on almost any vehicle (even the vette).

My humble opinion is we have 2 realistic choices if we want to maintain our sanity: do what I do, or lower our expectations. The latter doesn't mean we just pick the car up and drive away. We SHOULD still express our displeasure, because that's how things get better, but on the back of our minds be okay with it.
On a related subject, I had to do BOTH with my motorcycles. Service and defects are much worse than cars (in no way justifiable), but that's the reality right now, and I either accepted it, or stop riding altogether. It honestly sucks to have oil leaks on a brand new motorcycle (a BMW K1200RS), or having the engine die over and over again below 50ºF with fuel injection. And all this on a motorcycle being manufactured for SIX YEARS. Or the 'disclaimer' that the dealership is not responsible for scratches on your bike. When I have taken it in for recalls or TSBs (have to be done by dealer), I ride it naked (no bodywork) for 110 miles EACH WAY. Just like my cars, I do just about everything on my bikes. THAT $ucks, my friend. Sometimes I hate myself for being so '**** retentive', but until I'm unable to service my vehicles myself (which I enjoy, besides being able to check and clean everything around), I'll continue providing my vehicles with the top-notch service they deserve . I also accepted the fact there's no defect-free vehicle, and that mental 'adjustment' let me enjoy my cars and bikes more. I rather live with the rattles on my car, for example, than the thought of going what you went through to try to fix them. As everything else in life, it's a compromise. I rather have the car look perfect and have a squeak here and there.

Take care guys, and sorry for the rambling.

JC

 

As far as the "Do Not Wash" requests go, I think safest bet is to tape a sign to the center of the dash. I have one I keep in the glovebox that says "Please do not wash this car today." or words to that effect.

The wash jockies, usually the lowest paid kids on the lot, generally wash every car every chance they get, and they don't check the "work orders" for do not wash request often, if ever. The odds of a service technician mentioning a do not wash request to the wash guys, and having it stick, are 50/50 at best.

Since they usually have to move it to a wash area to wash it, the note on the dash should do the trick. It has for me for several years now.