hillsnow

I took my car to Lexus of Richmond 2 weeks ago for its 15k service; this was my second time visiting the dealership. The first time I was not too impressed with the customer service but everything went smoothly despite a long wait and no access to a loaner car. The dealership said they have a big problem with people wrecking and trashing their cars so they do not lend them out much... (did I move to the wrong place?)

Anyway, this second time around I knew my car was of course due for an oil change as well as some other stuff like air filters and key battery replacements. I did not look into it that much since I felt I didn't need to -- boy was I wrong. The service guy who met with me right away seemed unprofessional and aloof. He did not shake my hand nor introduce himself. He simply started looking over my file and didn't say anything. He confirmed they were going to perform the 15k service and said it was free since it is under the L/Certified warranty. He said it would take about 1.5 hours and shuffled me out to the lounge. After 45 minutes he came up to me and said the service was complete -- I was happy since I was ready to just get home. He was friendlier this time and brought me back into his office where I signed some papers. I gave the summary sheet a cursory glance and saw the 15k service and multi-point inspection were performed. He handed me my keys and I went back to my car. As I was setting up some things in my car, he came out and asked me if I had the correct keys... YES!!!!! The car is running and I was able to enter. This was another red flag regarding his aloofness since he said he thought he gave me another customer's keys.

A few days ago I saw the notification that my engine oil was low... I thought it was just a fluke that would go away. It popped back up a few days later so I opened the hood and checked the dipstick. The oil was definitely low. If the stick has 2 notches for MIN and MAX, it was below the MIN and barely had any oil. I called the dealership right away and asked to speak with the guy I dealt with. He ended up returning my call and said it might have been a technician error or something bigger. By this point I was already in Northern VA so I took it to Pohanka Lexus of Chantilly where they were able to confirm Lexus of Richmond COMPLETELY messed up. The Pohanka service guy I dealt with said Richmond 1) DID NOT change the oil at all and 2) put a sticker on the car listing that they had put SYNTHETIC oil in the car. I would appreciate some input on this but the Pohanka guy said the GS F needs an oil change every 5k miles with non-synthetic oil. Pohanka also said my battery was nearly dead and replaced that for no charge -- something you would think Richmond would have detected.

Pohanka said they called Richmond and spoke to their service manager to confirm the work done; they sent the bill to Richmond as well. I don't expect any sort of apology given how unprofessional the dealership is. It's just sad to me that a LEXUS DEALER can't even do a simple oil change correctly. You always have to learn the hard way but from here, I will NOT take my car to Lexus of Richmond and will be sure to check the oil myself and scrutinize the summary sheet with the service guy. I plan on calling Richmond tomorrow to speak with their manager about this experience. I appreciate any tips or feedback you have.

designo

iTrader: (6)

OMG this is just too unreal!

charley95

I've always changed my own oil for fear the oil change jockey at the dealer was flipping burgers the day before. Changing it yourself always insures it's done right if you know what your doing.

Teutonic

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, what he said!

Coolchuck

That’s completely unacceptable. Sorry you had such a bad experience. Part of buying L certified is the included services and you should be able to take advantage of them with no worries.

RATEDF

I do most of my maintenance myself, but I'd be interested to know of some (if any) shops local to the Seattle area that specialize in F cars.

anbark22

You honestly should file a complaint with Lexus Corporate.

anbark22

ac253189

I've had the complete opposite experience with my Lexus dealership, nothing but exceptional. You should definitely write Lexus of America and let them know that there's a dealer diluting their brand name.

mr2dave

I would call, or go back to the dealership, and ask to speak with the Service Manger or GM, or whoever is in charge/responsible for the service operation and explain your experience and give him/her a chance to rectify. If that is not satisfactory to you, I would file a compliant with corporate and see if they will help. Stay persistent.

As far as your dealership not having loaners, I would address that issue first locally, then escalate to corporate for I have had that happen at one location, but they ordered me a rental, on their dime and had the rental dropped off to me at the dealership and that is where I dropped it off. Time-wise, it was not what I wanted or efficient, but it did not make the dealers problem (not having ample amount of loaners) my problem.

Good luck.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Synthetic or conventional is silly. It doesn't matter at all. They're both engine oil. They both meet the same specs. You can even mix them (now, but not years ago) and not suffer indignities.

People get way too wrapped around the axle about oil type. It really doesn't matter.

Not changing the oil, or worse filling it with the amount required for a V-6 is a HUGE issue.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

^^^^Do you really mean what you are saying After all your issues with ticking, having your oil analyzed, changing brands and finally settling on
I've read too many of your and Daniel's posts to comprehend To me, the type, brand and weight of my oil is of the utmost importance.

And mixing Oils with different detergent packages

Lou

isfvss

This tread is about incompetence not just oil, if it was my car I would have gone off, after all Lexus has one of the best reputations for looking after the customer.

hillsnow

Thanks for the responses. I was planning to call the service manager the other day but he called me first actually. He said he had spoken with Pohanka Lexus and told me he was very sorry. He said there was not much else he could say since he knew his department had let me down and it was unacceptable since the trust relationship is gone now. He said the F cars are the only cars in the lineup that require an oil change every 5,000 miles (is that correct?) and the Service Advisor at Richmond did not know that was the case. I said that is a big problem of course... Nonetheless, he said he added a free $225 full detailing to my account and I can use it at the dealership whenever I want. It was the least he could do -- still, I won't be bringing my car back for service at Lexus of Richmond in the future.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I disagree. Amsoil Signature Series would probably have been just fine. In fact, I suspect lots of other oils, including the Pennzoil or Quaker State (QSUD) oils would work fine. There's something not quite right with Mobil 1 in a Lexus engine.

I have my oil analyzed not because I had a problem, but because I want to know how it is wearing. I keep my cars a very long time and drive a lot, so wear is important to me. I tried three different Mobil 1 products, all three had the same issue to varying degrees. RLI does not without question, but a friend in California had a GS 430 and had nothing but weird performance issues running Mobil 1 that went away when he ran the Toyota brand 5w-30. Even so, the ticking was only on cold cycle, and the wear numbers on Mobil 1 were not bad. RLI is just a LOT better. Ridiculously better.

Synthetic vs. conventional isn't a big deal unless you want to use extended drain intervals, then synthetic wins every time. Correct weight and oil level ARE a big deal. Brand isn't even a big deal as long as the brand you choose is adequate for the service you need from it. And it's pretty easy to go to 540RAT's oil blog and see which oils have the highest and lowest load capacities. Pick your poison from the list based on your needs and wallet. Pretty simple.

BKGSF

That's really terrible, OP. Unacceptable, really. BTW, why was the oil level low? Is it because they put in an incorrect amount (HUGE mistake) thinking it was a regular GS model or they didn't touch the oil in which case your car might be burning oil?