NewGS22

Hello everyone!

I just picked up my first Lexus a couple days ago. 2015 GS 350 F Sport (Liquid Platinum with Cabernet interior) 35k miles. I absolutely love the car and the way it drives (came from a Nissan). I haven't even started messing with the menus yet, I just turn on the Mark Lev and drive!

My question is regarding dealerships. I drove about 60 miles to pick this car up from a dealership in SoCal so it's obviously not close or convenient to take my car into that dealership for service/warranty work. I noticed on the freeway when I drove the car home it pulls ever so slightly to the right which I think may have to do with road crown because it's not nearly as bad on regular roads. This is my first RWD car and it drives way different than my previous FWD sedan. This morning I noticed turning left felt like it took a little more effort on the wheel than turning right but at lunch today it felt normal. I texted a salesman at my local dealer about the issue about pulling a little and he said it wasn’t covered under the CPO warranty and to take it back to the dealer I bought it from. Fair enough, I guess alignment is normal wear and tear? In general, how are Lexus dealers service departments to deal with? I’ve heard fairly good first hand comments about them but do they treat CPOs any differently than they treat new car owners? I ended up buying the 3 year unlimited mile extended warranty because of the quality service stories that I’ve heard (I have my warranty until May of 2024 unlimited miles). The dealer that sold me the car said that my warranty is good at any dealer in the USA and encouraged me to obviously go to my local dealer. Will my local dealer generally treat me well if I go to them for issues I find with the car? For example, I noticed my steering wheel also occasionally will make a ticking sound - are they cool about that kind of stuff? With my Nissan I had quite a few rattles with the car and the dealership was kind of reluctant with helping me remedy those issues. Is Lexus the same?

Thank you for the responses and I look forward to being part of this forum for a long time!

VA75067

congratulations on your purchase. May i ask how much you paid for your car? how much was the extended warranty for? I assume since this is a 2015 you would already have some of the original warranty left on the vehicle. Regardless, now that you have the extended warranty - you can take it to any lexus dealer in the country. They will all treat you the same. There is no reason to go back to where you have purchased your vehicle. Good luck!

JDR76

Congrats! Great choice!

NewGS22

I paid a tad over $34,000 out the door. Yes, I had a little over two years left on the warranty but I used my extended warranty on my Nissan SOOOO much it paid for itself almost 10 times over haha. I believe the additional 3 years was $2950. I was only going to do 2 years but the 3rd year was only $400 more. I drive more than most so it was worth it to me for overall piece of mind. Unlimited miles until May 2024 sounded too good to be true and I would say the exterior is probably 9/10 and the interior 9.5/10 in terms of cleanliness.

Do you think my local dealer should treat that alignment issue if it indeed is one (not just me not being used to the car) or is it fair for me to have to drive back down to where I bought it from?

Thank you!

VA75067

I would drive it some more on different roads. Many times -it just takes time o get used to new vehicle. If this is still a problem, take it to your dealer and get an alignment. If it were me I would simply take it to the closer Lexus dealer for an alignment (typical alignment runs about $100 bucks here - small price to pay imho, rather than drive 120 miles round trip). That way if the alignment continues to be a problem, you invoke the warranty coverage and have them check for other issues.

Congratulations again. I have had this car for about 2 months now and look forward to driving it everyday (I hate driving otherwise )

AJLex19

Congrats and Welcome! You can get your car serviced at any Lexus dealership for warrantable repairs. In the case of a possible issue with alignment, you will likely have more pull with the dealership where you purchased it from. You could hit a pothole on the way home and throw off the alignment...so any other dealership would be unlikely to assist as it is considered wear and tear.

However, the dealership you just purchased from (if they have a good sense of business) will want to make you happy and try to work with you on the issue so that you aren't sour and will continue to service and potentially buy your next car with them again. An alignment shouldn't cost you more than $150-200 at a good local shop...

Personally, an alignment isn't something I would drive an hour away to do though...unless it turns out its something the original dealership missed. It might be worth it to take it back to them and hear what they have to say. My two cents...

Just find any excuse to drive it, because why not?? Its a rare bird and a real driver's car..enjoy!

NewGS22

I've been driving it more and more and I just think that I'm not used to the way it drives. I absolutely LOVE driving it though. I still have no clue how to go through the menus with that mouse thingy but I haven't really taken the time to learn it either. I just like to drive!

Also, I read in another thread on here that you should thoroughly check the F Sport rims to make sure they're not out of round. I did not do this. I'm assuming that if it's CPO then they would check that or I would feel it while driving? My Dad drove with me for about 30 minutes and he thought the car was fantastic (that's coming from someone who's only owned and will only own American made cars haha).

VA75067

I wouldn't worry too much about this. Worst case it's an alignment issue that can be fixed easily. The menus can take a bit to learn. Enjoy your "new to you" car!

CottageChz

For what it's worth, I was unsure of the alignment on my 2013 GS when I got it, but i had a similar experience to yours - I noticed that it pulled one way or another more on certain roads, depending on the crown of the road. I joined a discussion about it on here, and someone mentioned that it was a characteristic of low profile tires - they sometimes track the road and pull with the direction of the road more easily. I can't remember the proper term for it at the moment. Anyway, I had never really had much of an issue of pulling on past cars unless they were out of alignment. Now after owning this car for four years, I really do think the tires "track" the road/crown and sometimes pull based on that, more so than other cars I owned. I also sometimes wonder if this might be a result of electric steering, as none of my past cars had it but I believe this one does. Perhaps the electric steering allows the road to affect the direction of the wheels more. I dunno... So anyway, you may not have a problem. As far as which dealer you should go to, for an issue like this, I would think you need to take it to the dealer you bought it from. This isn't really a matter of a part failing, which I believe you could take it to any dealer for under your extended warranty. This is more a situation of "you may have sold me a car that wasn't properly adjusted/had a problem with it right out of the door."

donkiboy

The F sport does have low profile tires that, which can attribute to bent wheels. However you probably don't need to worry since you're in CA, unlike in my area where potholes are plenty (during winter). Yes, you would feel it if the wheels indeed were bent.

NewGS22

Great, thank you for the info. I'm glad that I have this forum for all my Lexus questions!

AJLex19

Wheels out of round is definitely a problem. They may overlook this. From my experience, I've purchased two CPO cars from the same dealership (because their sales staff is very good) in the last few years and both times they had wheels that were out of round. The first time it was a CPO IS350 and 3 of 4 were out of round. On my '13 GS, 2 of 4 were out of round. They fixed them without asking for more $$$. This has become a personal checklist item for me whenever I shop for a CPO car.

NewGS22

Now, is that something I'd be able to feel whilst driving? Is it noticeable? I've never had wheels that were out of round.

AJLex19

Yep: Steering wheel shaking/vibration at higher speeds or specific speeds, shaking/vibration while applying the brakes.