My sentiment is that if you own a Lexus, you have to be able to pay to service it, which isn't cheap. I emphasize to my mom that she got a better deal on a 400h because she followed the service intervals on her RX 300 which she traded back to the dealer. It's worth following the prescribed maintence right?

This is a concern that I thought would be beneficial for this forum. I am really irked by this. My mom spent a lot of money on her 75,000 mile service on the RX 400h. $500 for spark plugs seems a bit steep to me, but it is a unique car.

My mom being no idiot sought my opinion on the $45 charge to replace the rear differential fluid. Recall that the 400h has no rear drive shaft. I implored her to call the dealer, which she did and they refunded her money. But, I am appalled that this is on the maintence list for the 400h and I highly doubt that my mom is the first person to be charged for work that wasn't performed. This seems criminal to me, as it is a "small" charge that could be easily overlooked if you didn't know better. A letter to Lexus seems in order to me, but it isn't my car.

 

Theres a sucker born every minute, thats why I never take my cars to dealers for mainenance or non warranty repairs. I either do it myself or have a local shop do it while I watch.

 

report the stealer to lexus HQ

someone's gotta do it.

really. do it. do it.

 

Before you jump to Lexus HQ bring it to the service managers attention. While consumers should be educated they also should not be getting ripped off for unwarranted repairs. Go up the ladder, serviceman, service manager, service directior, corporate depending on how its resolved.

 

They gotta do something to pay for all the stuff some of the crybaby owners demand for free.

No really .. charging for work that isn't performed or is not needed is criminal in my mind if it is done intentionally.

Some services show up on the computer screen that dont apply to that particular vehicle so it is up to the service advisor to delete them off the ticket.

Give them the benifit of the doubt and most times the mistake is easy to correct.


As for pricing at the dealership it all adds up...free loaner cars.. washes... food... internet access...bending over backwards to hopefully satisfy the whining crying customer that is demanding new brake pads because there is a tsb and even though the supposed noise hasnt been a problem for 30K when the pads are almost gone the customer is trying to get new pads for free....its all cost of doing business and needs to be paid for by those who use the services... thats you the service customer.

Honestly they really need to teach basic business in high school and teach how a business runs. Those that complain about a business making a profit should ask themselves ...where does my paycheck come from? The paycheck that let them purchace a Lexus? .. oh yea it came from the PROFIT that the company they work for made from the products or services they sell to others.


Dont buy a car you cant afford to fix. plain and simple.

 

$500 is about what i got charged for spark plugs (parts/labor) for my 07 350 AWD @60k. I feel the dealer is pricey but if anything goes wrong with my car, i point the finger in only one direction-------> LEXUS! This has come in handy with brake issues when i have taken it up with corporate. They look at all service history within their network and tend to listen to me a little more.

 

Haha, it's funny that you bring this up. I agree. I work part time at an upscale grocery store and on our more exotic items people usually grumble about us charging what we charge to make profits...Yeah, that's right!!! Businesses are in business to make profits. We could sell stuff at cost, but that wouldn't make sense.

 

I'm not afraid of being charged for something I don't need since I have a no nonsense SA. She is the main reason I have my car serviced at the dealership. I'm also familiar with the service manager. All work has been done there which I agree, benefits both of us when it's time to trade in. It's a small price for peace of mind.

Regarding your mom's situation, start with the SA and service manager. They should have a vested interest in keeping her as a customer. And it's not the time to get angry. The refund has been processed. You want to express your concerns. Check if they have a list of the service packages with prices on their website. Mine does. Ask them to find where the misinformation occurred and correct it. It's unfortunate it happened but give the dealer a chance to fix it first. Good luck.

 

Honestly, not all lexus owner 'can afford' to service the car at the dealership nor does it make sense

Lexi are very durable and we have early 1990s LS running around, getting bought at 2-4k. Not sure the buyer has the money to afford Lexus shop labor at $130/hr (SoCal).

I see servicing a car at a dealer as my goodwill towards that dealer. I let him make a profit and I should/hopefully get the benefit in a tossup situation (goodwill repair/TSB/whatever).

SAs don't always know the cars well so them reading off a list and charging you based off that doesn't sound unrealistic..

 

In the future, check with some local Toyota shops. They can often do minor servicing (and non-warranty repairs) on Lexus products....for a substantially cheaper price....and Lexus, being a Toyota division, will recognize that service. And you get many of the exact same filters, spark plugs, etc.... that you do at the more expensive Lexus shops.

 

I see no point of doing maintenance/service at dealerships after the warranty expires. Nothing will be covered, and honestly, not all dealership techs are 100% capable of troubleshooting. We've wasted enough time and money at dealerships trying to pinpoint some problem spots, and all it took was a trip to a Toyota technician friend's garage to get it solved.

It's fun when the dealership recommends replacing all these parts and they're covered under warranty, regardless if the parts need replacement or not. Who would say no to new parts. But it's another story when everything comes out of your pocket.

 

when I traded my 04 RX330 to the dealer that I bought my 11 RX450h at, I noted that the old RX went every 5K miles back to their service department religiously and that the service records were all there. Didnt seem to mean squat to them.

 

I do the work myself on my car perks of the job and side jobs . I do have to agree with you guys lexus r expensive to maintain especially when they break down due to lack of maintenace or inexperince svc done elsewhere. as a tech I have seen some great jobs done at a local garage and some embarrasing ones perform elsewhere not going to say no names (jiffy lube ) sometimes talking to the tech goes a long way.

 

Agreed. It could be as simple as the service clerk copying over the requirements for one vehicle (the non hybrid) to the other (yo mama's...LOL).

Very true. There is no free lunch. I can see it for the free cars, possibly for those customers who abuse the TSB, but interweb access? They don't pay by the data, and they need to have that for business anyway. Food? My local dealership has coffee, but that's it. I tell them not to wash the car, so that's out. Do they discount my service because of it? Nope, but I always get good service when I have to take it in because I'm not comfortable with someone else doing the work. I've been very blessed in that there are very few issues with my car, and since I do most of my own maintenance and don't drive it that much, I'm sure that's part of it.

Agreed, but it should go both ways - don't make it more expensive than it needs to be in order to get it fixeded. Dot your I's & cross your T's for your customers.

Big Mack

 

Your paycheck comes from your labor for the company, they have to pay for your labor if they make a profit or not. That is pretty basic business right there.

The OP is right to complain about being charged something that he shouldn't have to be paying for (in this case, his mother). Same thing might've happened to my mother at a dealership.