Toyota dealer says not allowed to work on Lexus
07-26-20, 06:58 AM
#16
Lexus Fanatic
Agree with this. In the real world, these types of warranty denials are incredibly rare, and only in cases that are glaringly obvious. One might start with something like "we noticed your engine has almost no oil in it and quite a bit of sludge buildup. We don't have any record of oil changes in our system, when/where did you have them done?"
07-26-20, 07:35 AM
#17
Pole Position
Lets put it this way, when is the last time we saw a post on here that the dealer was trying to deny warranty repairs because they are saying the car wasn't maintained as per the maintenance schedule? This is a concern that people have a lot, but in reality its not really much of a concern at all.
Lexus provides an online maintenance history system, just put your maintenance in there after you complete it, and its all right there in Lexus' own database. Thats what I do when my independent mechanic does a maintenance service, I log it on there and it shows up right alongside the dealer reported service stops.
As for the Lexus dealer and the Toyota dealer "respecting" one another and working on keeping their prices where they want them, thats also known as collusion and price fixing, otherwise known as antitrust
If its the same company, thats fine...but if an independent Lexus dealer and independent Toyota dealer have an agreement that the Toyota dealer won't service X customer so they have to fo to Lexus, and vice versa, thats legally problematic.
Lexus provides an online maintenance history system, just put your maintenance in there after you complete it, and its all right there in Lexus' own database. Thats what I do when my independent mechanic does a maintenance service, I log it on there and it shows up right alongside the dealer reported service stops.
As for the Lexus dealer and the Toyota dealer "respecting" one another and working on keeping their prices where they want them, thats also known as collusion and price fixing, otherwise known as antitrust
If its the same company, thats fine...but if an independent Lexus dealer and independent Toyota dealer have an agreement that the Toyota dealer won't service X customer so they have to fo to Lexus, and vice versa, thats legally problematic.
07-26-20, 08:46 AM
#18
Lexus Fanatic
07-26-20, 10:12 AM
#19
Pole Position
that aside, i was going off of what coolsaber said and you should reference that.
07-26-20, 10:13 AM
#20
Lexus Champion
that sounds like anti-competitive collusion to me
07-26-20, 12:18 PM
#21
Lexus Test Driver
The only time i've ever let a dealer touch my vehicles for maintenance was when it was thrown in at a discount as part of the purchase of the vehicle.
If it's something I can't do, I take it to an indy mechanic and pay less than I would pay the dealer.
If it's an oil change, I just do it in my driveway.
The biggest scam dealers ever pulled was convincing people that only a dealer can properly service your vehicle.
If it's something I can't do, I take it to an indy mechanic and pay less than I would pay the dealer.
If it's an oil change, I just do it in my driveway.
The biggest scam dealers ever pulled was convincing people that only a dealer can properly service your vehicle.
07-26-20, 02:47 PM
#22
Super Moderator
but I'd gladly pay an incremental $10 to have someone else do the work.
07-26-20, 02:50 PM
#23
Lexus Fanatic
no, i said that the dealership *may* try to deny warranty work if you do the work yourself and that's based on whether or not you save your receipts and whether or not those receipt dates align with the service intervals. i didn't say that the dealership would be successful in doing so, but i feel that between having the car serviced by an indie shop and doing the work yourself, that you have a more likelihood of potentially running into problems with the dealership even if that likelihood is rather low.
07-26-20, 03:25 PM
#24
Lexus Fanatic
Although, because of the Moss-Magnusen Act (a Federal law), it is not necessary for warranty-coverage, if one has their maintenance done at an authorized dealership, with factory-branded parts (AC-Delco, Motorcraft/Autolite, Mopar, Toyota/Lexus, etc.....), there are likely to be fewer hang-ups from the manufacturer getting warranty coverage if something does go wrong. Auto manufacturers are usually more likely to approve warranty repairs from mistakes done at their own dealerships than from those at Smiling Sam's Ma-and-Pa repair shop down the street. It's obviously more difficult for them to evade the consequences of a damaged or ruined engine from the failure or poor-installation of a factory-brand oil filter than for something like, say, a Fram, Purolator, NAPA, etc.....
07-26-20, 03:55 PM
#25
Pole Position
that said, i don't work on my own cars so this doesn't apply to me at all.
07-26-20, 04:00 PM
#26
Lexus Fanatic
I dont have any of my maintenance done at the dealer, and I have never had any issue getting warranty work done. One benefit to using the dealer is you build a relationship with them and they can go to bat for you if the manufacturer doesnt want to warranty something, but the vast majority of warranty claims come from areas were maintenance has no impact. With a Lexus, the dealer costs so much more for service you have to ask yourself how much that relationship is worth. On my LS the dealer was $500 more than my mechanic for the 30k service.
07-26-20, 04:13 PM
#27
I dont have any of my maintenance done at the dealer, and I have never had any issue getting warranty work done. One benefit to using the dealer is you build a relationship with them and they can go to bat for you if the manufacturer doesnt want to warranty something, but the vast majority of warranty claims come from areas were maintenance has no impact. With a Lexus, the dealer costs so much more for service you have to ask yourself how much that relationship is worth. On my LS the dealer was $500 more than my mechanic for the 30k service.
07-26-20, 04:40 PM
#28
Lexus Fanatic
My comment had to do with the advantages having it done at the dealership, but in no way did it suggest (or imply) that that was the only way to get warranty coverage. It can, in some instances, make the process easier, but in Steve's case, he didn't have a problem to start with. By Federal Law (Moss-Magnusen Act) one does not have to use factory parts to have warranty coverage, but the parts have to be compatible or factory-approved.
07-27-20, 08:39 AM
#29
Pole Position
07-27-20, 10:56 AM
#30
Lexus Fanatic
This may be old news, but on a whim I called our local Toyota dealer today to inquire about a spark plug change on my RX450h. The powertrain is identical to the Toyota Highlander hybrid from that year.
The service tech said that other than oil changes and tires they were not allowed to work on Lexus! I guess I can understand that since a Lexus dealership has higher fixed costs (fancier waiting room and such) they don't want their cousins down the street taking away their customers with presumably lower labor rates.
By the way, the Lexus tech said, top of his head, it was about $650 to change the plugs. The rear three are a pain to access, and while YouTube videos show it can be done by a backyard mechanic, it's pretty involved.
The service tech said that other than oil changes and tires they were not allowed to work on Lexus! I guess I can understand that since a Lexus dealership has higher fixed costs (fancier waiting room and such) they don't want their cousins down the street taking away their customers with presumably lower labor rates.
By the way, the Lexus tech said, top of his head, it was about $650 to change the plugs. The rear three are a pain to access, and while YouTube videos show it can be done by a backyard mechanic, it's pretty involved.
When I was not doing my own work on my cars I used the Toyota dealership all the time and saved a ton of money over taking it to the Lexus dealer and this was on a GS that did not share much with any Toyota models. I didn't get a free loaner or fancy waiting room but I didn't really care. The price difference in some cases was staggering, I got quoted $1600-$1900
for a timing belt change by Lexus for my GS430 and they wouldn't let me bring in my own parts to lower the price where at the Toyota dealership it was in the low $800 range and they let me bring in my own parts if I wanted to, it actually ended up costing under $800 because I had already changed my oil recently. If Lexus wants more business and for owners not to go to Toyota dealerships then lower your ridiculous prices and stop ripping your customers off instead of getting Toyota dealers not to service Lexus vehicles.