Morrissey

Sorry if this is old news, but I wanted to ask some of the more "seasoned veterans" of this forum for some advice.

I've brought my car on 3 seperate occasions to Kuni Lexus in Littleton to fix an ongoing issue with my IS350. No matter the kind of road I'm driving on, my car veers to the right. It doesn't matter whether my hand is on the steering wheel or not...it veers.

Each time I drop it off, it takes about 4-5 hours and they have given me a loaner car each time. The third time I brought it, they ordered new bushings from Japan to replace the ones I had (which seemed odd to me since the car was only 2 months old at the time). Of course, this didn't help anything.

I called the service manager and complained it's still veering to the right. He told me that I SHOULDN'T let go of the wheel to test my alignment because the car will always veer to the right since "roads in colorado are naturally sloped". I had a hard time believing that since I used to drive a 350Z with low-profile performance tires and the car never veered to the right. I mistakenly conceded to his logic and left it as it was. Then I heard from a few of my peers at work that what he said was wrong.

I called back and said they need to test drive WITH ME to see what I'm talking about. I had to wait a week since the service manager was on vacation. In the meantime, the "customer liason" sent me chocolates for my patience (which I appreciated).

Finally, the service manager is back from vacation this week and will be driving with their top diagnostics guy to come to my office and test drive the car with me. How should I approach them? I've been very patient for the most part and I've been consciously trying NOT to be the "a$$hole" type of customer, but I think I might have to put that hat on.

Should I demand new tires? Should I tell them that the car MUST be fixed this time?

mcfly

Going on the assumption that there IS a problem:

- go for the ride with the tech.
- get them to admit it's still an issue.
- give them one more chance to fix it.

Failing that, provided the documentation you have for all your prior visits is in order and for the EXACT SAME issue, then you've probably got ample ground for a lemon law suit. You shouldn't have to deal with the same problem over and over.... that's what the law is there for.

Bichon

I'd suggest you find a large, flat, (mostly) empty parking lot, and drive the EXACT same path in both directions. If it pulls to the right going both ways, it can't possibly be related to crowning or grading.

As for your tack, I'd continue being polite and understanding, yet firm and resolute that you want it fixed. Down the road, there may be a case where the dealer has some latitude in convincing Lexus to pay for a repair that wouldn't normally be covered, and you don't want him remembering you as a "jerk".

mtnduc

Heffergm is right.
Play by the book and get them to admit there is a problem. If they can't fix it CO's lemon law will cover you.
You may try to ge them to toss on a set of different tires and I mean a totally different manuf. and tread design to see if that fixes the problem.
Also, part of the reason why your 350z didn't pull ot the right was those cars have a serious alignment problem, recognized by the factory, that causes their tires to prematurely feather on the inside. The 350z was always trying to pull to the inside on both wheels.
As for the pull to the right with crowned roads, that may not be 100% false. With low profile tires, depending on the tread pattern, they may have more tendency to follow road wear grooves.
I haven't noticed my 350 pulling but then again it only has 280miles on it and it isn't being driven until all of the sand and crap is off of the roads here.

gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

Yes this is a problem. When a car veers to the right or left and you drive like that for a prolonged period of time your tires will ware out unevenly. This equals to money coming out of your pocket for purchasing new tires due to uneven ware.

I have owned 5+ cars and NON of them veered to the right or left even after 200k+ miles. Something is defenitely wrong with you IS.

mcfly

You misunderstood my meaning. Obviously, if the car is out of alignment, it needs to be fixed. What I meant was, it's entirely possible, none of us having first hand experience with anothers car, that nothing is actually out of whack. I've never driven a car with perfornance tires on it that didn't run to the right on crowned roads.

Like someone else said, find a flat parking lot.

Morrissey

Thanks for the advice everyone...this forum has served as a big help for me.

The service manager and his top alignment guy drove over to my office about an hour ago and we test drove the car on various roads for about 20 mins. I think I convinced them that there is definitely an issue. The diagnostics guy even told me that he believes there is an issue.

So, they took the car and will be trying to fix it. They said that I should have it back by Thursday. I was polite, but I wasn't going to allow them to give me the runaround. This is the fourth time the car is in their hands for this, so I pretty much gave them the impression I wanted this fixed now.

I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for listening

Revelation

The Kuni organization is one of the best I have ever seen from a customer service standpoint! If you feel the problem hasn't been fixed, speak with the General Manager. Sorry to hear that you are having these issues; if you're ever in the Colorado Springs area, George Black will ensure you're taken care of down there. George is the Operations Manager down there and prides himself on customer service; he's my old boss so I know him extremely well.

If you can't make it down there anytime soon, PM me and I'll take it through the Management of Kuni, this kind of service is not tolerated in the organization.

Morrissey

I really appreciate it! I'm in Denver, so I've been dealing with Kuni in Littleton. I will definitely let you know if it still isn't fixed after this service. I'm crossing my fingers that this will be it.

SilverBolt

Be polite but firm. Stop by your local courthouse and pick up anything you can find on the Lemon law in your state. Leave that paperwork on the seat. No need to mention it let them wonder.

Rockville

Lexus is the only carmaker I know of that gives you a lemon law manual for all states already in your owner's porfolio. Morrisey is doing just fine by staying calm. If someone at the dealership is treating you shoddily then it would be time to escalate the situation to a higher authority. So far it seems that the dealership is trying to accommodate Morrisey. You could have an alignment problem (steering wheel straight?) a tire pull problem or a brake pull problem. At least you know there isn't any torque pull issue because it's an IS350. I am confident they will solve the problem so hang in there.

Rock

Mxboy271

I have had my car in on 2 occasions so far and the first time they said it was the tires so they put on new tires. The second time they said it was the power streering unit and put a new one on. I continue to have the an issue with the car pulling to the right.

It was last fixed about 3 weeks ago and I wanted to drive it to see if maybe the road angle was the problem because sometimes it drives straight but in general it pulls. I also notice when It does drive straigth the steering wheel is a tiny bit tilted to the left.

when I take it in this time they are going for a ride so I can show them and maybe they can find the answer to what is going on.

dfw350

you have a lot more patience than i do.
by the 2nd time it wasnt fixed i would have raised hell and demanded an sc430 for loaner till its fixed.

Mxboy271

Actually this time I told them I want to drive another 350 to see if maybe I am just too ****.

Morrissey

Believe me, my patience is wearing thin. I've been quite polite considering the circumstances, but during our test drive yesterday I made it clear that this is the last time I'm going to tolerate this.

I took it upon myself to call the GM of Kuni Lexus after the service manager picked up my car and left him a long, yet polite, message on his voicemail. I explained to him that while I do appreciate them trying to fix this, 4 times is just too much. I wanted to get him into the loop because if anybody has clout at Kuni to get things done it's the GM. Unfortunately, they're closed today since the Wayne Kuni passed away and they won't be open until tomorrow. The GM gets back tomorrow or friday, which should be when I get my car back. I'm confident this will be my last trip since I'm getting the big guys involved (service manager, GM, customer service manager). I'll let you guys know what ends up happening tomorrow/friday.

Thanks again for all the feedback. This forum is really helpful!