BarrettF77

Just picked up my new GS350 F sport friday with rear wheel steer. Because of the different steering style on the car, I had a question about the alignment. The car seems to like the steering wheel being slightly tilted to the left when driving down a road.

While I know the roads are generally sloped and I have tried driving the car down the middle of a two lane road where the car "should" be level, it still has a slight angle. So I'm wondering if it's the orientation of the gauges being off slightly at an angle, this an effect of the rear steer, or my alignment is simply off.

I drove my RX 350 to compare it to. It feels on or a very a slight pull, but I don't notice it. Possibly due to the Pilot Super Sport tires. But they aren't a chevron pattern tread so they shouldn't pull with the road grooving. The GS is also much more fast to respond and maybe this is why I am picking up on it.

Last car I had that did this I ended up with balding tires on the insides because the alignment was so far out. I'm overly paranoid about it and just wanted to see if others with the GS has similar experiences with this.

SW17LS

It could just be that the steering wheel needs to be adjusted over one spline and the alignment is fine...I'd take it to the dealer.

Outrage

There's a TSB concerning the F Sport RWD models with the variable ratio steering rack not returning to center. Check with the dealership to see if your vehicle had the software update installed.

ECL

I believe that issue was resolved over a year ago. It should not be a problem with a new car.

BarrettF77

The car was at the dealer towards end of April. So it's a recent build.

BarrettF77

Is it common for alignment to be off from factory?

SW17LS

Not common, but not at all unheard of.

rjm

Mine was. After 2 tries, they finally got it right.

BarrettF77

Goes back tomorrow morning.

jkeifer3

Nothing to worry about. I am sure they will take care of it for you.

BarrettF77

Got the car back last night. The alignment was off, and they were also kind enough to scrape the underside up and cut into the plastic running board with one of the lift mounts.

I called Park Place and the explanation I get was our lifts have rubber mounts and we use the same lifts on LFAs. That's fine but the guy that lifted my car obvously doesn't know there are arrows under the car for where to put the lifts. He missed it by over a foot off. And this is supposedly one of their shop leads.

4 day old car now damaged. I love Lexus, but I can't stand the service department sometimes. It was complete laziness on their behalf. Store GM is going to contact me by Monday. Part of me just wants to return the car as I've only had it 4 days and just go buy a new car somewhere else. I'm fortunate it is hard to see, but this level of unprofessionalism is just disgusting, especially after having spent over 110k on two new Lexus cars in the last couple of months with them. Of which both cars have been damaged on their first trip in to the dealer.

Sigh....

rjm

There is very little excuse for that level of service. I would personally request another car if that one can't be sufficiently repaired. Or at least free service for the next 5 years or so. Was this Park Place of Grapevine or Park Place of Dallas? I have done business with Park Place of Grapevine but have changed over to Sewell Lexus of Dallas for all my Lexus needs even though it requires a substantially longer drive to get there. I have been very pleased with their service.

BarrettF77

It was their Plano location. I'm starting to think their company model is flawed. Their GM was a very stand up guy. The sales managers have been very hit and miss. More I think about it, the more I lean towards returning the car for the damage and because of the principle. I saw another customer complaining about their car damage at pick up as well in the service drive. So I'm not sure what the problem is these days. People are just careless.

SW17LS

That sucks...

Its not as simple as just returning the car though, unless things are way different in TX. They have no obligation to take it back and reverse the deal, they could trade you out of it but you'll get killed on that deal.

Call 1-800-25-LEXUS and make sure your issue is documented...hopefully the GM will make it right...

BarrettF77

I'm going to let the GM get back to me first on Monday. He was a good guy and I've always thought highly of him. So I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt on fixing the situation. I do know I'm not leaving it with them to work on it. They have done plenty already.

I get that accidents happen, but this is 2 for 2 in service visits. More care should be taken or the staff should be replaced if they are this complacent.