Lexusfreak

I've owned my 'new' 2005 ES 330 for 2 weeks now....(Lexus CPO still under full factory warranty) & I have noticed some concerns that I wanted to get some feedback on. Sorry if this is a bit of a long thread.

First off, I should say that I am a bit disappointed with the selling dealer (2 hours away & I bought the car off the sales manager himself with no sales reps involved) for the following reasons......I purchased this car on a Saturday & gave the dealer a full week to prep the car which I felt was more than enough time to get the car in CPO condition (IE going over the entire car with a fine tooth comb).

This morning I took the car into my local dealership for some warranty items...

- The power passenger mirror moves left & right, but not up & down (this was one of the first items I listed on the bill of sale with the selling dealer which they said they would address.....they 'forgot' to order the part! Fine.....it's under warranty and my local dealer has ordered the complete mirror assembly.

- The exterior 'B' pillar mouldings are pitted (which is quite common apparently on these cars) which should have been addressed during CPO.....it was not......my local dealer has ordered replacements....under warranty.

- I ordered (and paid for) a set of Lexus all weather rubber floor mats.....they have clip holes in order to be secured properly. First, all front clips were missing (replaced by my local dealer) & the service manager said that they are the wrong floor mats for the ES 330! Does anybody know the correct part number for these mats for the 2005 ES? The back ones appear to be fine and fit properly.

- After going over the car myself in the last couple of days (picture me on my hands & knees checking things out!), I noticed that the rear wheel fender linings (plastic & on both sides) have slight tears in them in the '10 O'clock position on the passenger side & about the 2 O'clock position on the drivers side....these roughly 'half inch' tears will allow the salt & moisture inside the rear fender area now.....the service manager said that this is the result of damage (he was scratching his head as to how the heck that happened) and is NOT covered.

- The OE 17" alloys have some pretty bad damage & chips as the result of stones & beleive it or not.....from air gun damage & are chipped by the lug nuts! My service manager said again this is the result of damage & not covered.

- The rear bumper on the passenger side has a slight scrape on it & I asked to have it 'buffed' out & touched up as best as possible (in writting on the bill of sale). This was not done & the sales manager said he was worried about making it worse than it was!

- Now heres the last item now....and this is the kicker.....at the dealership today, the service manager drove the car about 150 feet to one of the service bays.....he immediately came back after taking the car to his tech & asked me if I noticed any type of noise in the steering wheel while driving.....I said yes but explained that I was still getting to know my new vehicle and was not sure if this was normal or not.......long story short, the steering knuckle needs replacement! :chairshot: This is an item that should have been caught without question during the CPO inspection as it is quite a popular thing to go on the car apparently & is a safety issue (they have a revised steering knuckle and the part has been ordered under warranty). But the service manager was questioning (and shaking his head) how well they went over this car & now so am I. He also advised me not to drive on the highway for a few days just in case & until they replace the item.

To put it mildly, I am p***ed!

Now I have contacted the sales manager of my selling dealer......he is going to address ALL my concerns (including switching all 4 alloys with another ES 330 on his lot). I expected to get some resistance, but he is actually been quite embarassed....especially with the steering knuckle issue. I spoke with him in a polite & calm way.....and was prepared to tell him I will go to Lexus Canada directly if need be, but the conversation never went that far which I am happy about.

Now my question to everyone is what is the best course of action here? I will make an appointment to take the car back to my selling dealer for some of these items (others will be addressed at my local dealer as mentioned under warranty).

I want them to re-CPO the vehicle at their expense because I'm wondering if they 'missed or forgot' anything else here (the big thing I did get under the CPO is the rear rotors & pads were replaced).

This sort of paints a bad picture of my vehicle.....but the appearance of the car is actually in fantastic condition & all service records were present and accounted for.....just an FYI & I do not regret this purchase (the blue shale mica is one of the most difficult colours to find and was what I wanted).

Any thoughts or opinions.....I am all ears.

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

hmm i mean , if you sales person is willing to cooperate with you and is trying to resolve your issues without hesitation, be happy and just take everything in stride. just be glad your car has a warranty and you didn't have to pay for everything

Lexusfreak

For everything I mentioned with the exception the defective steering knuckle I totally agree with you.

I guess I just needed to vent when I found that out (that is what I was most angry about.....not really the other items) simply because I purchased this car at a Lexus dealer.....a so called 'CPO' vehicle & this was safety item was missed.....I'm certanly glad that I didn't pick up the vehicle with my wife & 9 month old son along for the ride and found this out...

Lexucan

I think you have every right to expect them to do a complete and comprehensive re-inspection of the car, at no cost to you. Judging by how you described the selling dealership manager's embarrassment over what you found on the car that was not addressed before delivery, I would hope that he will agree to your very reasonable request without reservation.

Lexusfreak

Agreed Lexucan.....I figure that's the least they can do to start to make things right (I'll would also settle for a brand new 2008 ES 350 ultra premium package with Nav with for no additional cost also lol Sorry, have to make some light of this situation )

I will keep everyone posted as events develop.

mick_foley

I bought my '04 from a non-Lexus dealership. Thought for a second that I might have bought a lemon. Auto-leveling headlights were aimed high and wouldn't come down, there was a blown bulb on the climate control panel, one of the parking lights was out. There was a small crack in the bezel inside of the driver headlight. The driver headlight was not sitting on the car correctly.

But the dealership where I bought it said they would take care of all my initial concerns. It took a while and 3 drives back and forth to a Lexus dealership 70 miles away but now all the main stuff is good as far as I can see and the only thing I had to pay for was gas traveling back and forth. I got a brand new headlight and leveling sensor.

I'd like to also add that during the few weeks after I got my car. I REALLY questioned my decision to trade in my problem-free Camry and I even thought about trading in for an Acura TL.

I still have a clunk sound in the steering wheel but it is a common problem and I plan to fix it myself when I get the money and time. No warranty left for me except federal emissions.

Lexusfreak

That steering wheel clunk you describe sounds eerily similar to the steering knuckle problem I'm getting looked after mick.

mick_foley

Well if it is the infamous clunk, it is a common problem and there is a TSB out for it. It is a problem with the intermediate steering shaft. There is more info on this thread.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=322360

Either way, you have a warranty and they will fix it for you which is good. I either have to pay or fix it myself which sucks. lol.

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

i didnt mean to come of too strong, if it makes you feel any better, when we bought our lx cpo, it came with a lot more problems then your car did. faulty a/c, suspension, cracked manifold, rusted heat shield, rust in the back, and other issues, all fixed now with brand new parts even replaced both back hatches but anyways, sorry for going off topic

Matters

I have been having problems with my 06 ES which the dealer has not been able to fix. Perhaps its this steering knuckle thing?

My symptoms are these:

1. high speed vibration (sort of like balancing issue);
2. intermittent vibration when braking (not all the time);
3. unusually high road noise and vibration on rough surface (subjectively i believe from left hand side and it is louder than my 99 ES);
4. Seemingly harsher ride from left handside of vehicle.

I have had the car balanced and then rebalanced. So it's not a balancing issue. I also have had it completely four wheel aligned.

Does anyone have an idea?

Lexusfreak

No worries jmd, I sent the sales manager a list of items via e-mail & fax on February 2nd.....all of last week I did not hear from him & e-mailed him again yesterday to check on the status. I finally (!) got a reply back saying he will 'follow up' today so we shall see what he says.

Funny thing is.....the Lexus.ca website says one important sentence when describing their CPO vehicles...."In short, "Lexus Certified Pre-Owned" automobiles must be in such immaculate condition that the only way to tell them from brand new is by their odometers!"

I know I did not buy a brand new car here......in fact it was half price compared to a new one (and I am a very reasonable customer......all I ask is one keep their word & follow the contract....which I have done).

What get's me is so many obvious items were missed, ignored or whatever one wants to call it during the inspection.....many of which were in writing & agreed to be addressed at the time of sale (not to mention they had over a week to do this).

I am looking forward to his phone call sometime today & I hope the dealership steps up to the plate.....if not, I have Lexus Canada at the ready on my speed dial.

smokesgtp

Certified pre-owned means nothing. I've learned that the hardway from Honda, who supposedly has the most checkpoints of any manufacturer and is suppose to scrutinize the car from top to bottom. They look it over real quick and slap a certified sticker on it, I took delivery of the car and it was over a quart low on oil. I got no satisfaction from corporate, long story short the car was full of bondo in the rear PLASTIC bumper cover and in both quarter panels. These are the cars that get certified, the dealers use it as a bargaining chip when your haggling too. It's a big ****in show and I would be willing to bet toyota is no different.

Lexucan

I guess by "immaculate condition" Lexus Canada means that to stand back and look at the car, you might think it is new....but then there's the fine print which reads: "Items not noticed from a distance of thirty feet or more from the vehicle are not covered under the Lexus CPO designation."

Lexusfreak

Lol....we shall see. The sales manager cancelled on his call yesterday (it figures!) so it's today I should hear from him.

smokesgtp

Keep us posted.