encore888

I have to be the contrarian here and say that our Lexus experience in 2006 was better than in the past. However, the experience was pretty similar--then and now very good. Our first Lexus in 1992 over the years did however see the effects of overcrowding at our Lexus dealership...no guaranteed loaners, longer and longer waits...crowded facilities.

Since the '00s we now have switched to another Lexus dealer and there are guaranteed loaners, the lounge is a lot nicer and there is more room and availability, the attentiveness is usually better as well. Mind you, we did not deal with major problems then and in the past recent years did not deal with major problems either, so I have no experience about their response to defects/recall-worthy materials, etc. I liked how the new dealership would send service employees for home visits after purchase, give gifts, etc.--things we never got in the past.

I hope all you guys with ES 350 issues find some positive resolution to your issues and the unhelpful people in Lexus corporate and dealerships get weeded out. I also hope that there is no long-standing defect with the ES 350, and that the production stoppage resulted in manufacturing improvements--as we are considering an ES 350 (this forum gives me pause though).

I should also mention that expectations for the ES are different from the LS/GS and even IS, even if they ideally shouldn't be. The ES has had the same chief engineer since the first vehicle--the only Lexus to do so. It is the only FWD Lexus, the only Lexus sedan to use the Camry platform/engine etc. It is designed to be an entry-luxury vehicle with an economic emphasis, and our past ES experience showed that this was excellent but not always spectacular or representative of the fullest capabilities of Lexus. We still liked the car alot though.

I do hope those workers are doing a good job: Here it is, a shot of ES 350 production at Miyata...

Lex13

Whoa, what's this about a production stoppage? Can you shed some light on this?

twister

Well, I wouldn't exactly say that my dealer [Ray Catena] is a "rebel" who said screw what Lexus thinks If you remember, they told me "we have no confidence in TSIB fix and will go directly to tranny replacement". I huge credit goes to them for identifying a problem right away and getting to work on a solution without any delay. I also have a feeling that Lexus will listen to them more eagerly than any other smaller dealership. Ray Catena is the 3rd largest Lexus dealership in US by the amount of sales. Every Lexus dealership says "we are #1", but I actually seen all yhr official certificates from Corporate Lexus office awarded to Ray Catena based on a volume of sales. They are covering a huge area on East Coast with competition hundreds of miles away, and just opened up a second location 30 miles away from the first one. I think due to their "weight", they have more leverage in talking to Corporate Lexus office. Still, it took 6 days to get all the buyback paperwork in order for me to pickup my '07 GS350 which was waiting for me all that time...

tnedator

Ok, I quoted the above, because I was wondering if every Lexus dealership can play tricks with their ranking among dealers.

Parker lexus is claiming to be the "#1 out of 218 Lexus dealerships in the Nation in New Car Sales Satisfaction" on their website.

http://www.parkerlexus.com/en_US/

and the Elite of Lexus winner for 2005 (how many dealerships a year get this?)

http://www.parkerlexus.com/en_US/frm...rpInfo_1.chtml

I will say that they recently moved into a new building that is pretty darn nice. All the offices are wood and glass and it puts to shame any dealership (not Lexus, but in general) I have seen before, but then again I haven't gone to dealers on the coasts.

After reading a lot of posts, and reviews of the cars (forum reviews and magazine/website reviews) I decided to go ahead and get one for my wife. She just fell in love with the ES, but I have to admit that there is a big part of me that thinks I am taking a $42,000 gamble.

Her red UL ES (produced sometime in October) is still in route to the dealership and isn't due until around Chrstmas (not sure if it is on the water or at the port). Hopefully I won't regret it.

ES350Bob

Outlining expenses for improvements does not address the defects present in an ES350 on arrival. The ES350 is arriving here with defects, it doesn't matter how large or small a service bay is or what has been expensed for improvements.

These defects have nothing to do with any expansion at dealers here or costs for same. The dealer side comes into play when a customer brings a defect to their attention and as you have read on here, some dealers have a less than professional approach compounding the negative experience of ES350 owners.

encore888

It says in one of the threads on the ES 350 forum that production was halted for a short period to address some issues earlier this year.

twister

Yes, production was stopped probably around end of May beginning of June for at least a couple of weeks. That is when I came to my dealer to get my ES350 and got this info directly from them. Lexus had to figure out what is going on with those dying trannys (reversed o-ring if I'm not mistaken).

twister

Wonna second that. What I went with my ES350 was very unpleasant, but the experience with a service department and specifically with a service manager made a HUGE difference and kept me as a current and future Lexus customer. When I had to go through all the loaner while waiting for tranny replacements, my dealership always brought a loaner and picked up a car from my work. They even authorized and brought over GS350 demo car for me to drive for 2.5 days. I was speechless.

Just today had a question regarding runflats on my GS, called and left a message with service manager, got a call back right away. Talk to him on the phone like with a good friend, and most likely will send him a gift basket for holidays.

encore888

^^^
Wow that's good service. It's nice of you to express your appreciation that way! I got a gift basket from my dealer...

twister

Its the least I can do after he played such an important role in me getting a new '07 GS350 (after ES350 buyback) below invoice

ES350Bob

2th..

You post was prescient..within days I see this where far more than owners are fretting about quality not being up to par.
wsj.com
As Rivals Catch Up, Toyota CEO Spurs Big Efficiency Drive
Culture of Institutional Worry Drives Mr. Watanabe
By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU - December 9, 2006; Page A1
Quote:

TOYOTA CITY, Japan -- The world sees Toyota Motor Corp. as an unstoppable profit juggernaut, overtaking rivals one by one as it rolls toward replacing General Motors Corp. as the world's largest auto maker.

Not Katsuaki Watanabe. Toyota's chief executive officer is a worried man. He thinks Toyota is losing its competitive edge as it expands around the world. He frets that quality, the foundation of its U.S. success, is slipping. He grouses that Toyota's factories and engineering practices aren't efficient enough. Within the company, he has even questioned a core tenet of Toyota's corporate culture -- kaizen, the relentless focus on incremental improvement.

U.S. and European car makers have spent years struggling to overhaul outdated operations and work practices to better compete with Toyota. By some measures, some of those companies are catching up. Now, driven by a severe dose of institutional paranoia, Mr. Watanabe is trying to move the target.

Mr. Watanabe, 64 years old, wants kakushin, or revolutionary change in how Toyota designs cars and factories. He is pushing Toyota to reduce the number of components it uses in a typical vehicle by half -- a radical idea that would usher in a new chapter in car design. He also wants to create new fast and flexible plants to assemble these simplified cars.

His ultimate aim: Cut at least a trillion yen ($8.68 billion) in vehicle costs in the next three to four years -- the equivalent of about $1,000 a vehicle -- and keep slashing costs at similar rates thereafter. That is on top of one trillion yen Toyota squeezed out of its parts purchasing from 2000 through 2004, an effort led by Mr. Watanabe in an earlier role. By comparison, GM recently lopped a similar amount from its annual costs, but largely by cutting jobs.

Toyota is gaining market share and racking up profits even as its U.S. rivals are in an historic tailspin. Toyota now has 12% of the world-wide car market, including sales from two affiliates, putting it in the No. 2 spot behind GM. It is poised to soon overtake the embattled Detroit auto maker. Mr. Watanabe's formula of relentless improvement, characterized by a series of programs with lengthy acronyms, helps explain why the Japanese company has been able to prosper as American giants wither.

Like most senior Toyota executives, Mr. Watanabe is careful to downplay the company's ambitions in public. His favorite words include jimichi (steady), tetteiteki (thorough), and, especially, guchoku (having an open mind). If it succeeds, Toyota would further pressure Detroit to revamp itself; failure, however, could slow the Japanese company's seemingly inexorable rise.