diablo1

Pretty dumb I guess. Obviously I'm not the only one it's happened to...

warhummer

Happened to me too. Luckily, the waiting room had windows into the work bay and I watched as the tech removed the wheels and swapped them out. I stood there for a second in disbelief before dashing after the service manager.

TRiCHau25

If you cant trust 'LEXUS' for service on our cars!!! who can we trust? As a Lexus car owner. Ive learned that Lexus mechanics arent the best mechanics in the world!!! They think they are....!!!

LexFather

I had to laugh as well.
Let me say, just b/c people work at Lexus or dealerships, means they love cars or know everything about their brand. Most don't. Especially with tons of models and changes.
They could be new and forgot or didn't know. Staggered sizes are new to Lexus as OEM equipment.

MoLexus

lol this made my day. Did you notice a difference in handling with the tire rotation?

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

Whoah. It's more common than we thought I guess? How weird. I thought techs get training on every new model?

Technique

Most sales and mechanics that work at dealerships (all dealerships) are below-average in terms of their knowledge of cars... In fact, many of them are idiots that don't know anything and spread misinformation...

Your best bet is to find a local service shop that has mechanics that actually enjoy cars and take pride in their work... You will pay less and have much less chance of your car being destroyed...

The only downside is, if there is warranty work, you must go to the dealership if you want it for free...

GS2006

For general service.. D I Y.. I learned this after 4 well lets say very disappointing visits. And at this stage of life, I really did not want to do it myself

diablo1

I did not notice any significant difference in performance with the tires in the wrong places, but the weather here has been bad lately and I was definitely not doing any sporty driving. I'm sure in 0-60 runs the narrower tires on the back would give noticeably worse results...

I think in general most people just do their jobs and don't love what they do. For example, when you buy a cell phone, if you have spent 1-2 hrs researching the products on the web, you probably know more about the phones than the guy selling them to you. I think that's just how it goes... So the same would be true with service techs. It's just their job. How many techs do you see on this forum...?

Technique

I agree with you for the most part... Your analogy to the people working at cell phone stores is great though... Same goes with Best Buy, etc... Car dealerships are no different, unfortunately, even the "luxury" dealerships like Lexus,MB,BMW... they are all the same...

But, I don't think it has to to with them "loving" their jobs... Someone doesn't have to love their job to be good at it... Not loving your job is no excuse for doing it poorly... If I was working at a fast food restaurant, even if I hated my job, I'd still do my best to perform...

I wonder if dealerships in Japan are like this? Maybe it's a cultural thing?

chuckler

stealerships they are...its a sad realization when you have to keep dealerships or mechanics in check. you pay for this service and at your expense they mess up..to err is human but when safetly becomes an issue thats just plain dumb. do your job right the first time!

anyhow..lets take this as a lesson when we go to our stealerships:
-always make sure your gas is low so they can't take it for joyrides
-take all your valuables with you(including cd's)...i have lost cds when my car was serviced.
-record your miles beforehand
-take pictures of your car's current condition (scratches, etc)
-just check everything before and after

i know its prolly a bit excessive..but the lil work you do may pay off when you catch them messing up.

i love my car too much to let anyone mess it up and try to hide it.

diablo1

That does seem a bit excessive... I mean, going with low gas so they don't joyride in it, plus checking the mileage? If they really want to joyride, they can just add more gas...

You're right Technique that people don't have to love their jobs to be good at them, but for sales and service type jobs, if you love the product, you will probably know more about it, and if you know more about it, you will be better at your job. I mean, if this tech had even a mild interest in Lexus cars, he/she would have known that the IS comes with different size front and rear tires. That is just a basic fact with this car, that I knew within the first 15 minutes of researching before I bought.

You don't have to love your job to be good at it, but loving your job will make you better at it, in general, I would say.

shaolin

iTrader: (2)

so the rear wheel didn't scrape your front brake?

Technique

I know the rear wheels are only 1/2" bigger but trust me, it can make a difference... I once took Longitude for 60 days, and only gained about 1/2", I was disappointed... But then I hopped in the sack with my gf, and she was like "Woah! Have you been taking Longitude?!??"

diablo1

Two different dealerships now have said there is no damage... So at this point, I think my best option is to believe them.